BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a conventional mixed-signal design;
FIGS. 2A and 2B are respectively a block diagram of a mixed-mode simulator and a schematic diagram used in a mixed-mode simulation performed by the mixed-mode simulator of FIG. 2A;
FIG. 3 is a timing diagram of digital output signal and digital-to-analog mixed signal of FIG. 2B;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a mixed-signal design provided in the invention;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a calibration method for mixed-mode simulation in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a timing diagram of digital output signal, digital-to-analog mixed signal, and ideal output signal;
FIGS. 7A and 7B are respectively a schematic diagram of steps 520 and 530 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention and a schematic diagram of a calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation of FIG. 7A;
FIG. 7C is a schematic diagram of a digital-to-analog interface element in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an embodiment in which a calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation is performed a predetermined number of times.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an embodiment in which a calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation is performed until extra delay time is shorter than a predetermined extra delay time;
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a calibration method for mixed-mode simulation in FIG. 8 when the predetermined number is 2;
FIG. 11 shows proper range of capacitance value corresponding to different buffers in FIGS. 7A-7C using the method of FIG. 10; and
FIG. 12 shows delay times of digital-to-analog mixed signals obtained by simulations with different mixed-mode simulators and calibrated using the calibration method of the invention, for every corner case of FIG. 11.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a mixed-signal design provided in the invention, differing from that of FIG. 1 only in that standard delay format DATA-SDF generated in step 14 is not provided directly to a mixed-mode simulator. Rather, it is calibrated to DATA-SDF′ in step 40 before being provided to the mixed-mode simulator. In addition, standard delay format DATA-SDF generated in step 19 can also be calibrated to DATA-SDF′ in step 40 before provided to the mixed-mode simulator.
The following describes in detail calibration for mixed-mode simulation used in step 40.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a calibration method for mixed-mode simulation in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As shown, in step 510, a partial circuit at the output end in a digital circuit on which the mixed-mode simulation is to be performed (digital circuit 24 in FIG. 2) is selected as a digital output circuit. In step 520, a partial circuit at the input end in an analog circuit on which the mixed-mode simulation is to be performed (analog circuit 26 in FIG. 2) is selected as an analog input circuit. In an embodiment, the digital output circuit is selected as the logic components at the last stage of the digital circuit, and the analog input circuit is selected as an input capacitor of the analog circuit.
In step 530, a simulation is performed on the digital output circuit connected with the analog input circuit using a transistor level simulator such as SPICE or a gate level simulator such as VERILOG along with static timing analysis, and an ideal output O-IDEAL is obtained. FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram used in the steps 520 and 530 in an embodiment. As shown, a buffer 71 at the last stage of a digital circuit is selected as a digital output circuit, an input capacitor 72 of an analog circuit is selected as an analog input circuit, and an ideal output signal SIDEAL corresponds to an ideal output O-IDEAL.
In step 540, an initial value of a first delay time SDF, is obtained according to standard delay times of the digital output circuit. This is achieved by summing the standard delay times of all stages of the digital output circuit originally recorded by standard delay format DATA-SDF in FIG. 4.
In step 550, a calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation CD2AMM using the initial value of the first delay time is performed on the digital output circuit and the analog input circuit, and a digital-to-analog mixed output MIXD2A is obtained. The circuit used in the calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation CD2AMM can be as shown in FIG. 2, wherein the interface element 25 is now replaced by an calibrative digital-to-analog interface element, the digital circuit 24 is replaced by the digital output circuit, and the analog circuit 26 is replaced by the analog output circuit. The delay time of the digital output signal SDOUT is the initial value of the first delay time. The calibrative digital-to-analog interface element can be customized by users or the digital-to-analog interface element of the same mixed-mode simulator used in step 18 in FIG. 4.
FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram of the embodiment of the calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation of FIG. 7A, comprising a buffer 71, a capacitor 72 and a calibrative digital-to-analog interface element 73. Standard delay time of the buffer 71 recorded in the standard delay format DATA-SDF (i.e. the delay time of the digital output signal SDOUT) is thus the initial value SDF1 of the first delay time SDF1. Digital-to-analog mixed signal SMIXD2A output by the calibrative digital-to-analog interface element 73 corresponds to the digital-to-analog mixed signal MLXD2A.
FIG. 7C is a schematic diagram of a digital-to-analog interface element in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As shown, the digital-to-analog interface element comprises a selecting switch SW, first and second resistors R1 and R2, and first and second capacitors C1 and C2. The selecting switch SW has first to fourth terminals P1-P4. The first and second resistors R1 and R2 are respectively connected between a voltage source VDD and the first terminal P1, and between a reference voltage (for example, ground as shown) and the second terminal P2. The first and second capacitors C1 and C2 are respectively connected between the reference voltage and the first terminal P1, and between the reference voltage and the second terminal P2. The third terminal P3 receives the digital output signal SDOUT from the digital output circuit to direct the digital-to-analog mixed signal SMIXD2A at terminal P4 to output voltage at terminal P1 or P2.
