Silvaco - Integration Aspects and Key Atrributes

This simulation standard will discuss Silvaco International’s post processing application SmartView and will highlight features that identifying it as an important tool to the design engineer. In particular, the integration of SmartView with SmartSpice will be discussed in addition to its key attributes within the SmartView interface.

Integration Issues

The integration of SmartView into Silvaco International’s circuit simulator SmartSpice, permits the direct transfer of data between applications. This capability eliminates the need to write data to a file as an intermediate stage and will thus significantly reduce computation time. This integration of applications will also allow data transfer from a shared server farm directly to SmartView running on the user’s on work station.

SmartView Interface Key Attributes

The SmartView interface supports context sensitive menus for all user editable chart objects and an example is shown in figure 1. With the simple double click every visible chart object can be edited. The interface also includes customisable features on all supported platforms. SmartView has many key attributes and an exhaustive list is not possible within this simulation standard. However, some key attributes has been highlighted which should improve the user’s understanding of the application. Some of SmartView's key attributes are as follows:

Drag and Drop of traces from the data browser window to a chart, between charts and into text fields. Making it easier to select and use traces in measurements and the calculator
Every reversible user interaction events (i.e. create, select, edit, delete and move object events) can be undone and then redone
Object Browser for the quick location of hidden and off screen objects.(See Figure 2)
All charts of the same type use the identical screen dimensions. With the Align in X and Align in Y feature these charts can be aligned on the same data values (See Figure 3)
Every editable object inside a chart has a context menu, allowing the user to edit, move, and delete the object
User interaction with chart has two mode of operation. A zoom mode for the manipulation of the visible data area and an interactive mode for the manipulation of the objects in the charts
Single point Data Markers can be placed on Smith, Polar and Histogram Charts for easier annotation of traces (See Figure 4)
The user interface remembers the placement of all dialogs and toolbars between sessions and restores them on restarting the application
Automatic chart layout of charts into predefined layout modes (Vertical, Horizontal, Tile, Page and Palette Modes)
Marching waveforms from the simulator are supported in the interactive and Batch modes of the SmartSpice simulator
The Histogram chart has user definable bin widths using the histogram tool to bin the data prior to adding it to the display
Single value measurements (Y value, Average, Root Mean Square, Derivative, Min and Max values) for all traces in a chart can be measured simultaneously in the Single Measurement dialog
Management of all application defaults is handled by a single dialog utilizing a property tree style layout as seen in Internet Explored or Netscape Navigator
Display Dialog is separated into two windows Data Viewer and Trace Legend. The Data Viewer is used to select and add data to the chart, the Trace Legend is responsible for removing trace from the chart and their position in the Chart Legend
Deleted data can be deleted from the data Cache as soon as it is deleted or by the Clear Cache action

Conclusion

This simulation standard has discussed the post processor SmartView and has identified some of its key attributes. By utilising these key attributes, the user’s productivity and efficiency can be improved in addition to the reduction of computation time delvered through SmartView's inherent integration into the SmartSpice framework.

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