Switch-level simulation based on local decisions

Abstract

This paper presents a switch-level simulation approach aimed for digital CMOS design. It is an object oriented approach where each node and each component is an independent object and makes its own decisions based on information received from connected objects. In order to handle pass transistors, while only making local decisions, the concept of signal paths is introduced. The conductance contributions through single transistors form ‘signal paths’, which carry information about influence from the signla sources. The local decision property makes this algorithm possible to integrate uniformly in a multi-level simulator, which is a clear advantage since this makes the multi-level simulator easier to understand, design and maintain. The use of signal paths also makes it possible to accurately calculate conductance of parallel transistor paths. Furthermore, the object oriented nature of this switch-level approach makes it compatible with gate level simulation, and thus suitable for execution on hardware accelerators.