Siemens Rethinks Chip Design with AI, Digital Twins, and Multiphysics Simulation in EDA Tools

Siemens, a leader in Electronic Design Automation (EDA), is bringing digital-twin multiphysics and AI into its Calibre and Solido EDA tools to address the challenges of designing complex chips in the AI revolution.

Siemens’ evolution as an EDA leader: Siemens has become a prominent player in the EDA industry through strategic investments and acquisitions, notably Mentor Graphics in 2017:

• Since the Mentor Graphics acquisition, Siemens has invested heavily in EDA R&D, introducing over two dozen new EDA tools.
• Siemens and Mentor Graphics have acquired more than 100 companies combined to build a premier EDA toolset, with Siemens EDA being the first to integrate multiphysics simulation and digital twins.

Solido Simulation Suite for custom chip design: Siemens introduced the Solido Simulation Suite to address the challenges of designing mixed signal and custom chips at the transistor level:

• The suite includes three new AI-accelerated SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) tools: Solido SPICE, Solido FastSPICE, and Solido LibSPICE.
• These tools leverage AI models and customer data to provide more accurate simulations with details down to the transistor level, completing simulations 2X to 30X faster than previous methods.
• The Solido Simulation Suite integrates with other Siemens EDA tools and has been certified by foundries like Intel and Samsung to ensure accurate and manufacturable IC designs.

Calibre 3DThermal for 3D IC thermal analysis: Siemens enhanced its Calibre design verification platform with multiphysics simulation for 3D IC thermal analysis, addressing a current gap in 3D IC design verification:

• Calibre 3DThermal integrates Siemens’ Flotherm analysis tools to analyze individual die and 3D features within a 3D IC design, providing thermal analysis down to the transistor level.
• The tool follows “shift-left” principles, allowing for continuous analysis and iterations throughout the design process, and can be run on-premises or in the cloud.
• Calibre 3DThermal’s accurate thermal analysis can improve the design of chiplets, packaging, PCBs, cooling solutions, and final product designs.

Broader implications for the future of IC design: As AI and other applications drive ever-increasing performance needs, the tools to design the next generation of ICs and electronic systems must also evolve:

• Siemens’ advancements in EDA technology span the lifecycle of ICs from concept through verification and integration into complex systems.
• The integration of AI and digital twin multiphysics simulation in EDA tools enables designers to push the limits of IC integration and complexity.
• As these tools continue to advance over the next decade, it will be fascinating to see how far IC integration can be pushed beyond current limits.