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Ron Bishop- CST Specialist Phx Phone= (602) 224-2103
2800 N. 44th St.; Suite 100 Pdx Phone= (503) 685-1992
Phoenix, AZ. 85008 Fax= (602) 956-4228
email- [email protected]
Mentor Graphics- Interconnectix Business Unit
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"Don't Take Life So Seriously - It's Not Like It's Permanent."
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Weber Chuang [SMTP:[email protected]]
> Sent: Monday, April 20, 1998 12:03 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: RE : [SI-LIST] : Need your comments in selection of SI
> simula
>
> Dear Allen,
>
> We are also currently using QUAD/xtk, and Hspice as well, like what
> Michael said, QUAD is mainly a post-layout analysis tool, you can't
> combine it with your router automatically to do routing based on
> electrical rule or class(at least I do not know how to, and I heard
> from
> one of my friends that Cadence can do this, Mentor has a toolkit
> called
> Board-500 that can do this, but the calculating engine seems to be
> QUAD/xtk/xfx which is now merged by Viewlogic/Synopsys). But the
> accuracy is good if you can build correct environment(module, stackup,
> IBIS, connector...). We will have more correlation work done once we
> get
> the TDR and 10GHz scope next month.
> To do SI analysis, you need to be pretty familiar with the S/W's
> platform as well as transmission line theory and PC system architect(I
> know you are PC system maker), only then can you fully understand what
> you are doing and how to improve the SI issue as well as simulation
> accuracy. There might be a long way to go.
> For SSO noise, there is little that a system house can do, but you
> can
> focus on signal integrity as well as static timing analysis(QUAD has a
> tool called MOTIVE that can accept the output of XTK, in the new
> release
> of Mentor's S/W, they have something alike(called TAU or what), I
> don't
> know the status of Cadence, you may need to check it out, we develop
> our
> own in-house tool for this purpose with PERL and VBasic/excel).
> By the way, good supporting is also a very important factor, as far
> as
> I know, the supporting FAE of QUAD/xtk in Taiwan has just joined
> Mentor
> Taiwan in April, he knows QUAD/xtk somewhat, but it might take 2 or 3
> months for him to get used to Mentor, Viewlogic/QUAD might need the
> same
> time to build up a new supporter though maybe not mature enough,
> supporting people of Cadence is from PCB side(but really senior, he
> was
> my colleague while I was in Mentor), not from RD side(maybe they have
> hired new staff now, you need to find out). I try not to stand in
> favor
> of any side, and I hope it helps.
>
> Best Regards
>
> Weber Chuang(ChingFu Chuang)
> SI Group Leader, System Team.
> VIA Technologies, Inc.
> Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
> http://www.via.com.tw
> Very Innovative Architecture
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Michael Cohen [SMTP:[email protected]]
> > Sent: Thursday, April 16, 1998 10:52 PM
> > To: [email protected]
> > Subject: Re: [SI-LIST] : Need your comments in selection of SI
> > simula
> >
> > >> Dear sir:
> > >>
> > >> Currently, we are preparing to introduce the signal integrity
> > CAD tool
> > >> into our motherboard design flow. The two candidates are Quad
> > and
> > >> Mentor. Can you kindly give us your opinions about the
> product
> > of
> > >> those two company such that we can make a proper selection.
> > >>
> > >> Best regards!
> > >>
> > >> Allen
> >
> >
> > We currently use the Quad XTK toolset, but are seriously looking at
> > using the
> > Cadence SPECCTRAQuest toolset, as Quad XTK does not give us an
> > adequate early,
> > pre-route, SI solution. We will continue to use Quad XTK for
> > post-route
> > analysis.
> >
> > The key to any decision you make is what do you already have in
> place
> > for the
> > rest of you CAD tools (schematic capture, board placement, board
> > routing,
> > etc.). If the majority of your tools are Cadence, then you should
> > seriously
> > investigate SPECCTRAQuest. If they are Mentor tools, stay in that
> > line. If
> > the tools are a hodgepodge of vendors, you should look into bringing
> > them into
> > one, either Cadence, Synopsys (Quad & ViewLogic are now owned by
> > Synopsys), or
> > Mentor. All these tools have their strenghts and weaknesses; the
> > other key is
> > to determine your company's needs and work from them. Don't make a
> > rash
> > judgement; bring them in, evaluate them, then make YOUR decision.
> >
> > Mike