Ansoft Releases SIwave v3; New Version Adds Package and Board Co-Design and Dynamic-Link Technology For EMI/EMC.

PITTSBURGH -- Ansoft Corporation (NASDAQ:ANST) released SIwave(TM) v3, a full-wave electromagnetic-field simulator optimized for signal- and power-integrity analysis of high-performance printed circuit boards (PCBs) and integrated circuit (IC) packages. The new version provides expanded analysis capabilities for board and package co-design and EMI/EMC studies.

Customers in the computer, semiconductor, networking, communications and high-performance consumer electronics industries benefit from the new release as it broadens the scope of simulation, more closely realizes the complete system configuration and ultimately saves design time and cost as design re-spins are reduced.

Package and Board Co-Design

SIwave's full-wave, finite-element technique allows designers to characterize simultaneous switching noise (SSN), inter-symbol interference (ISI), power and ground bounce, resonances, reflections and coupling between traces and power/ground planes across the package and through the board. With the inclusion of enhanced via modeling and package/board co-simulation, engineers are now able to more accurately characterize the entire PCB populated with IC packages. New automation features streamline model and simulation set-up while providing the necessary flexibility to readily analyze complex PCBs within SIwave. Additionally, for chip-to-chip channel analysis, the new dynamic-link capability to Nexxim(R), Ansoft's next-generation, high-capacity circuit simulator, supports direct frequency- and time-domain analysis with IBIS or transistor-level accuracy from within Ansoft Designer(R) or DesignerSI(TM).

EMI/EMC Analysis

Far- and near-field data from SIwave can now be imported as a source driving HFSS(TM) v10, the industry-standard tool for 3D full-wave electromagnetic modeling. Imported fields can be from a previously solved project, or SIwave can be launched directly from HFSS v10 to run an analysis and provide extracted data. For example, SIwave and HFSS can now be combined to predict the electromagnetic radiation contained within, or escaping from, an enclosed space, such as computer housing related to the operation of high-speed complex PCBs.

Additional Highlights of SIwave v3 include:

--  Package and board co-simulation
   --  Dynamic link to HFSS for EMI/EMC
   --  Dynamic link to Ansoft Designer, DesignerSI and Nexxim for
       transistor-level and/or IBIS driver/receiver co-simulation
   --  Enhanced via modeling for greater accuracy of overall channel
       characterization
   --  Robust interpolating discrete sweep supporting fast frequency
       analysis
   --  RLGC extraction from S-parameters
   --  Pin grouping and automatic port generation
   --  Increased memory efficiency for solving larger problems
   --  Improved low-frequency characterization
       --  Enhanced DC resistance calculation
       --  Enhanced cavity-to-cavity resistive coupling

To learn more, visit www.ansoft.com/siwave.

To download high-resolution SIwave screenshots, go to ftp://ftp.ansoft.com/techsup/download/web/primg/siwave_v3.zip (zipped file, 1.75 MB).

About Ansoft

Ansoft is a leading developer of high-performance electronic design automation (EDA) software. Engineers use Ansoft software to design state-of-the-art electronic products, such as cellular phones, Internet-access devices, broadband networking components and systems, integrated circuits (ICs), printed circuit boards (PCBs), automotive electronic systems and power electronics. Ansoft markets its products worldwide through its own direct sales force and has comprehensive customer-support and training offices throughout North America, Asia and Europe. For more information, please visit www.ansoft.com.