Design007 Magazine

Design007-Apr2021

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12 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2021 Feature Interview by the I-Connect007 Editorial Team e I-Connect007 editorial team recently spoke with Barry Olney of iCD about simula- tion. Barry, a columnist for Design007 Magazine, explains why simulation tools can have such a steep learning curve, and why many design engineers are still not using simulation on complex high-speed designs. Barry also highlights common mistakes that design engineers make using simulation tools, and he offers a variety of tips and techniques for anyone dealing with simulation challenges. Among them: Don't trust reference designs and datasheets. Andy Shaughnessy: What are some of the big- gest problems in simulation? In our surveys, engineers say that they have trouble doing sim- ulation and analysis. What is so tough about it? Barry Olney: I think the biggest problem, Andy, is time, and that's the same with PCB design in general. e PCB design is the last process in Barry Olney's High-Speed Simulation Primer the design flow, and when I get a job for a board layout, it's already behind schedule. I've never ever had a job where it was on schedule and everything was running smoothly. So, you're pushed for time during the whole process, and to add simulation on top of that, that pushes it back another week or so. Management is reluc- tant to do it because they think, "Well, it may work and then we can get it through just a little bit behind schedule, but if we leave it another week then it delays things even further." It seems they don't have time to do it right the first time, but they've got the time for a re-spin. A lot of engineering managers actually sched- ule in a re-spin because they believe they need at least two iterations before they get a working product. So, time is the biggest factor. at's why they generally tend to skip simulation. ere's also the learning curve associated with the high-end tools that requires experience— not just with the tools, but with high-speed design rules. Sourcing IBIS models is another big issue. Maybe you can't find the model, so you have to compromise. IC vendors are now supplying most IBIS models, but for FPGAs,

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