FreeLists / si-list / [SI-LIST] Free SerDes modeling toolkit

["Todd Westerhoff" <twesterh@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone,
 

As I hope you're aware, the IBIS Advanced Technology Modeling (IBIS-ATM) task 
group has been working
to define a modeling standard for Serdes RX/TX models that will provide 
interoperability across EDA
tools and IP vendor models.  This group has been working on a proposal for 
modeling SerDes
equalization and clock recovery behavior using "executable" models that conform 
to a standardized
calling interface.  The proposal addresses how models are loaded and executed, 
how waveform data is
passed to/from the model and how model-specific control settings are managed.  
These models are
known as IBIS Algorithmic Modeling Interface (IBIS-AMI) models.  IBIS BIRD 104 
was recently
submitted to the IBIS Open Forum for discussion and is jointly authored by 
Agilent, Cadence, Intel,
Mentor, SiSoft and Teraspeed.

 

This isn't traditional IBIS-based time domain analysis as you normally think of 
it.  Serial link
analysis with these models first involves characterizing the target channel in 
terms of an impulse
response (using any one of a variety of methods), then performing analysis 
using IBIS-AMI models to
analyze the effects of transmit/receive equalization and the behavior of the 
receiver's clock
recovery circuit.  This analytical flow is similar to a number of other SerDes 
analysis tools
(including both SerDes vendor proprietary tools and open source tools).  The 
traditional SerDes
challenge has been that everyone's SerDes tools and models were 
implementation-specific; it has been
difficult (at best) to take a model from one tool and use it another.  The goal 
of the IBIS-AMI
effort has been to establish a modeling standard for SerDes equalization and 
clock recovery that
enables models to be used in multiple tools and that allows different SerDes 
vendor's models to be
run in the same simulation.    

  

You can find detailed information on the task group's efforts on-line: 

 

http://www.eda-stds.org/pub/ibis/macromodel_wip/

 

SiSoft provides a free "IBIS-AMI Evaluation Toolkit" that lets users run basic 
channel simulations
and see how equalization affects channel behavior.  The toolkit has just been 
updated to make
simulation output data easier to load into commercial waveform display tools 
(sorry, but I haven't
had the time to test the output with the different free waveform viewers 
mentioned this week .).  If
you're interested, you can download the latest version of the toolkit here:

 

http://www.eda-stds.org/pub/ibis/macromodel_wip/archive/20071016/sisoft/SiSoft_IBIS-AMI_Eval_Toolkit
_v2_00.zip 

 

The toolkit is posted as a .zip file that contains a basic simulation tool, a 
sample 4-tap TX model
(both executable and source code), along with sample data and basic 
documentation.  Executables are
provided for both Windows and Linux platforms.  You can use this toolkit to 
perform analyses with
the channel data provided, or you can substitute data for your own channel 
design.  If you want to
perform analyses on your own designs, you'll need to be able to characterize 
your channels
independently and create an impulse response in the format required by the 
toolkit.

 

The toolkit is provided free by SiSoft; you are welcome to use it as you wish, 
subject to the
conditions laid out in the "license.txt" file.  

 

The mailer ibis-ami-toolkit@xxxxxxxxxxxxx has been established for discussions 
about SerDes modeling
toolkits available from SiSoft and other EDA vendors.  You can join the 
ibis-ami-toolkit mailer
through the following URL: http://www.freelists.org/list/ibis-ami-toolkit 

 

Your comments are welcome and greatly appreciated.

 

Todd.


Todd Westerhoff
VP, Software Products
SiSoft
6 Clock Tower Place, Suite 250
Maynard, MA 01754
(978) 461-0449 x24
twesterh@xxxxxxxxxx
www.sisoft.com

 



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