Coventor ships latest version of MEMS+IC co-design platform

USA: Coventor Inc., the leading supplier of design automation software for developing micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), announced immediate availability of its new MEMS+ 3.0 design platform that accelerates development of complex 3D systems with state-of-the-art actuators, accelerometers and gyroscopes, microphones and other types of MEMS devices.

The MEMS+ 3.0 platform enables MEMS designers to explore device concepts and optimize designs much faster than using conventional field solvers. It also bridges the gap between the accuracy required by MEMS designers and the simulation speed required by ASIC designers with a common model for MEMS and ASIC co-design that eliminates months of engineering effort.

Key to delivering these advantages are MEMS+ 3.0 advancements focused on more accuracy with new high-order beam, shell and brick elements; new physics such as squeezed-film gas damping in transient simulations of MEMS actuators; and simulations of package thermal deformation effects on MEMS sensors.

In particular, the addition of fluidics to the existing mechanical and electrostatic modeling capabilities of the platform enables fully coupled simulations to predict performance metrics like noise or actuation time previously realized only through costly build-and-test cycles.

"As the industry's only MEMS+IC co-design platform, Coventor's MEMS+ offering has been a key driver in the development of MEMS devices in many of today's consumer electronics, such as smartphones and tablets. We expect that the MEMS+ 3.0 platform will similarly impact the advent of innovations in other more advanced and emerging markets, such as energy harvesting and RF MEMS," said Coventor's CEO Mike Jamiolkowski.

Integrated MEMS+IC co-design platform
The MEMS+ 3.0 platform is built on speed, capacity and integration improvements implemented across the entire software suite, including a built-in simulator, parallel processing support, selective linearization, and more complete scripting interfaces.

The built-in simulator handles basic MEMS analysis tasks, making it easy to verify models before exporting to the MATLAB or Cadence Design Systems environments. The parallel processing support for Simulink and the Cadence APS simulator ensures that simulation speed scales well on multi-core and multi-processor systems. Selective linearization of model components further enhances simulation speed, enabling MEMS+ models to simulate as fast as handcrafted models while retaining key non-linear effects.

Full scripting interfaces are available in both MATLAB and Python scripting consoles so users can automate entire flows from design creation to simulation and post processing, saving time and producing better designs through more extensive parameter studies.

The MEMS+ 3.0 design platform is now shipping.