The Cadence® Optimality™ Intelligent System Explorer is artificial intelligence (AI)-driven multiphysics optimization software that enables fast and efficient analysis and optimization realization of electronic systems.

Overview

The Cadence® Optimality™ Intelligent System Explorer is artificial intelligence (AI)-driven multiphysics optimization software that enables fast and efficient analysis and optimization realization of electronic systems.

With the increasing complexity of electronic system design and greater performance requirements, Optimality Explorer breaks through the limitations of the conventional human-intensive optimization process by replacing the traditional interactive flow of the design-test-refine loop with AI-driven technology that results in an optimal system design solution that delivers a 10X productivity gain without compromising accuracy (Figure 1).

Optimality intelligent system optimization
Figure 1: Optimality intelligent system optimization

Pioneered by the AI capabilities first introduced to the market in the Cadence Cerebrus™ Intelligent Chip Explorer, Optimality Explorer is an industry-first, AI-driven in-design multiphysics system analysis and optimization solution covering the IC, package, and PCB, as well as the complete electronic system. It enables design engineers to quickly and efficiently explore 3D electromagnetic (EM), thermal hotspots, and high-speed signal and power integrity (SI/PI) results and zero in on the optimal design.

Benefits

  • Design Insight – Enables design engineers to determine optimal electrical performance without the need for suboptimal local minima and maxima, while mapping massive variations for increased considerations and exploration of the complete design space.
  • Greater Productivity – Empowers design engineers and teams to efficiently achieve optimized system-level designs and boosts productivity by on average 10 times faster when compared to manual, exhaustive, brute-force parametric table studies.
  • Extensible Solution – Lets designers quickly learn, use, and adopt Optimality Explorer from the Cadence Clarity™ 3D Solver for 3D EM analysis, Cadence Celsius™ Thermal Solver for thermal integrity analysis, and Cadence Sigrity™ X technologies for high-speed SI/PI analyses for fast invocation of multiphysics design and optimization.

Features

Multiphysics Analysis

Today’s high-performance electronic systems require designers to consider issues, including SI, PI, and thermal integrity, as well as electromagnetic interference and compatibility (EMI/EMC). To accelerate the design process and meet aggressive delivery schedules, engineers need to be able to perform cross-fabric and multiphysics analysis to model, simulate, and analyze these effects on system-level designs. Designers can leverage Optimality Explorer for fast invocation of multiphysics design and optimization (Figure 2) within their electronic system designs.

Optimality is integrated with Cadence multiphysics analysis technologies
Figure 2: Optimality is integrated with Cadence multiphysics analysis technologies

AI-Driven Optimization

Optimality Explorer is an AI-driven system analysis and design optimization technology that enables designers to quickly and efficiently explore their design space and produce optimum electrical design performance with no loss of accuracy (Figure 3). The software uses machine learning (ML) from physics to build an ML model and later transfers the simulated design data and learns to build different ML models. Based on the ML models, Optimality Explorer predicts and simulates the next design, reinforcing the learning to choose better models. The primary advantage of this software is efficiency: designers achieve optimized solutions by sparingly evaluating their objective functions.

Optimality AI-driven optimization methodology
Figure 3: Optimality AI-driven optimization methodology

Integration with Multiphysics Analysis Technologies

The Clarity 3D Solver and Sigrity X technologies are the first Cadence multiphysics system analysis software products to embrace Optimality Explorer. Clarity and Sigrity X users can invoke Optimality Explorer to significantly improve their productivity and efficiency by exploring the entire design space and quickly converging on the optimal design. The Celsius Thermal Solver similarly allows designers to optimize their thermal solutions such as heatsink, size, etc., to maximize the performance under thermal constraints.

Design Example

Figure 4 highlights an AI-driven optimization flow in which the optimization parameters defined in the Sigrity SystemSI™ tool within Sigrity X, Clarity 3D Solver, and Celsius Thermal Solver are seamlessly passed into the Optimality optimization engine, where simulations are strategically run to determine the target.

AI-driven in-design optimization flow with Cadence analysis tools
Figure 4: AI-driven in-design optimization flow with Cadence analysis tools

Conclusion

Combined with the Clarity 3D Solver, Sigrity X, and Celsius Thermal Solver technologies, the Optimality Intelligent System Explorer enables designers of electronic systems to accelerate time to market and lower design risk through AI-driven multiphysics analysis and optimization. It offers an intelligent, accurate, and easy-to-use simulation and analysis solution, reducing repetitive design cycles while increasing user productivity and efficiency. Leveraging an advanced AI-driven methodology, Optimality Explorer delivers quality results leading to optimal performance of electrical systems.

Cadence Services and Support

  • Cadence application engineers can answer your technical questions by telephone, email, or internet – they can also provide technical assistance and custom training.
  • Cadence-certified instructors teach more than 70 courses and bring their real-world experience into the classroom.
  • More than 25 Internet Learning Series (iLS) online courses allow you the flexibility of training at your own computer via the internet.
  • Cadence Online Support gives you 24x7 online access to a knowledgebase of the latest solutions, technical documentation, software downloads, and more.
  • For more information, please visit support and training.