Automatically balances TX & RX settings to maximize eye margin

MAYNARD, MA – January 20, 2016 -- Signal Integrity Software Inc. (SiSoft) today announced OptimEye™, which works with SiSoft’s Quantum Channel Designer (QCD) software to automatically identify the right combination of TX & RX settings to maximize a serial link’s operating margin. OptimEye identifies the ideal balance without requiring large “blind sweeps” of settings normally used to search a design space for potential solutions. This runs faster, produces less data and eliminates the need for custom scripts typically used to post-process swept simulation results. OptimEye™ runs fast enough to make generating custom equalization settings for each channel in a large system practical.

“Blind sweeps work, but they are a brute force method,” noted Barry Katz, SiSoft’s President and CTO. “The time required by blind sweeps increases with AMI model complexity, and the models we are seeing for 28G and 56G design have reached the point where blind sweeps are simply untenable. We designed OptimEye using algorithms specifically built for AMI simulation, which allowed us to maximize both optimization quality and performance. In our testing, OptimEye has equaled or beaten the solutions we found using traditional methods, in a fraction of the time.  Better than 60% improvements are typical, as our technical papers illustrate.”

“We successfully used OptimEye to equalize every channel in one of our customers’ large system designs,” said Donald Telian, Consultant and Owner of SiGuys. “Balancing TX and RX equalization is no simple task, and individually balancing each channel using blind sweeps or interactive analysis is not practical on this scale. OptimEye makes this task manageable, automatic and additionally identifies the correct TX/RX settings for hardware programming.”

OptimEye simulation results will be presented as part of the sessions, “New SI Techniques for Large System Performance Tuning” on Wednesday, January 20, and “A SerDes Balancing Act: Co-Optimizing TX and RX Equalization Settings to Maximize Margin” on Thursday, January 21, at DesignCon 2016. DesignCon 2016 is happening January 19-21, 2016 at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

About SiSoft

SiSoft collaborates with customers and their suppliers to develop innovative solutions to the world’s toughest high-speed design problems. SiSoft accelerates design cycles through a combination of award-winning EDA simulation software, methodology training and consulting services.    Quantum  Channel  Designer  (QCD) is  the  Industry’s Premier Channel  Simulator  for  the  design  and  analysis  of  Multi-Gigabit  serial  links  and  a DesignVision Award Winner.  Quantum-SI (QSI) is the leading solution for integrated signal integrity, timing and crosstalk analysis of high-speed parallel interfaces.    SiSoft’s  products automate  comprehensive  pre-  and  post-route  analysis  of  high  speed  interfaces,  detailing  a design’s operating voltage and timing margins.  More information on SiSoft can be found at www.sisoft.com.

About SiGuys

SiGuys leverages decades of Signal Integrity (SI) experience to provide consulting services to electronic hardware design teams. SiGuys handles all types of SI challenges with particular focus on today’s highest speed serial links, and deploys advanced simulation capabilities to ensure designs work right the first time. SiGuys’ customers receive real data, clear communication, and documented solutions for their most-challenging SI problems. More information on SiGuys can be found at www.siguys.com.

About DesignCon
DesignCon, produced by UBM Canon, is the world's premier conference for chip, board and systems design engineers in the high-speed communications and semiconductor communities. DesignCon, created by engineers for engineers, takes place annually in Silicon Valley and remains the largest gathering of chip, board and systems designers in the country. This four-day technical conference and expo combines technical paper sessions, tutorials, industry panels, product demos and exhibits from the industry's leading experts and solutions providers. More information is available at: www.designcon.com/santaclara/. DesignCon is organized by UBM Americas, a part of UBM plc (UBM.L), an Events First marketing and communications services business. For more information, visit ubmamericas.com.


Contact:

Ronda Katz
SiSoft
Email Contact
(978) 461-0449, x115
www.sisoft.com