Improve verification productivity by up to 5 times
nm-level SPICE accuracy and advanced debugging features
Verification infrastructure can be reused while maintaining the existing model.
Mentor, Siemens Business announced on the 22nd that it is launching the 'Symphony Mixed-Signal Platform'.

This platform combines Analog FastSPICE (AFS) circuit simulators certified by major foundries with industry-standard HDL simulators, enabling fast and accurate verification of complex nanometer-scale mixed-signal ICs. Through Symphony, which offers an intuitive user model and allows for the full reuse of existing verification infrastructure, the productivity of mixed-signal verification tasks can be improved by up to five times compared to traditional flows.

SoCs used in high-performance computing, IoT, and automotive applications feature numerous high-performance, low-noise mixed-signal interfaces. A flexible mixed-signal verification platform is required to support designers in verifying connectivity, functionality, and performance across the mixed-signal circuits of these chips. These mixed-signal circuits drive a very large number of mixed-signal simulations at the block and higher levels. Mixed-signal simulation solutions must be fast, accurate, and easy to use, and seamlessly integrated into existing analog and digital verification flows to meet time-to-market requirements.

Mentor's Symphony platform was redeveloped from scratch to solve complex mixed-signal verification problems. Symphony's modular architecture provides fast mixed-signal simulation performance using Mentor's AFS circuit simulator, features nanometer-level SPICE accuracy, and is compatible with all major digital solvers, including Mentor's Questa function verification tool suite.

Brian Buell, Design Director at IDT, stated, “The reason IDT adopted Symphony as a standard is that our timing products require high-accuracy verification for high-speed phase-locked loops (PLLs) that combine digital correction blocks with analog functions.” He added, “Using Mentor’s ‘Symphony Mixed-Signal Platform,’ we can efficiently run multiple test benches, enabling us to verify the validity of our digital correction operations for PLLs with three times better performance than previous solutions.” He further noted, “Symphony has significantly improved our verification productivity through its intuitive setup and usage model, as well as its excellent debugging capabilities.”

Users can maximize the reuse of existing verification infrastructure, including test benches, encrypted IP blocks, and digital/analog netlists, through Symphony while maintaining existing usage models. The combination of Symphony’s accuracy, performance, and intuitive user model with powerful debugging capabilities and extensive support for boundary elements and configurations enables comprehensive verification functions, including connectivity and functionality checks as well as the characterization of mixed-signal IP across the entire A/D subsystem.

Rémi Le Révérend, Design Director of the Sensing Solutions Group at Semtech, a leading IC supplier in the field of touch and proximity sensing applications, said, “To ensure our touch and proximity sensor ICs fully comply with specifications on the first attempt, full-chip simulations must be run with high accuracy,” adding, “If these simulations are run at the transistor level, the incredibly slow speed results in unacceptable outcomes where turnaround times reach days.”

“We were able to complete these simulations in just a few hours using Mentor’s Symphony mixed-signal platform while achieving the same results as full-transistor-level simulations,” they added. “Because productivity has been significantly improved thanks to Symphony’s simple usage model and the ability to seamlessly integrate into verification flows, we will continue to solve our verification problems with Symphony.”

“Our customers are demanding significantly improved productivity compared to existing mixed-signal verification flows,” said Mentor Ravi Subramanian, General Manager and Vice President of IC Verification Solutions. “We are proud to provide another key capability for our analog/mixed-signal verification product portfolio through the Symphony mixed-signal platform.”

In addition, "through this, customers can obtain high-performance, nanometer-level SPICE accuracy mixed-signal verification capabilities simply and "By utilizing excellent usage models, we will be able to launch superior products much faster," they stated.