RE: [IBIS] IBIS-ISS Package Modeling Status/Overview

Would it be fair to say that most of the package solutions we have available
today in IBIS or are discussing are oriented to post-layout system (PCB)
analysis? In other words, doesn't the current IBIS format assume that one
already has specific package models for specific pins, which will be used in
simulations of those specific pins?

I ask because of an alternate usage model: the case where a generic model is
available for an *interface* (group of pins) but no model for any specific
pin is supplied.

If IBIS does not support this today or in any of the improvements under
consideration, is this because post-layout support is considered the most
common and critical usage model?

Here's a sample case, similar to that discussed in Tuesday's IBIS-ATM
meeting:

- A 3-pair/6-line model interconnect model is available and applies
to an interface (group of pins); corner variations may also be provided

- The specific model for an individual pin's package interconnect
may *not* be available

- A range of lengths is available (minimum, maximum)

- The specific lengths associated with any one pin may *not* be
available

- The package model will likely force all three pairs to use an
identical length setting

For this situation, the format can't tie the model to specific pins, but
only to a group of pins associated with an interface.

Can this be automated using today's syntax? What would be needed from an EDA
perspective to automate this? Would any differentiation be needed between
this approach and a true post-layout approach (specific pins and buffers
associated with specific package lengths and electrical paths)?

The most likely way I would see to support this would be to create and
release interface-specific model files, where the buffer+package structure
isn't associated with specific pins and doesn't really represent the whole
component (in other words, the above conditions would result in an IBIS file
that only contains 6 pins, with "dummy" names). While straightforward,
this seems to violate the realistic component-oriented approach of IBIS
today.

Comments are welcome.

- MM

From: owner-ibis@eda.org [mailto:owner-ibis@eda.org] On Behalf Of Ray
Anderson
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2012 10:51 AM
To: ibis@eda.org
Cc: Ray Anderson
Subject: RE: [IBIS] IBIS-ISS Package Modeling Status/Overview

A couple comments from a device vendor's point of view.

I'd like to say that I concur with Arpad's stance that the IBIS spec
shouldn't codify what form a package model takes, but should provide a well
defined interface that allows the user to define any package model topology
that ISS syntax allows.

By defining the Level 1 through Level 5 package complexities as has been
suggested, it seems to me that the spec will be defining many of the
specifics of model implementation that really are beyond the scope of the
problem. As long as the specification provides a robust, yet flexible method
to include a package model subcircuit of any arbitrary complexity in the
simulation then the specification will have done its' job.

Various users will have different requirements and preferences as to what
the package model needs to contain (s-parameters vs W-elements, vs RLCs),
inclusion of power nets or not, the number of coupled nets, etc. .. As long
as the interconnect protocol can support varying numbers of ports and
perhaps provide the ability to pass parameters to the subcircuit model, the
specific internal topology of the package model defined by the subcircuit
need not be addressed in the specification as long as the details can be
defined within the ISS syntax.

Regards,

-Ray

Raymond Anderson

Senior Signal Integrity Staff Engineer

Programmable Platforms Development

Silicon Technology Group

Signal Integrity and Package Development Department

Xilinx Inc.

2100 Logic Drive

San Jose, California 95124

(408) 626-6277

--------------------------------------------------------------------
|For help or to subscribe/unsubscribe, e-mail majordomo@eda-stds.org
|with the appropriate command message(s) in the body:
|
| help
| subscribe ibis <optional e-mail address, if different>
| subscribe ibis-users <optional e-mail address, if different>
| unsubscribe ibis <optional e-mail address, if different>
| unsubscribe ibis-users <optional e-mail address, if different>
|
|or e-mail a request to ibis-request@eda-stds.org.
|
|IBIS reflector archives exist under:
|
| http://www.eda-stds.org/pub/ibis/email_archive/ Recent
| http://www.eda-stds.org/pub/ibis/users_archive/ Recent
| http://www.eda-stds.org/pub/ibis/email/ E-mail since 1993