W2308EP Channel Simulator Element

The Channel Simulator Element contains:

• Channel Simulator with Bit-by-bit and Statistical modes including support for the algorithmic modeling interface (AMI) flow in the industry-standard Input/output Buffer Information Specification (IBIS)
• Eye Probe component that delivers eye diagram analysis including BER contour and bathtub display. Includes eye mask utility with automatic mask violation checking
• Equalizer support with automatic tap optimization
• Ability to check cross-talk with multiple aggressors each at different data rates
• Correct treatment of jitter amplification

Chip-to-chip data links are found in almost all consumer and enterprise digital products produced today, from laptop computers to data center servers, telecommunication switching centers and Internet routers.

At lower speeds, SPICE allowed designers to perform simulations using lumped-element models. But at today’s multigigabit per second chip-to-chip data rates high-frequency and distributed effects such as impedance mismatch, reflections, crosstalk, skin effect, and dielectric loss come into play.

Accordingly, signal integrity engineers need to go beyond SPICE.Figure 1. Channel Simulator, Statistical mode

Signal integrity engineers need to determine ultralow bit error rate (BER) contours for thousands of points in the design space in order to select the optimum set of characteristics for transmitter, channel, and receiver. Even with multicore and modern linear algebra, transient simulation still takes a prohibitively long time: more than a day for a million bits.

To meet this need, Channel Simulator has two new modes that eliminate the need for long, transient simulations. It takes advantage of the fact that the traces, vias, bond wires, connectors, etc. of the channel are linear and time invariant (“LTI”). This fact lets you avoid the brute force approach of running the transient solver at every time step. You can determine ultralow BER contours in seconds not days. This enables very rapid and complete ‘what if’ design space exploration.

The table below compares the pros and cons of traditional transient with Channel Simulator in Bit-by-bit and Statistical modes.

Supported IBIS Keywords Table (myKeysight login required)

Dependencies (myKeysight login required)

Learn more about Keysight Advanced Design System (ADS) Simulation Elements