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The Cadence/Agilent RF/Mixed Signal IC Alliance is a far-reaching, multi-year technology alliance between Cadence Design Systems and Agilent Technologies.
Announced in February 2002, the alliance is dedicated to accelerating electronic product development in the communications industry by creating an improved design flow for wireless and optical/wireline communications applications.
The first product of the alliance is RF Design Environment, a platform that unites Agilent's leading wireless and wireline simulation technologies, model sets, and waveform viewing capabilities with the industry-standard design flow from Cadence. Analog/mixed signal designers now have direct access to an all-inclusive RF and high-frequency design solution from within Cadence Design Framework II.
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Cadence/Agilent Alliance - Questions and Answers
Guiding Principles
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General
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Design Flow
MMIC, Modules, and Board
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Product Roadmap
Guiding Principles
The alliance between Agilent and Cadence was developed in response to requests from our common RF/mixed-signal IC customers for an improved design flow for wireless and optical/wireline communications applications. The primary goal is the delivery of a more tightly integrated EDA solution that allows RF/MS IC customers to take full advantage of the complementary, industry leading offerings from both companies. The solutions will cover the complete RF/MS IC design flow from concept and system design, through individual chip and system test
By improving the integration of best-in-class design solutions with the Cadence framework, a broader range of useful technologies can be efficiently and effectively accessed. In addition, the Alliance's strong IC foundry relationships provide increased confidence that first pass prototypes designed in this environment will operate as expected. Our vision is that Alliance design flow improvements will ultimately result in designers spending more time getting high quality products to market faster, and less time dealing with tool integration issues.
Customer investments will be preserved through a product roadmap that builds on a solid, proven foundation, and simultaneously accelerates the advancement of even more efficient design flows. Through the use of Agilent's RFIC Dynamic Link, RF/MS IC developers already have access to an integrated front to back solution that incorporates both companies' products. The Agilent / Cadence joint development team is already actively working to improve and extend the integration work started with RFIC Dynamic Link.
Questions and Answers
General
- What are the benefits of the Alliance for RF/mixed-signal IC designers?
Cadence customers will benefit from better access to Agilent's capabilities in high frequency design, including simulators for: frequency-domain, envelope, high frequency system design, EM analysis, device modeling, and links to Agilent instrumentation.
Agilent's large scale RF/mixed signal IC customers will benefit from Cadence's strengths in IC design capture, time domain simulation, mixed signal expertise, layout and layout verification.
The primary purpose of the Alliance is to improve the interoperability between the Agilent and Cadence tools for RF/mixed-signal IC design. If you already use both products, you will benefit from the improved integration, reduced usage overhead, and increased capability of the integrated design flow.
- Who should I contact to purchase which products?
The Agilent products are still available from your Agilent sales team. The Cadence products are still available from your Cadence sales team. Under the terms of the Alliance, you can contact either company to get what you need. The first jointly developed integration extensions will be available exclusively from Agilent.
- What happens to subscription or time based licenses? What adjustments will be made to limited term licenses or bundles from each company?
The overriding philosophy will be to preserve or enhance the value of purchases already made including time-based licenses. Time based license and bundle programs will continue to be offered by both companies for all products including new or enhanced offerings. As each customer situation is unique, customers will need to work with their field representatives if they wish to synchronize licenses or change configurations.
- I need a solution now; what should I buy, and how can I be assured that what I buy will retain its value?
The joint development team of the alliance is focused on delivering fully integrated RF/mixed-signal IC design solutions so that our customers can better use the features of products from both companies in a single environment. Purchases made today from either company will be protected. In cases where a new or improved offering is available an upgrade path will be offered.
The recommended solution for those customers wishing to take immediate advantage of the best toolsets for RF/mixed-signal IC design, is a flow that integrates Cadence and Agilent products using the RFIC Dynamic Link. The initial joint development efforts are focused on extending the base RFIC Dynamic Link architecture to further improve interoperability between Agilent and Cadence products. Those customers purchasing the RFIC Dynamic Link will be provided with upgrade options for jointly developed products as they are made available.
- What is RFIC Dynamic Link and how will it be improved?
RFIC Dynamic Link is a product developed by Agilent, which allows the Agilent ADS simulation and display environment to be accessed from within the Cadence framework. RFIC designers can take advantage of the full breadth of the Agilent simulators and data display capabilities without reentering their Cadence based designs. RFIC Dynamic Link also allows designers to take full advantage of Cadence's advanced large-scale IC layout capabilities. The product was initially released two years ago and is being used successfully by many leading RFIC developers. More information can be found under RFIC Dynamic Link in the Products section of http://www.agilent.com/eesof-eda.
