'Virtuoso Meets Maxwell' is a blog series aimed at exploring the capabilities and potential of Virtuoso® RF Solution and Virtuoso MultiTech. So, how does Virtuoso meets Maxwell? Now, the Virtuoso platform supports RF designs, and the RF designers measure the physical and radiation effects by using the Maxwell's equations. In addition to providing insights into the useful software enhancements, this series broadcasts the voices of different bloggers and experts about their knowledge and experience of various tools in the Virtuoso IC-Packaging world along with the nuances of RF, microwave, and high frequency designs. Watch out for our posts on Mondays.

Seven months ago, I pointed out the ongoing need for change, or revolution, in the high-frequency design flows. Spreading design IP across multiple, unconnected tools, is leading to manufacturing and design errors. It also slows the design flow and forces designers to focus on keeping track of edits and updates and not on innovating. Keeping track of the right S-parameter file may be a necessary evil in your current design flow, and it certainly feels like work, but is bookkeeping what you want to do, or do you want to design? The Virtuoso RF Solution is designed with this in mind. Virtuoso RF Solution handles the bookkeeping while the designer handles design.

The Virtuoso RF Solution allows for seamless use of the Allegro based designs with the Virtuoso RF Flow. It is one of the leading package/board tools with 10s of thousands of designers worldwide. Re-training and moving designers to a different tool to be more efficient and reducing errors have some merits, but to allow designers to continue to use the tool they know and love while including those designs in a higher-level integration, gives the design community the best of both the worlds.

With the success of the Allegro based integration within the Virtuoso RF flow, other best-in-class design tools that filled specific microwave and mmWave design need were reviewed for inclusion in the Virtuoso RF Solution design flow. We are not simply adding a socket or linked approach to a different tool; we are integrating individual tools into a single controlled design flow. This level of integration requires that we have complete access at all levels of the software and licensing. Cadence recently announced the acquisition of the AWR and Integrand. AWR’s Microwave Office includes superior design and analysis tools for the microwave and mmWave designer in an easy-to-use microwave design environment. Integrand’s EMX delivers the fastest Si Passive design and analysis capability available today.

The Allegro based flow is the implementation model for the integration of the AWR tools in the Virtuoso RF Solution and allows the AWR standalone toolset to continue to be used by the thousands of current users without change. In addition, this will allow for microwave and mmWave designs to be designed in a tool specifically tailored for microwave and mmWave design style. This flow allows those designs to move forward to higher levels of integration within the larger design. Designers don’t have to learn a new environment for design but will receive a path to the Open Access database so that the designs can be configured and so the IP can be leveraged across others as needed, without the issue of translating. The Integrand tools will be integrated into the Virtuoso EM integration as a part of the EM solutions offered by Cadence. The Integrand addition will give designers access to Quantus Parasitic Extraction, EMX for silicon passive design and analysis, AXIEM for III-V, package, and planar antenna, along with the Clarity 3D Solver within the Virtuoso RF environment. The EM tool suite allows the designers to choose the right tool for the problem at hand and does not try to force designers into the one-techniques-fits-all-problems fallacy.

Related Resources

• Virtuoso RF Solution
• What’s New in Virtuoso (ICADVM18.1 Only)

For more information on Cadence circuit design products and services, visit www.cadence.com.

Contact Us

For any questions, general feedback, or even if you want to suggest a future blog topic, write to custom_ic_blogs@cadence.com.

About Virtuoso Meets Maxwell

Virtuoso Meets Maxwell series includes posts about the next-generation die, package, and board design flow with a focus on reinventing and optimizing the design process to ensure that the designer remains a designer! Keep watching!

Click Subscribe to submit your email address for receiving notifications about our latest Virtuoso Meets Maxwell posts. 

Michael Thompson