( ESNUG 420 Item 3 ) -------------------------------------------- [10/22/03]

Subject: ( ESNUG 419 #5 ) Be Sure To Use The HSIM Analog Artist Interface

> ... using Nasssda HSIM with Cadence Spectre.  In general, I find HSIM
> more useful for final verification of very large chip cores containing a
> combination of analog and digital blocks.  Most analog blocks are stacked
> with digital calibration for currents and caps, so the percentage of
> analog circuits in an "analog chip" such as a radio is slowly dropping.
> You need to simulate pad-to-pad with all transistors to establish
> functionality.  ... In addition to HSIM, we use behavior modeling for our
> digital blocks and Spectre/HSPICE for our analog blocks, then join them
> with SpectreVerilog. ...
>
>     - Seema Anand
>       Broadcom                                   Irvine, CA


From: Steven Klass <Steven.Klass=user  domain=nsc spot calm>

Hi, John,

We too use HSIM in a similar manner to Seema and I completely agree with
everything she states.  I would add that using the HSIM Analog Artist
Interface made our transistion from shifting from Spectre/spectreVerilog
to HSIMd very smooth.  There are some drawbacks to using the integrated
version -- specifically an inability to use it as a mixed mode simulator
via the interface but ability to use it stand alone is a huge drawback.

Having said that there are the obvious work arounds, and it should be
stated that's why they want you to use their Co-Sim AAI as well..

    - Steven Klass
      National Semiconductor Corp.               Phoenix, AZ