SAN FRANCISCO — Two modeling companies, Analogy Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.) and Microcosm (Raleigh, N.C.), will partner on a model generator for micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS). The companies said their jointly-developed AutoMM/Saber product, which was announced at the 35th Design Automation Conference, will be the first to bridge the gap between mechanical design automation and electronic design automation.

Analogy's Saber simulator has been widely used to model analog components and analog-digital interfaces. Because Saber is able to model electro mechanical effects — such as inductive kickback from motors and drive trains — it is widely used among automotive and aircraft system makers.

Microcosm's MemCAD tools use finite-element analysis to model three-dimensional geometries of micro-electro mechanical systems, or micro machines. RC extraction techniques, however, are required to model MEMS effects in a Spice or Spice-like environment.

AutoMM/Saber will automatically build a MEMS model for the Saber simulator in Mast, Analogy's proprietary high-level language. This ability to convert a complex mesh defined by finite-element analysis into what Analogy's principal engineer Darrell Teegarden calls a lumped-circuit equivalence, i.e., an RC network, promotes rapid turnaround and greater accuracy in signal-conditioning circuits for MEMS, the companies said.

The AutoMM tools are a product of Darpa-funded research, said David Cook, vice president of marketing for Microcosm. Founded in 1996, Microcosm intended to commercialize MEMS modeling technology developed at MIT. Other companies have attempted to commercialize MEMS technology. The ADXL family of accelerometers from Analog Devices Inc., which are used to trigger automotive airbags, apply a finite-element modeling (FEM)-to-HDL converter. Texas Instruments Inc.'s high-resolution Digital Light Projector MEMS was also developed with these modeling tools, Teegarden said.