SiMKit
SiMKit is a simulator-independent compact transistor model library. Simulator-specific connections are handled through so-called adapters that provide the right interfacing to:
- Spectre and other circuit simulators from Cadence,
- Gemini, the circuit simulator of Agilent's Advanced Design System ADS
- Pstar, the NXP inhouse circuit simulator.
The model code and adapters are available in separate libraries. The single model library is shared between the different adapter libraries. At run-time, each of the simulators loads its corresponding adapter library and that adapter library then loads the model library.
Read more about the most recent SiMKit
Some circuit simulators, such as AFS from Berkeley Design Automation, provide their own SiMKit adapter.
If you use another circuit simulator, the most efficient way to include several SiMKit models is to build your own adapter, as described in link to Build your own simkit .
Relation to Verilog-A models:
PSP102 and PSP103: The functionality of this Verilog-A code is the same as that of the SiMKit C-code, except for some details that are described in the documentation psp103p1_summary.pdf . The Verilog-A code of MOS Model PSP can be downloaded from the PSP home page .
Mextram 504: The intention is to have the functionality of the SiMKit C-code the same as that of the Verilog-A code. But this is only verified for the features covered in the Mextram Q&A toolkit. The Verilog-A code of Mextram and Q&A toolkit can be downloaded from the Mextram home page .
SiMKit for Cadence circuit simulators
All Cadence circuit simulators equipped with the CMI (Compact Model Interface), such as Spectre, APS and UltraSim, can use the SiMKit. The most recent SiMKit versions for Cadence simulators can be downloaded here:
| Release | Date |
|---|---|
| simkit_3.8_pub_linux.tar.gz | 2012-02 |
| simkit_3.7_pub_linux.tar.gz | 2011-01 |
| simkit_3.6_pub_linux.tar.gz | 2011-01 |
| simkit_3.5.2_pub_linux.tar.gz | 2010-10 |
| simkit_3.4_pub_linux.tar.gz | 2009-12 |
The installation instructions are found here:
Installation instructions for SiMKit for Cadence circuit simulators
SiMKit for ADS
Starting with release 2006A, Agilent's ADS comes with the SiMKit models pre-installed, see the list of ADS releases with bundled SiMKit releases here:
| ADS release | ADS release date | SiMKit version |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 26-may-2011 | 3.4_pub |
| 2009UR1 | 20-oct-2009 | 3.2_pub |
| 2009A | 15-feb-2009 | 3.1_pub |
| 2008A UR2 | 12-sep-2008 | 3.1_pub |
| 2008A UR1 | 8-may-2008 | 3.03_pub |
| 2008A | 25-jan-2008 | 2.5 |
| 2006A UR3 | 27-sep-2007 | 2.5 |
| 2006A UR2 | 14-jun-2007 | 2.4 |
| 2006A UR1 | 22-feb-2007 | 2.4 |
| 2006A | 9-oct-2006 | 2.3 |
To make the SiMKit models accessible from an ADS schematic an ADS Design Kit is made available that provides schematic symbols for the intrinsic SiMKit models. The SiMKit Design Kit for ADS includes the latest available version of the SiMKit models and, when activated, will replace a possibly older version of the SiMKit models that came bundled with the ADS release.
In SIMKit 3.6 the symbol names in the Design Kit were changed. Please read this document on how to convert projects started with SiMKit 3.5.2 or before.
The SiMKit design kit can be used on the platforms described in the table. Please be advised that in the column ADS version the phrase “and higher” is only valid for higher versions of ADS that were available at the time the Design Kit was created.
| Library file | ADS version | OS System | Supported by |
|---|---|---|---|
| simkit_3.8_pub_designkit.zip | 2008 and higher | linux | NXP |
| simkit_3.7_pub_designkit.zip | 2008 and higher | linux | NXP |
| simkit_3.6_pub_designkit.zip | 2008 and higher | linux | NXP |
| simkit_3.4_pub_designkit.zip | 2008 and higher | linux, win32 | NXP |
| simkit_designkit_3.3_pub.tar.gz | 2006A and higher | linux | NXP |
| simkit_designkit_3.2_pub.tar.gz | 2006A and higher | linux | NXP |
| simkit_designkit_3.1.2_pub.tar.gz | 2004A and higher | linux | NXP |
| simkit_designkit_3.0.3_pub.tar.gz | 2004A and higher | hpux, linux | NXP |
| simkit_designkit_w2p5.zip | 2004A and higher | win32 | NXP |
| simkit_ads_binaries32_25.tar.gz | 2004A and higher | hpux, linux, sun, win32 | Agilent |
| simkit_ads_binaries64_25.tar.gz | 2004A and higher | hpux, linux, sun, win32 | Agilent |
The installation instructions are found here:
Installation instructions for SiMKit for ADS
Build your own SiMKit
The source of SiMKit is delivered in a tar file, from which you can build your own SiMKit libraries. If you want to use the provided examples, please make sure that you compile on a system that supports Fortran 77. The SiMKit interface documentation is available in the tar file in doc/interface/simkit_interface.html.
Warning: Be careful with using environment variables starting with LD_ in combination with SiMKit. Due to the way the adapter and model libraries interact environment variables that influence the behaviour of the system loader can influence the working of the libraries. E.g. when the LD_BIND_NOW environment variable is set, the model library cannot be loaded because of an unresolved external.
Differences in source code between different versions must be derived from the source code for these versions.For this purpose several versions of the source are provided. A simple way of generating differences between all files in two directory trees is “diff -rup <dir1> <dir2>”.
| Release | Date |
|---|---|
| simkit_3.8_pub_source.tar.gz | 2012-02 |
| simkit_3.7_pub_source.tar.gz | 2011-02 |
| simkit_3.6_pub_source.tar.gz | 2011-01 |
| simkit_3.5.2_pub_source.tar.gz | 2010-10 |
| simkit_3.4_pub_source.tar.gz | 2009-12 |
| simkit_3.3_pub_source.tar.gz | 2009-06 |
| simkit_3.2_pub_source.tar.gz | 2008-12 |
| simkit_3.1.2_pub_source.tar.gz | 2008-07 |
| simkit_3.1_pub_source.tar.gz | 2008-05 |
| simkit_3.0.3_pub.tar.gz | 2008-01 |
| simkit_2.5_pub.tar.gz | 2007-04 |
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