RFIC Dynamic Link will be used as a basis for the initial Alliance development work. Enhancements will be targeted at improving the level of integration and making it even easier for large scale RF/mixed-signal IC designers to take full advantage of the strengths provided by each companies products. Future developments will be designed and endorsed by both companies.
Design Flow
- What is the jointly recommended design flow and configuration solution for each customer segment?
The Alliance efforts are focused on large-scale RF/mixed-signal IC design, for wireless and optical/wireline communications applications. The recommended design flow for this segment is based on the integration of Cadence and Agilent tools via the RFIC Dynamic Link, which will be improved and significantly extended through deeper integration. At this time, there are no planned changes to the recommended design flows for other segments, such as MMIC, RF Module, Microwave Hybrid, and RF Board design. Investment in improving these design flows will continue as they have in the past. Consult your Agilent and/or Cadence sales representative to discuss possible design flow options for your specific application.
- I'm happy with my current all Cadence solution. How is this better for me than the current all Cadence flow?
Agilent's capabilities in high frequency design, including simulators for: frequency-domain, envelope, high frequency system design, EM analysis, device modeling, and links to Agilent instrumentation are a natural extension to the Cadence design environment. Adding Agilent to the Cadence design flow augments the flow to accommodate access to industry leading simulation and test capabilities from a single design environment.
- I'm happy with my current all Agilent solution. How is this better for me than the current all-Agilent flow?
Cadence is the industry standard design flow for large scale IC design. Cadence's strengths in IC design capture, time domain simulation, mixed signal simulation, layout and layout verification provide a better compliment to Agilent's RF design expertise for these applications. RF/MS IC designers will have access to a comprehensive front to back design solution with industry leading components that is supported by all major IC foundries.
Note that for other applications, such as RF board, RF module or MMIC design, Agilent will continue to develop new design technologies and further enhance design flows based on the ADS platform.
- Will the ADS schematic and layout database fundamentally change?
No.
MMIC, Modules and Board
- What does this mean for Agilent ADS customers designing modules and MMICs?
Agilent will continue to develop leading edge technologies that work with the ADS platform for all applications. As a result of the Alliance, Agilent developers will be able to concentrate their efforts on simulator improvements that will benefit all customers. ADS environment developers will be able to refocus their efforts on improvements targeted specifically for MMIC, and RF module applications. Evidence of this renewed focus will be apparent in upcoming ADS releases.
Product Roadmap
- What are Agilent's plans for continued development of the ADS design environment?
ADS is the leading platform for high frequency design and is Agilent EEsof's flagship product. Agilent will continue advance both ADS and it's associated RF simulation technologies. As a result of the Alliance, Agilent ADS environment developers will be able to focus their efforts on improvements that will directly benefit MMIC, microwave hybrid, RF module and RF board designers. These additional efforts will be evident in new features and enhancements found in future releases of ADS.
The Cadence/Agilent joint development team is focused on improving the large-scale RF/mixed-signal IC design flow. For these applications, the relevant ADS environment and simulation improvements will also be integrated with the Cadence framework.
- What will happen to Spectre RF? Who will develop it?
Under the terms of the Alliance Joint Development Contract, Cadence will continue to extend Spectre RF to meet the growing needs of our customers. In the near term, you can continue to get technical and application support from Cadence. Cadence simulator technology will become an important part of a more tightly integrated design flow being developed by the joint team.
- What about Windows PC customers? Will design capture and layout capabilities be available on the PC platform?
The ADS environment will continue to be developed to support both PC and Unix platforms. For MMIC and RF Module applications, PC/Windows users can continue to run ADS on a PC.
For customers using both Agilent and Cadence products for RF/mixed-signal IC applications, there are currently two supported methods for doing RF simulation and analysis on a PC. The first method involves using "freeze mode" with the RFIC Dynamic Link, where a design schematic in Cadence (Unix) can be embedded within an ADS (PC) test bench, and subsequent ADS simulations can be run "off line".
The second method involves the use of the ADS (PC) environment for the "front end" (design capture, simulation) of the design flow, and the Cadence (Unix) environment for the "back end" (layout, verification) of the design flow. This method is enabled by the ADS configurable netlist exporter, which provides a way to perform an LVS check between the schematic from ADS and the layout from Cadence Virtuoso.
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