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ams simulator vs psectre simulator for ams simulation (Read 94 times)
AMS_ei
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ams simulator vs psectre simulator for ams simulation
Apr 18th, 2017, 5:07am
 
Hi,

Could anyone please explain me how different it is if a design is being run with

a) using Spectre only (using .scs file) and b) using AMS-spectre simulator (using .vams file) for a transient analysis?

which one is more advantageous and useful for ams simulation?

Thank you.

Kind regards.
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Andrew Beckett
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Re: ams simulator vs spectre simulator for ams simulation
Reply #1 - Apr 21st, 2017, 1:51pm
 
Well, the main benefit of using AMS is if you have some digital behaviour in there somewhere - then you can take advantage of the event-driven engine in AMS to improve performance. If everything is at transistor level (or you just have verilog-a models) there is no benefit in using AMS as the simulator - you have a bit more overhead and it costs you more in terms of licenses. In other words, if everything is analog, using a circuit simulator is probably a better choice...
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Ken Kundert
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Re: ams simulator vs psectre simulator for ams simulation
Reply #2 - Apr 21st, 2017, 8:04pm
 
Some people wonder if AMS Designer is less accurate than Spectre. It is not. AMS Designer employs Spectre underneath, so you can expect similar behavior and accuracy.

If you system is entirely analog, then Andrew is right, using Spectre is generally best. It is a cheaper license, and you get a much wider palette of analysis choices (AMS Designer is largely constrained to transient analysis).

However, if you are simulating a mixed-signal system, it is generally much easier to write mixed-signal models in Verilog-AMS, and they can run much faster.

-Ken
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AMS_ei
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Re: ams simulator vs spectre simulator for ams simulation
Reply #3 - Apr 21st, 2017, 8:32pm
 
Hi,

Thank you, Andrew and Ken for your valuable inputs.
I have one doubt here.
If I run stand alone Spectre on any analog design, it generates the netlist in .scs format and then run on it.

If I run AMS simulator on any analog design, it generates netlist in .vams format and then run on it.

Did you mean that running a simulation on .vams netlist (AMS simulator) and on .scs netlist (for standalone spectre) will give the same results in accuracy?

Thank you.

Kind regards.
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Ken Kundert
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Re: ams simulator vs psectre simulator for ams simulation
Reply #4 - Apr 23rd, 2017, 1:45pm
 
Of course. It is the same information, just in a different format.

-Ken
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AMS_ei
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Re: ams simulator vs spectre simulator for ams simulation
Reply #5 - Apr 25th, 2017, 8:49am
 
Thank you, Ken for your valuable inputs.

Kind regards.
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