Mixed-Signal Solutions

Mixed-signal applications are among the fastest growing market segments in the electronics and semiconductor industry. From watching mobile digital TV to reading on your tablet to auto-pilot cars, consumers expect electronics to do more—in more places—than ever before. Driven by growth opportunities in mobile communication, networking, power management, automotive, medical, imaging, safety and security applications, many silicon vendors are refocusing their business on RF, high-performance analog and mixed-signal designs.

Cadence’s unified mixed-signal solutions are comprehensive, interoperable, and proven, backed by our more than 20 years of expertise in helping customers achieve first-silicon success and meet shortened time-to-market goals.

Mixed-Signal Design Challenges

Higher integration, along with the migration to advanced-process nodes, brings new challenges to mixed-signal design, particularly in implementation and verification:

Top Implementation Challenges

• Seamless data/constraints flow between analog and digital tools
• Integration of mixed-signal IP at the system-on-chip (SoC) level
• Physical design turnaround time
• Mixed-signal design signoff analysis (timing, power, and noise)
• Engineering change order (ECO) productivity

Top Verification Challenges

• Simulation performance
• Simulation model creation
• Unified verification methodology covering analog and digital design parts
• Verifying logic connectivity including low-power verification
• Accurate power analysis

Unified Mixed-Signal Methodology

Cadence’s mixed-signal solution addresses implementation and verification challenges and delivers a comprehensive, interoperable, and production-proven methodology. All design steps, including early design planning, front-end design, functional verification, physical implementation, signoff, and packaging, are shared responsibilities between analog and digital teams.

• Comprehensive: Unifies a wide spectrum of products and technologies with advanced methodologies
• Interoperable: Enables a collaborative design approach where analog and digital design teams work concurrently, sharing design data and information using the OpenAccess common database that improves overall efficiency and turnaround time
• Proven: Production proven, having addressed the needs of the mixed-signal design community for over 20 years, delivering thousands of successful tapeouts