7 facts on spice simulators

Post date: Sep 15, 2016 3:39:53 PM

Introduction

It has been almost five decades since Laurence W Nagel wrote the first circuit simulation engine SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) at the University of California at Berkeley in 1970s. It has been morphed into many different commercial versions such as HSPICE. Circuit simulator based on Berkeley spice continue to flood the EDA marketplace.

SPICE Types

As process node and capacity demands changes, circuit simulators have evolved int three broad categories.

1. True SPICE (e.g. Synopsys HSPICE)
2. Fast SPICE (e.g. Cadence spectre APS, Synopsys FineSim)
3. Hybrid SPICE (e.g. Mentor AFS, Synopsys xa)

Parallel technology is like a herb on SPICE. It is applicable to speed up all three types of simulators, hence not listed as separate categories. The table below summarizes core architecture trade-offs of these simulators.

Summary

Next time you run spice, keep this table in mind to determine trade off performance, capacity, and accuracy early in the flow. Let this table be your guide to avoid issues (like DC convergence) in your simulation. Another lazy and effective way to use trade-offs and avoid issues is to use circuit simulation accelerator like PASER .