Survey of Simulation and Macromodeling Techniques

Abstract

There are many different types of simulation, as described in. There are many trade-offs between those various types. The primary trade-off is between accuracy and speed. An assessment of existing macromodeling techniques is necessary in order to understand current practices and to identify which of those practices may contribute to the development of new macromod- els which address current design issues. In Section 2.2, circuit simulation techniques (i.e., direct-based, tearing-based, and relaxation-based) are described. In Section 2.3, general concepts (i.e., definition, goals, types, applications, limitations, etc.) of macromodeling techniques are discussed. In Section 2.4, gate-level simulation and macromodeling techniques are reviewed. In addition, switch-level simulation techniques (for switch-level functional verification without timing information) are also discussed. In Section 2.5, switch-level timing simulation and macromodeling techniques are discussed in detail. In Section 2.6, a detailed summary of several approaches to fast-timing simulation are provided and their limitations are discussed. In Section 2.7, interconnection analysis and gate delay modeling techniques with interconnections are described. Finally, mixed-mode simulation approaches are discussed. (Note that discrete modeling and simulation of digital circuits at the logic, functional, and behavioral levels are well discussed in 7)