Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1472851
36 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2022 five gigabits per second on a DDR5 bus, things get to a point where you need to look at the signal, the power, and the ground because now they all interact. at's the same, whether on a board, on the package, or whether you're on an interposer; you just may use different mate- rial properties to be able to model the inter- connect. A sophisticated, full wave 3D field solver can work in all those types of applications if it has the speed, the capacity, and the ability to crunch that large of a problem. at's where Clarity 3D Solver comes in. It's unique in the industry in its ability to apply Maxwell's equa- tions to make accurate, full-wave 3D assess- ments of how the interconnect is going to behave, do so on a very large scale, and in a timeframe that allows an engineer to make a decision based on that simulation results. Johnson: Not in post-processing, but during the design process? Griffin: Again, it's always going to vary, but you're right. For example, if somebody is routing that differential pair and they really don't want to put any vias in place because they know it's going to cause some discontinuity, but they need to find out if it will work, then this is where, in design, you can call on Clarity in the middle of design. Clarity can give you an S parameter. You can plug that S parameter into a circuit simulator, and you can look at the eye diagram and determine whether it will work. You can make that decision in design instead of waiting until the end, with your fin- gers crossed hoping that it's going to work. at's the case where you prob- ably get your answer back in min- utes. ere are other cases where you're looking at something bigger and you're saying, "I'm willing to let this run overnight." Again, I think this is where Clarity comes into play, where other field solv- ers might be running for weeks before they get the answer. e speed and the capacity of Clarity is really opening up what signal integ- rity and power integrity engineers can do in the design process. Johnson: I've been hearing a lot about Sigrity X. Tell us about it. Griffin: Sigrity X is what we call the new version that has the 10X faster simulation capabilities. at's where the matrix solver comes in. Johnson: Are we still living in a world where you can have these processes running for days and weeks? Griffin: Oh yes, absolutely. We see this all the time. If the compute power is there, people will use it. ey must simulate this altogether as one structure, and they're willing to wait a week for that answer, if that's what it takes. en we show them they can get it done in 10 hours now. at's a big difference. Brad Griffin