Cadence Introduces the Spectre X Simulator, a Massively Parallel Circuit Simulator Delivering Up to 10X Faster Simulation with the Same Golden Accuracy

The Spectre X simulator also delivers an increase in capacity of up to 5X for today's large, advanced-node designs

SAN JOSE, Calif., 03 Jun 2019 -- Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS) today announced the Cadence^® Spectre^® X Simulator, a massively parallel circuit simulator designed to provide up to 10X performance gains, while maintaining the golden accuracy customers have come to expect from 25 years of Spectre industry leadership in analog, mixed-signal and RF applications. The new Spectre X simulator can solve 5X larger designs when compared to previous simulation solutions, enabling customers to effectively simulate circuits containing millions of transistors and billions of parasitics in a post-layout verification flow.

For more information on the new Spectre X Simulator, please visit www.cadence.com/go/SpectreX.

The new Spectre X simulator offers customers the following benefits:

• Proven Accuracy: The Spectre X simulator delivers the same golden accuracy as previous generations of Spectre simulators, which analog designers have relied on for years. For users that want to trade off accuracy for performance, the Spectre X simulator provides a single control that lets users easily determine the right accuracy/performance tradeoff needed for their particular design.
• Massively Distributed Simulation: The solution enables users to distribute time-domain and frequency-domain simulations on hundreds of CPUs and take advantage of the scalability of data center or cloud infrastructure.
• Faster Runtime: Utilizing better numerical techniques and modern compute hardware, the Spectre X simulator offers up to 10X faster simulation on 5X larger designs without sacrificing accuracy.
• Ease of Adoption: Built on the principles that have made the Spectre circuit simulator the industry gold standard, the Spectre X simulator uses the existing foundry-certified device models without modification. Additionally, the Spectre X simulator supports existing Spectre design flows such as the Cadence Virtuoso^® ADE Product Suite, Virtuoso RF Solution, Legato^™ Reliability Solution, and Liberate^™ Characterization Suite.
• Mixed-Signal Support: The Spectre X simulator is tightly integrated with the Cadence Xcelium^™ Parallel Logic Simulation for mixed-signal verification using Spectre AMS Designer, providing full support for mixed-signal behavioral languages and real number modeling methodologies.

“The Spectre X Simulator marks the next generation of trusted simulators from Cadence, providing customers with the accuracy and speed needed to complete their designs efficiently to meet aggressive time-to-market goals,” said Tom Beckley, Cadence senior vice president and general manager, custom IC and PCB Group. “We have multiple customers already using the Spectre X simulator, and they are experiencing excellent results. With its massively parallel technology, faster runtime, and greater capacity, it’s the ideal simulator for use on advanced-node, analog, RF and mixed-signal designs.”

Endorsements

“Analog accuracy is of paramount importance for our high-precision circuits, regardless of size and complexity. We have simulated our advanced-node 5G designs with the Spectre X simulator and it shows up to 7X run-time improvement, even when factoring in large amounts of parasitics in post-layout verification. This verification process will result in improved yields and enhanced reliability for MediaTek’s customers and consumers.”

• Ching San Wu, General Manager, Analog Design and Circuit Technology, MediaTek

“As a world-leading supplier of computer networking products using InfiniBand and Ethernet technology, it is critical that we accurately simulate advanced node designs fast to meet our aggressive time-to-market schedule. Through our use of Spectre X simulator, we have experienced up to 10x performance gain compared to our existing solution while maintaining accuracy that Spectre simulators are known for.”

• Yonatan Malkiman, VP, Advanced Solutions at Mellanox Technologies

"Analog verification is increasingly critical for our advanced designs targeted for the automotive, industrial and broad-based industries. We've participated in the early adoption program for the Spectre X Simulator using several designs, and have seen up to 10X performance gains with Spice-level accuracy. We look forward to using the Spectre X Simulator for our production designs that require performance and capacity improvements."

• Nobuhiko Goto, Director of Design Automation Department, Shared R&D Division 2, Broad-based Solution Business Unit, Renesas Electronics Corporation

“Post-layout verification is critical for our analog designs. Our designs require a simulator with SPICE-like accuracy, high performance and very large capacity so we can simulate them with thousands of parasitics. We evaluated several different vendors but chose the Spectre X simulator because we routinely saw a 5X improvement in overall simulation performance, saving us days of simulation time during our PLL testing.”

• Hyun-Kyu Jeon, Ph.D., Director/Laboratory Leader. R&D Laboratory, Silicon Works Co., Ltd.

About Cadence

Cadence enables electronic systems and semiconductor companies to create the innovative end products that are transforming the way people live, work and play. Cadence^® software, hardware and semiconductor IP are used by customers to deliver products to market faster. The company’s Intelligent System Design strategy helps customers develop differentiated products—from chips to boards to systems—in mobile, consumer, cloud data center, automotive, aerospace, IoT, industrial and other market segments. Cadence is listed as one of Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For. Learn more at www.cadence.com.