Nexxim and Ansoft Designer Now Available for Linux and Solaris

PITTSBURGH--May 1, 20060, 2006--Ansoft Corporation announced the availability of Nexxim(R) v3 and Ansoft Designer(R) v3 for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux(R) v.3 and Sun Solaris(R) 8 and 9 operating systems. Nexxim is the company's circuit simulation software for high-performance IC design and signal-integrity analysis. Ansoft Designer provides an integrated schematic and design management front-end for complex analog, RF and mixed-signal applications. The release of Nexxim and Ansoft Designer for Linux provides customers an alternative to the previously released Microsoft Windows(R) versions and leverages the growing popularity of Linux as a viable engineering platform.

In addition to Linux support, Nexxim v3 adds phase and time-variant noise, autonomous source harmonic balance and seamless integration with Cadence ADE/Spectre(R) RF. Adding accurate phase and time-varying noise analyses to Nexxim is critical to the full characterization of communication ICs. The ability to include both driven and autonomous sources with a single harmonic-balance simulation dramatically expands the accuracy and detail with which complex transceiver circuits can be analyzed. Concurrently, Nexxim allows engineers developing large and complex analog/RF designs to simulate accurate transistor-level time- and frequency-domain performance directly from within the Cadence ADE design framework, leveraging existing design-flow infrastructure, foundry models and circuit-related intellectual property.

Ansoft Designer v3 offers expanded Solver on Demand(R) capability and new design-verification technology to speed the design process of RF systems and RF/analog ICs and to increase the accuracy of signal-integrity studies. With Ansoft Designer v3, engineers can capture high-frequency parasitic behavior directly in their circuit simulation and apply that knowledge toward design optimization and verification. Moreover, extending the Solver on Demand technology to include HFSS(TM), Ansoft's 3D full-wave electromagnetic-field simulation software, allows engineers to perform parametric design optimization with GHz-accurate, full-wave extraction.

Nexxim v3 highlights:

     --  Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.3
     --  Support for Sun Solaris 8 and 9
     --  Advanced analyses for analog/RF, mixed signal and signal
         integrity
         --  Time-varying noise analysis (mixer noise)
         --  Phase noise analysis
         --  Oscillator analysis for autonomous circuits (i.e. VCOs 
             and PLLs)
             --  Multiple methods for low Q and high Q circuits
             --  Simulate driven and autonomous source circuit in 
                 same analysis (e.g., receiver front-end with 
                 embedded VCO)
         --  DC analysis: additional continuation method
         --  Harmonic-balance analysis: pseudo-transient continuation
         --  Transient analysis: speedup for linear elements

     --  IC design-flow integration
         --  Runs seamlessly within Cadence ADE
             --  Simulates schematics and netlist entered in ADE
             --  Utilizes same analysis states and simulation controls
                 as Spectre RF
             --  Performs post-processing directly within Cadence ADE
         --  Supports most Spectre RF models and netlists syntax
         --  Supports existing Cadence-based foundry PDKs

     --  Model and simulation enhancements
         --  High-frequency models including
             --  S-parameters with noise data, optional passivity
                 enforcement, convolution option for transient 
                 analyses
             --  Microstrip, stripline and offset stripline models
         --  Native IBIS v4.1 support (HSPICE(R) buffers)

     --  Circuit/System/EM co-simulation for IC design and 
         verification
         --  Nexxim is fully integrated into the Ansoft Designer 
             platform to support system-level test bench 
             implementation and full-wave 3D parametric EM 
             co-simulation via Solver on Demand technology.

Ansoft Designer v3 highlights:

     --  Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.3
     --  Support for Sun Solaris 8 and 9
     --  Solver on Demand for HFSS
         --  Automatically generate ports, boundary box and 3D
             structure
         --  New component grouping feature
         --  Represent components with multiple models (HFSS, netlist,
             planarEM)
         --  Cache solution data across multiple instances for SOD
             elements (planarEM, HFSS, Q3D Extractor(R))

     --  Design Verification
         --  Scripted Design Rule Checking (DRC)
         --  DRC supports creating, checking, and fixing layout
             directly from within the Ansoft Designer layout editor.
         --  Develop a rule set containing scripts based on either
             JScript or VBScript

For more information on product pricing and availability, please contact your nearest Ansoft office. To learn more about Nexxim v3, visit www.ansoft.com/products/hf/nexxim/icdesign.cfm. For details about Ansoft Designer v3, visit www.ansoft.com/products/hf/ansoft_designer/csdesign.cfm.

About Ansoft

Ansoft is a leading developer of high-performance electronic design automation (EDA) software. Engineers use Ansoft software to design state-of-the-art electronic products, such as cellular phones, Internet-access devices, broadband networking components and systems, integrated circuits (ICs), printed circuit boards (PCBs), automotive electronic systems and power electronics. Ansoft markets its products worldwide through its own direct sales force and has comprehensive customer-support and training offices throughout North America, Asia and Europe. To learn more, please visit www.ansoft.com.