Meeting date: 01 aug 2006
Members (asterisk for those attending):
Arpad Muranyi, Intel Corp.
*Bob Ross, Teraspeed Consulting Group
Todd Westerhoff, Cisco Systems
*Mike LaBonte, Cisco Systems
Paul Fernando, NCSU
*Barry Katz, SiSoft
Walter Katz, SiSoft
Ken Willis, Cadence Design Systems
*Ian Dodd, Mentor Graphics
*Lance Wang, Cadence Design Systems
*Kumar, Cadence Design Systems
*Richard Ward, Texas Instruments
Doug White, Cisco Systems
Sanjeev Gupta, Agilent
*Joe Abler, IBM
John Shields, Mentor Graphics

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Review of ARs:

- (Cadence) Need more technical detail from Cadence, Kumar to attend next/future meetings
  - Done
- (Intel/Cisco) Arpad, Todd, Mike to complete presentation for DAC IBIS Summit
  - Done

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IBIS Summit
- Ian Dodd noted that DLLs have a compiler switch dependency, and
  compatibility can be a problem.
- Is the linearity assumption for devices in convolution simulations valid?
  - Amplitude changes may change device characteristics.
- AMS representatives present at summit:
  - Lance Thompson, IBM, Accellera's VHDL technical committee chair
  - Peter Ashenden, Ashenden Designs, Documentation Editor, and also
    author/co-author of several VHDL and VHDL-AMS books

Convolution vs. Timestep Simulation
- Discussion about introducing the Cadence-proposed API that supports
  only convolution to IBIS:
  - Kumar stated that IBIS is just data, it doesn't care about the simulator.
  - Mike pointed out that an API is not "just data".
  - Ian said that the proposal is useless for anything but convolution.
  - Kumar: It can be used for statistical analysis.
  - Ian stated that IBIS has not traditionally gotten into channel simulation,
    and IBIS should support AMS, HSPICE, and C as external languages.
  - Black box data exchange
- Joe suggested the API be split up into parts, so that post-processing
  modules are distinct from signal transmission modules.
- We might find examples of a timestep API in SystemC, HSPICE, Spectre CMI.
- Barry Katz had worked on AWE, an early simulator using these techniques.

AR: Ian invite a SystemC expert to speak to us about APIs

Should we write BIRDs for new [External Circuit] proposals?
- Kumar proposed names for the two distinct simulation types:
  - Signal API
  - Circuit API

Ian: compile switches can be a problem
- Names of DLL function entry points are all exported on Linux

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Next meeting: Tuesday 8 Aug 2006 12:00pm PT
- Todd on vacation 1st two weeks of August