Coventor, Inc., the leading developer of MEMS design-automation software, announces the release of the MEMS+ product design platform that now includes tight integration to leading IC design software in a common environment.
This graphic shows the MEMS+ product modules. The links between the tool provide for a streamlined MEMS product design platform.
Over the past two years Coventor has seen a surge in demand for a comprehensive link between its MEMS design tools and leading mixed signal/analog IC design tools. This market pull is due to the consumerization of MEMS, moving from automotive, inkjet and DLP applications to smart phones, gaming devices and other human machine interface products. MEMS are becoming ubiquitous in consumer electronics.
There is no other MEMS design software product on the market today that is as complete and intuitive as MEMS+. With more than 50% reduction in design entry time over previous MEMS system level design tools, 10 to 100 times faster simulation speeds in comparison to finite element based analysis, and compatibility with existing IC design tools, MEMS+ opens the way for non-MEMS specialists to design MEMS devices into their products. MEMS+ also automates many of the tedious tasks involved in preparing designs for tape-out.
"We are providing an environment that will inspire innovations in MEMS-enabled products we cannot even imagine," said Mike Jamiolkowski, President and CEO of Coventor. "These will touch on healthcare, green energy, as well as consumer products." According to Yole Development market research, the MEMS market is forecast to grow from $6B to $49B over the next 10 years. Consumer electronic products are creating an inflection point in the MEMS market.
Coventor has worked closely with IDMs, fabless companies, and foundry partners to drive the development of MEMS+, and to validate it on diverse MEMS products including accelerometers, gyroscopes, micro-mirrors and RF-MEMS.
The first release of the MEMS+ platform offers:
- A fully parameterized 3-D design entry canvas (1) to assemble complete MEMS devices using MEMS elements such as beams, plates, electrostatic combs, etc. that are analogous to transistors, resistor and capacitor in IC design.
- Automatic generation of a parametric 2-D layout cell (PCell (5)), a schematic symbol and a simulation model (2). The MEMS or IC engineer places the schematic symbol of the MEMS device in an IC schematic (3) and runs simulations in an Analog Mixed Signal (AMS) simulator such as Cadence Virtuoso Spectre™ (4). The IC engineer can use the same model for coupled MEMS and IC simulations.
- MEMS simulation results can be visualized back in the 3-D environment to verify mechanical behavior. (6)
Key Features Benefits of MEMS+
- Intuitive 3D interface reduces design entry time by more than 50%
- Automatic MEMS behavioral model generation reduces errors and saves time
- Full parameterization of all MEMS design aspects enables rapid design variation studies and optimization
- Fast simulation runtimes allow for more complete simulation of device performance, including transient analyses that are too time consuming with FEA
- Use of the same circuit simulator for MEMS and IC simulation enables co-design and optimization of the MEMS device and signal conditioning electronics
- Automatic parametric layout cell (PCell) generation reduces errors and time to tape-out
The MEMS+ platform represents the culmination of Coventor's many years of experience in developing an extensive MEMS model library under the CoventorWare™ brand. This advanced modeling technology has been validated on a variety of production MEMS including accelerometers, gyroscopes, micro-mirrors, resonators and many more. Coventor's customer list includes majority of the top MEMS design and manufacturers worldwide.
MEMS+ is available now!