Analog and RF designers use transient analysis to check basic circuit functionality and verify that the circuit's performance meets specifications. Large analog and RF circuits, such as 802.11 transceivers, WCDMA transceivers, SerDes I/Os, PLLs, and Sigma-Delta ADCs, are some of the toughest transient analysis challenges. These circuits can exceed 100,000 transistors, must be simulated for many micro-seconds of operation, and require full SPICE accuracy to accurately capture circuit behavior.

Transient simulations of these circuits using traditional SPICE simulators can take days or weeks to complete. Reducing SPICE run-times by partitioning the circuit into smaller blocks or loosening the simulator's accuracy tolerances is time-consuming and leads to inaccurate simulation results. After days of option tuning, digital fastSPICE tools can provide significant speed-up, but only at the expense of much needed accuracy. For example, 1% reduction in a 16-bit ADC means only 6 bits are verified.

The multi-rate transient engine in Analog FastSPICE provides both full SPICE accuracy and 5X to 10X performance - without block-level tuning. Designers can reduce simulations from days to hours with full SPICE accuracy at every node.

The table below shows some of the production circuits in which designers have run transient analysis using Analog FastSPICE and achieved full SPICE accuracy at least 5X faster.