What's new in GENESYS 7.0

GENESYS 7.0 is the first GENESYS environment using our new, modern graphical user interface. See our Comparison Table of Recent Versions for an easy reference.

New Multi-Simulator Design Environment

As engineers squeeze more and more information into a given bandwidth, the design environment must develop to support more sophisticated design. While previous versions of the software coupled together various synthesis and simulation engines, the GENESYS 7 architecture was designed from the bottom up to support multiple simulators. Using object-oriented techniques, each element of the environment operates independently yet communicate through tight channels.

From tool bars to tips-of-the-day, GENESYS 7 includes user interface standards that follow the latest Windows standards. Built on Microsoft Foundation Classes, standard capabilities found in other Windows products are included in the release.

To facilitate new ways of analyzing data, a powerful post-processing engine is built into GENESYS 7. Data from many sources can be combined in limitless ways. Data collected from several sources, such as EM simulation, circuit simulation, and measurements, can be compared and operated on, or new parameters can be calculated from a single source of data. For example, Leeson's equation can be used to display phase noise for oscillators. Or, relative gain, the difference between the maximum gain and the gain at any frequency, can be calculated and displayed. Conditional statements, such as IF-THEN and GOTO allow processing flow control.

Once the equations are entered and results displayed on graphs or tables, parameter values can be adjusted using the tuning keys. Data updates on the graphs in real-time as the keyboard is tapped and the data is updated.

Listed below are some of the new features and benefits you will find in GENESYS 7.

New Environment Follows Latest Windows Standards

• New design file manager
• Organize schematics, layouts, graphs, analyses, in a single file
• Open multiple files simultaneously
• No more juggling many files per design
• Long, descriptive names for schematics, layouts, simulations, and graphs
• Standard, easy to learn and remember Windows features
• Re-locatable toolbars to manage screen space
• Right mouse button pops up menus for quick local changes
• Undo and redo to help experiment with different topologies and formats
• Easy copy and paste to and from office automation tools.
• Print using standard printer drivers and configuration dialog boxes.
• Print Preview
• Standard File/Edit/View/Tools/Window/Help menus
• HTML Help files with complete manuals on-line
• Built-in links to the web and e-mail
• Selectable numeric display resolution up to 16 digits
• Measurement wizard makes graphing data easy

Improved Schematic Capture: SCHEMAX

• Fully integrated into the workspace
• Schematic element toolbar icons
• Undo and Redo
• Multiple schematic windows
• Schematic hierarchy on different pages
• Copy schematics directly into programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint

New Post-Processing Equations

• Post-process results after simulation
• Combine results of multiple simulations
• Compare measured results to simulated results
• Calculate new parameters using simulated results
• Define and use custom functions and data
• Define complex numbers, vectors, matrices, and strings to use throughout GENESYS
• Built-in MIN and MAX functions
• Create global functions easily
• Use variables and equations in many more places such as file names, substrates, and termination impedances
• Easier use of custom DLL functions for advanced applications
• Optimize and analyze yield of post-processed results
• Use intelligent calculation to re-simulate only when required after changes
• Mix post-processed equation results with input equations and variables

New Advanced Graphing Features

• Unlimited graph windows
• Unlimited traces per graph
• Unlimited markers per trace
• Change trace color, line type, point type
• Add custom titles, text, lines, arrows, even pictures
• Graph post-processed equation results
• Plot data directly from files, without building a schematic or simulating
• Place traces from multiple simulations, workspaces, or data files on same graph
• New fully annotated Smith chart
• Impedance and admittance Smith chart grids
• New marker readouts show magnitude and angle on polar/Smith charts
• Copy graphs straight into programs such as Microsoft Word

Improved Physical Design: LAYOUT

• Multiple layouts per workspace (file)
• Select a different schematics to drive each layout
• Undo and Redo
• Auto-connect automatically places and connects parts from the schematic
• Copy layouts directly into programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint

With the complexity of RF and microwave circuits continuing to grow, speed of simulation must also improve to keep an interactive design environment that emulates the test bench. Unfortunately, as the software itself grows in complexity, performance typically suffers, leading to sluggish behavior. However, even though GENESYS 7 includes many more features and greater capability, new simulation technology makes simulation faster than ever before. Eagleware software has been known for nearly instantaneous tuning of small circuits; the new simulator dramatically improves the simulation and tuning performance of large circuits and of optimization.

