The
software consists of four tools, which follow the rational sequence of
actions to be taken in the design flow of the above passive components
on silicon. The first two tools are used, via a simple user interface,
to perform the first-guess design of the structures to be realized. In
particular, a tool (called the Geometric Calculator) is used to evaluate the possible geometrical dimensions, given the desired inductance value and the other (called the LQR Calculator)
to assess, given the geometrical dimensions and values related to the
technological process that will be used (namely, the design-kit
parameters), inductance quality factor and resistance. Figure 1 shows
the input window of the LQR Calculator. Figure 1. Input window of the LQR Calculator. The third tool (called the EM Structure Simulator)
deals with the management of the electromagnetic simulation. This is
implemented through a wizard, which guides the designer through the
different design stages of the structure within the electromagnetic
simulator and simulator settings. The strength of MIDAS is particularly
expressed by this tool, which can reduce the time traditionally spent
at this design stage, reducing it from several hours to few minutes.
The fourth tool (called theEquivalent Circuit Extractor ) is ultimately
responsible for the creation of the equivalent circuit of the structure
simulated by starting from the results of the EM simulation. In
particular, making use of the Y-parameters, the tool extracts all
lumped elements (resistors, capacitors and inductors) of an equivalent
pi-circuit.
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