FIG. 6 is a timing diagram of the digital output signal SDOUT corresponding to the digital output DOUT, digital-to-analog mixed signal SMIXD2A corresponding to the digital-to-analog mixed output MIXD2A, and the ideal output signal SIDEAL corresponding to the ideal output O-IDEAL. As shown, delay times of the digital output signal SDOUT (calculated with the dashed line L4), digital-to-analog mixed signal MIXD2A (calculated with the time it reaches VDD/2), and ideal output signal SIDEAL (calculated with the time it reaches VDD/2), between the dashed line L3, are respectively SDF1, TMIX1 and TIDEAL. As described, the delay time SDF1 in the figure is the initial value of the first delay time SDF1. The calibration method for mixed-mode simulation provided in the invention calibrates the delay time SDF1 to SDF1′, that is, to calibrate the digital output signal SDOUT to SDOUT′, such that the extra delay time ED1 approximates zero. It is noted that as the area of the digital output circuit and analog input circuit selected respectively in the digital and analog circuits increases, the timing of the ideal output signal SIDEAL approaches that of the realistic output signal SREAL in FIG. 3, that is, the closer the delay time TIDEAL gets to TMIX1, and accordingly, the closer TMIX1 gets to TREAL.
As shown in FIG. 5, in step 560, the digital-to-analog mixed output MIXD2A is compared to the ideal output O-IDEAL to calibrate the first delay time SDF1. Referring to FIG. 6, in an embodiment, in step 560, the delay time TMIX1 of the digital-to-analog mixed output signal SMIXD2A is compared to the delay time TIDEAL of the ideal output signal SIDEAL and the time difference therebetween (i.e. the extra delay time ED1) is obtained. Next, the first delay time SDF1 is calibrated according to the extra delay time ED1 using a predetermined calibration method.
The predetermined calibration method, for example, can be direct subtraction method:
SDF′=SDF
1
−ED1,
where SDF1′ denotes calibrated first delay time, SDF1 denotes the initial value of the first delay time SDF, and ED1 denotes the extra delay time.
Finally, in step 570, the standard delay times of the digital output circuit recoded in the standard delay format DATA-SDF, i.e. the standard delay times of the digital output circuit of the calibrated standard delay format DATA-SDF′ shown in FIG. 4, are obtained according to the calibrated value SDF1′ of the first delay time SDF1. More specifically, the calibrated value SDF1′ of the first delay time SDF1 is portioned into the standard delay time of each stage in the digital output circuit using a predetermined setting method. The predetermined setting method, for example, portions the calibrated value SDF1′ according to the original proportions of the standard delay times of the stages in the digital output circuit. Alternatively, the predetermined setting method distributes the difference between SDF1′ and SDF1 (i.e. (SDF1′-SDF1)) equally to the standard delay times of the stages in the digital output circuit. If the logic component of last stage in the digital circuit is selected as the digital output circuit, the calibrated standard delay time of the logic component is set as the calibrated value SDF1′ of the first delay time.
It is noted that the calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation CD2AMM can be performed more than once, with the first delay time calibrated according to the simulation result after every simulation.
In an embodiment, the calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation is performed a predetermined number of times. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the embodiment. First, before step 50, a count parameter is initialized to zero (in step 810). Steps 550 and 560 are sequentially performed. In step 820, the count parameter is increased by 1. Next, in step 830, it is determined whether the count parameter is less than a predetermined number. If so (“Yes”), the process returns to step 550. Otherwise, if not (“No”), step 570 is executed using the final calibrated value SDF′ of the first delay time SDF. It is noted that in step 550, if the calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation CD2AMM is performed for the first time, the initial value of the first delay time is used. After, each calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation CD2AMM is performed with the calibrated first delay time SDF′.
In another embodiment, the calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation CD2AMM is performed until the extra delay time is less than a predetermined extra delay time. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the embodiment. As shown, step 560 comprises several sub-steps. Before step 560 is performed, step 90 is performed to obtain an extra delay time ED1 by comparing the real output O-IDEAL and the digital-to-analog mixed output MIXD2A. In step 920, it is determined whether the extra delay time is less than a predetermined extra delay time ED10. If not (“No”), step 930 calibrates the first delay time SDF1 according to the extra delay time ED1 using a predetermined calibration method and then return to step 550. Otherwise, if so, step 570 is performed using the final calibrated value SDF′ of the first delay time SDF. Similarly, it is noted that in step 550, if the calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation CD2AMM is performed for the first time, the initial value of the first delay time is used. After, each calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation CD2AMM is performed with the calibrated first delay time SDF′.
In FIGS. 8 and 9, when the calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation CD2AMM is not performed for the first time, the predetermined calibration method can be direct subtraction method or interpolation/extrapolation method. The direct subtraction method, as described, is:
SDF1(n+1)=SDF1(n)−ED(n),
where SDF1(n+1) denotes the calibrated first delay time after the current (the nth time of) calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation, SDF1(n) denotes the first delay time used in the current calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation, and ED1(n) denotes the extra delay time obtained by the current calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation.
