News and New Products

Ansoft releases target high-speed-circuit and electromagnetic design

Versions 4 of Nexxim and Ansoft Designer include new statistical-analysis and transient-simulation capabilities.

By Rick Nelson, Editor in Chief -- EDN, 4/1/2008

Ansoft has announced new releases of its Nexxim high-capacity circuit-simulation software and Ansoft Designer integrated schematic and design-management software, as well as new releases of its Maxwell electromagnetic field simulation software.

Versions 4 of Nexxim and Ansoft Designer include new statistical-analysis and transient-simulation capabilities that allow engineers to rapidly simulate high-speed serial channel behavior. These capabilities eliminate prototype iterations that require expensive test equipment and multiple spins that delay time-to-market. The releases target the design of serial data channels such as PCI Express, Serial ATA, Gigabit Ethernet, and HDMI, which can tolerate only one bit in billions being in error. Previous methods for simulating link performance required long simulation times to capture these low bit error rates (BERs). The new software releases give engineers methods to predict system-level performance with eye-diagram plots and BER curves.

Nexxim v4 features VerifEye, a new methodology for eye analysis of serial links using statistical methods that maintain accuracy while offering major reductions in run time compared with conventional transient methods. These statistical transient analysis tools represent the most practicable means to test for the low bit error rates needed by today's multi-Gb/s channel designers.

Nexxim v4 also features QuickEye, a new fast eye-diagram-analysis method that allows input of very long, user-defined bit streams. This analysis allows engineers to identify specific bit sequences that cause bit errors. In addition, Nexxim v4 features new mixed system-level behavioral simulation with transistor-level transient simulation. This hybrid integration enables designers to simulate a complete system consisting of various levels of abstraction much more quickly than in simulators that operate at only the transistor level.

Ansoft Designer v4 features a new "push excitation" feature and enhanced dynamic links to Nexxim and to Ansoft's leading electromagnetic field simulation tools HFSS, SIwave, and Q3D Extractor. These products combine to allow engineers to accurately predict signal integrity effects and EMI/EMC performance of advanced electronic systems, including gigabit communication channels, multi-function high-speed wireless systems and sophisticated microwave systems.

Maxwell v12 for motors, actuators, and transformers

Maxwell v12 and RMxprt v12 serve in the design and analysis of 3D/2D structures, such as motors, actuators, transformers used in automotive, military/aerospace, and industrial systems. RMxprt is a specialized program dedicated to the design of electric machines. Maxwell v12 includes a new 3D electric transient solver that solves time-varying electric fields due to a transient disturbance, such as lightning strikes on electrical equipment. The new version also is equipped with a model-healing feature, which will automatically identify and resolve potential problems with geometry imported from popular CAD systems. RMxprt v12 has been upgraded with a new capability to solve 3-phase non-salient synchronous machines, automated project setup for Maxwell, and a new wire library allowing motor designers to study the effects of various wire types of a design prior to physical prototype creation.