Object-oriented techniques were used to improve the simulation and optimization speed by a factor ranging up to ten or more. Based on diakoptic techniques, a tree structure of caching stores and reuses results without recalculation. In addition, node elimination during the initial parsing of the schematic reduces the problem size. For a nine-pole low-pass elliptic filter simulates 12 times faster than in previous versions. Larger circuits speed up even more dramatically.

New in Circuit Simulation

• Redesigned from the ground up without limits on circuit size; numbers of circuits, subcircuits, or ports; data file size; or number of simulation frequencies,
• Diakoptic simulation simulates large circuits many times faster
• Intelligent simulation only simulated circuits or parts of circuits that have changed.
• Dialog box driven simulation setup
• Port impedance is part of the schematic
• S-parameter library with over 30,000 device files from 14 vendors
• Improved radial stub model

Extending the proven Method of Lines technique first commercialized in EMPOWER, EMPOWER/ML is being introduced as part of GENESYS 7.

Multi-Level EM Simulation

Using new technology developed at Eagleware, EMPOWER ML is able to analyze signals traveling on an unlimited number of layers with an arbitrary set of dielectric layers. With the design placed in a box with a cover, generalized S-parameters are calculated for arbitrary patterns of planar metal. Typical multi-level applications are designs that include air bridges and cross-coupled structures.

EM-Circuit Co-Simulation

For the first time, multi-layer circuits with embedded lumped components can be verified without cumbersome data transfer. A typical application of this co-simulation is microwave circuits containing transistors, lumped capacitors, and distributed components such as Lange couplers and spiral inductors. No longer do you have waste time with cumbersome processes to split the design into multiple parts, analyze them separately, then combine them manually.

Using GENESYS 7, EM and circuit verification is nearly transparent. After synthesis and schematic-level design, the circuit is laid out. EM ports are added to the layout and the simulation is run. Behind the scenes, GENESYS automatically recognizes the lumped components, removes them, adds internal ports, and runs the EM simulation. Then, the multi-port data is transparently included in a circuit theory simulation. Once the initial design is complete, the lumped components can be interactively tuned or automatically optimized at high speed.

Multi-level Multi-Mode Decomposition

Multi-mode decomposition in EMPOWER ML makes it possible to break down large circuits into smaller segments which are connected by transmission line sections. This sectioning allows accurate simulations in much less time. The principle benefits resulting from decomposition are:

• Real-time tuning of transmission line sections inside a circuit. For example, the size of a meander line can be adjusted without re-running the EM simulation.
• Most circuits require far fewer frequency points for accurate analysis. Because quarter-wave resonant lines are broken down into much smaller lines that do not resonate, interpolation is possible. For example, a 7^th order interdigital filter can be simulated with just 5 points in EMPOWER ML while 100 points are displayed in the output sweep.
• Designs that are too large to run in a single pass can be analyzed in sections.

 Summary of EMPOWER Features

• Unlimited number of levels for metal conductors
• Model arbitrary planar 3D structures
• Multi-layer multi-mode decomposition
• Multiple schematics and layouts in one file make decomposition easy
• Tight integration into GENESYS allows better background simulation
• Multiple EM simulations per workspace file
• All files are stored in a single workspace file
• Planar (differential) ports are used in co-simulation
• Allows more flexible geometries with lumped components
• Accurate co-simulation of densely placed lumped components
• Special thick metal analysis routines