The interpolation/extrapolation method comprises:
SDF1(n+1)=SDF1(n)−ED(n)×(SDF1(n)−SDF1(n−1))/(ED1(n)−ED(n−1)),
where SDF1(n+1) denotes the calibrated first delay time after the current (the nth time of) calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation, SDF1(n) denotes the first delay time used in the current calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation, SDF1(n−1) denotes the first delay time used in the previous calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation, ED1(n) denotes the extra delay time obtained by the current calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation, and ED1(n−1) denotes the extra delay time obtained by the previous calibrative digital-to-analog mixed mode simulation.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a calibration method for mixed-mode simulation in FIG. 8 when the predetermined number is 2. First, in step 5501, the first CD2AMM is executed using the initial value SDF1(0) of the first delay time SDF1, and an initial digital-to-analog mixed output MIXD2A(0) is obtained. In step 5601, the ideal output O-IDEAL obtained in step 530 is compared with the initial digital-to-analog mixed output MIXD2A(0), and SDF1(0) is modified to the first calibrated value SDF1(1) of the first delay time using a predetermined calibration method such as direct subtraction method, that is, SDF(1)=SDF(0)−ED(0), where ED(0) is defined as the delay time difference between the ideal output signal SIDEAL corresponding to the ideal output O-IDEAL and the initial digital-to-analog mixed output MIXD2A(0). And after that, in step 5502, a second CD2AMM is performed and a first digital-to-analog mixed output MIXD2A(1) is obtained. In step 5602, the ideal output O-IDEAL obtained in step 530 is compared with the first digital-to-analog mixed output MIXD2A(1), and SDF1(1) is modified to the second calibrated value SDF1(2) of the first delay time using a predetermined calibration method such as direct subtraction method, that is, SDF(2)=SDF(1)−ED(1), or interpolation/extrapolation method, that is, SDF1(2)=SDF1(1)−ED(1)×(SDF1(1)−SDF1(0))/(ED(1)−ED(0)), where ED(1) is defined as the delay time difference between the ideal output signal SIDEAL corresponding to the ideal output O-IDEAL and the first digital-to-analog mixed output MIXD2A(1). Finally, in step 570, the standard delay times of the digital output circuit recoded in the standard delay format DATA-SDF are set according to SDF1(1).
FIG. 11 shows proper range of capacitance of the capacitor 71 corresponding to different buffers 71 in FIGS. 7A-7C using the method shown in FIG. 10. As shown, in the buffer column, BUFX1 to BUFX20 represents driving capacity of different buffers 71. Each of the buffers 71 is simulated together with 7 capacitance value of the capacitor 71. The suitable application range of the invention falls in the left-upward region of the line of the combinations of BUFX1 and capacitance of 0.00030 PF to BUFX20 and capacitance of 0.01200 PF. More specifically, when the buffer is BUFX1, the maximum capacitance value of the capacitor 71 accepted in the invention is 0.00030 PF; when the buffer is BUFX2, the maximum capacitance value of the capacitor 71 accepted in the invention is between 0.0012 PF and 0.0600 PF, and so on. It is noted that, area increase of the digital output circuit and/or analog input circuit expands the suitable application region of the invention.
In an example, the digital circuit includes only a buffer and the analog circuit includes only a capacitor. Accordingly, the digital circuit is the digital output circuit and the analog circuit is the analog input circuit as shown in FIG. 11. FIG. 12 shows errors for the delay time TMIX (shown in FIG. 3) of the digital-to-analog mixed signal SMIXA2D obtained by simulations with different mixed-mode simulators and for the delay time TMIX1 (shown in FIG. 6) of the digital-to-analog mixed signal SMIXA2D that has been calibrated using the calibration method of the invention, for every corner case of FIG. 11 in such a example, wherein the errors are calculated relative to the delay time TIDEAL (shown in FIG. 6) of the ideal output signal SIDEAL. The formula used in the error calculation is:
RMS(ABS(TD−TIDEAL))/RMS(TIEDEAL),
where TD is TMIX or calibrated TMIX1. In simulations of the figure, default interface elements are used in both CADENCE and SYNOPSYS, and interface element parameters in Acadamic are established by referring to table. As shown, the maximum error in every corner case is respectively 132%, 59%, 104%, and 21% in CADENCE, SYNOPSYS, Acadamic, and the invention.
Since the calibration method for mixed mode simulation decreases extra delay time, accuracy of the mixed mode simulation can be enhanced, thereby preventing false design and increase product yield. Additionally, the invention prevents non-convergence problems often occurring in mixed-mode simulations. Additionally, when a system is separated into digital and analog circuits, increased accuracy of mixed-mode can be achieved no matter how the system is separated. That is, there is improved flexibility in separation of the digital and analog circuits. Additionally, the calibration method of the invention is not restricted by mixed-mode simulation software, and since only a digital output circuit selected from a digital circuit and an analog input circuit selected from an analog circuit are simulated, circuit area can be selected very small with increasing simulation speed accordingly.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
Patent Application
20070244686
