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The Shaughnessy Report: Simulation, Analysis, and AI

Getting today’s designs “right the first time” is critical, especially with costly advanced PCBs. Companies are slowly realizing that building two, three, or seven respins into the process—and budget—is like flushing cash down the toilet.

I can hear some of you thinking, “But that’s how we’ve always done it. Why don’t you knock it off with those negative waves?”

But even one respin is a waste of money, not to mention time and manpower. Multiple respins can be expensive, especially with complex high-speed designs. And respins are entirely preventable with a little extra effort in the design cycle.

Simulation and analysis software tools can help you in the fight to eliminate respins. They’re not magical, but they can predict the future of your design. If you’re designing high-performance, high-speed boards without using these tools, I predict that you’re on your way to respins.

As we learn in this month’s issue of Design007 Magazine, AI is already making inroads into the design cycle—and learning from its successes and missteps. Today’s simulation tools are now benefiting from machine learning and artificial intelligence. We’re still a long way from “push-button” operation, but as AI becomes more “intelligent” and learns from its design mistakes, there’s almost no limit to what AI could potentially offer PCB designers and engineers in the not-too-distant future.

In his feature column, Barry Olney and guest Charles Pfeil discuss the integration of AI into the PCB design flow. David Wiens explains the relationship between PCB design and the digital twin, and why designers have been using digital twin for decades—whether they realize it or not. Sheldon Fernandez lays out the potential that AI holds for PCB design tools, and the difference between AI and machine learning. Brad Griffin discusses several changes that he would like to see in the PCB design flow, especially in signal and power integrity tools.

Yuriy Shlepnev walks us through some of the latest advances in 3D electromagnetic analysis tools and the challenges that they address. John Watson discusses the future of AI for circuit simulation tools, and he provides details of Altium’s SPICE tool, which the company launched several years ago. Steve Watt focuses on the simulation and analysis challenges of today. Finally, Chris DeMartino explains the business “model” for Modelithics, which provides proven simulation models and services.

Who knows? Maybe AI in simulation tools will bring us closer to zero respins.

This column originally appears in the August 2023 issue of Design007 Magazine