Mentor Blogs

I have written a time or two about my daughter’s piano recitals. As luck would have it, springtime is yet another popular recital season. This time my daughter had two – one for her own piano teacher’s studio, and the other as an invited duet accompanist to play in a friend’s recital. All-in-all, not a bad way to spend a mid-spring evening. As I listened to students play their prepared pieces, I noticed … Read More

Modeling, Mechatronics

I’ve been away from my blog for a couple of months helping the SystemVision Engineering team with a few details related to our upcoming release: SystemVision 5.10. We’re excited about this new release. It introduces, among other things, a new way to create simulation models from a variety of data sources. We think this new capability will make it much easier to create SystemVision simulation models. … Read More

Modeling

In Part 1 of this series I started work on a simple resistor model as a way to illustrate some of the flexibility the VHDL-AMS language offers when creating simulation models. Recall that one of the advantages of VHDL-AMS is adding detail to models – a benefit not available with all modeling languages or methods. With VHDL-AMS, it’s possible to get your model and simulator to report performance … Read More

Modeling

Like many youth since time began and there were pianos to play, my daughter takes piano lessons. In musical ways, she is much like her mom. Both play piano and sing beautifully. And like her mom, my daughter’s talent is several notches above average, at the level that leaves you wanting to hear more when each piece is over. I recently attended a recital to listen to my daughter and her fellow … Read More

Modeling

I’m back at my keyboard after a brief, but enjoyable, vacation. Like last year, I trekked with my family to the Oregon Coast. Yes, we enjoy time at the beach, though this time we travelled with extended family so we spent a bit more time driving around site seeing than playing in the tide. In seven days I personally logged some 1200 miles in the driver’s seat. Luckily I don’t mind … Read More

Modeling

In Part 5 of this series we used the mathematical descriptions of the thermal and electrical properties of an incandescent lamp to create the architecture of a VHDL-AMS-based simulation model. Now it’s time to finish the model, and this blog series, by creating a VHDL-AMS entity for the lamp model. As I mentioned in Part 5, the VHDL-AMS entity defines how a model connects to other elements in a system, … Read More

HDL, Modeling, analog modeling

If you’ve followed this Analog Modeling series, you know we’ve been talking about a general process for HDL-based modeling of analog behavior. If you’re new to the discussion, or simply want to review what we’ve talked about so far, check these links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. In my last post we developed a set of equations describing the relationship between the thermal … Read More

HDL, analog modeling, Modeling

It’s time to dig a little deeper into the incandescent lamp behavior I introduced in Part 3 of this blog series. My goal is to select a set of equations that best describe the elements of the lamp’s behavior that I want to quantify during simulation. Recall my comment in Part 3 that a lamp has several characteristics worth analyzing including electrical properties, thermal properties, aging … Read More

vhdl-ams training, HDL, analog modeling, Modeling

Welcome to the third installment in my Analog Modeling blog series. In Part 1 I wrote about why equations are important for simulation. In Part 2 I suggested a process flow for turning device equations into a simulation model, and introduced the basic structure of a VHDL-AMS model. Now it’s time to begin the model definition process. As I outlined in Part 2, the first step is deciding what you want … Read More

HDL, analog modeling, Modeling

In Analog Modeling – Part 1 I reviewed the importance of equation selection in the analog modeling process. In a nutshell, the first step in getting good simulation results is choosing equations that best describe the behavior or device you want to analyze. Your analog equation set could be as simple as a single transfer function describing the relationship between the inputs and outputs of a … Read More

HDL, Modeling, analog modeling

I recently spent some time rummaging around my basement. I suppose my basement is not unlike many others — it’s kind of my family’s catch-all storage place for items too big to fit in a closet. Besides housing my HVAC and water heating systems, my basement is home to a variety of holiday decorations, lots of canned, bottled, and bulk food items, a small collection of mismatched folding tables … Read More

Modeling, analog modeling

As engineers we often use “system” to describe different levels of design abstraction. Chip designers refer to integrated circuits as systems on chips. Audio designers refer to an amplifier as a system. Aircraft brake designers create systems for stopping aircraft. There truly are a variety of ways to define and implement a system. And most things we call a system are really just a subsystem … Read More

Modeling

Once in awhile I work with customers who want to move VHDL-AMS models between multiple simulators. The ability to do so is one of the great promises of standard modeling languages and, at face value, should be an easy task. After all, if a language is an industry standard, and multiple simulation tools claim to support it, then moving models between tools should be a plug-and-play process, right? Well, … Read More

Modeling, IEEE 1076.1

One of the most important things I’ve learned during my 20+ years working with simulation tools is simply this: my simulation results will only be as good as my models. While not a revolutionary concept, it’s none the less a fact of system simulation that anyone using a simulator in their design process knows. But there is an equally important companion principle: my model will only give me the … Read More

Mixed-Signal, IEEE 1076.1, Modeling

All EDA companies share a common business objective: convincing customers to buy their tools over the competition. Among other marketing tasks, we search for graphics that best express the value of our tools, graphics that customers can look at and immediately understand. Having worked on many charts and graphs myself over the years, I’ll admit it’s not an easy job to find or develop just the right … Read More

Modeling, Add new tag