Apache Announces Sentinel-PI

Venice, Florida — Apache Design Solutions has announced Sentinel-PI, an integrated chip-package-system co-design and co-analysis solution for power integrity. Sentinel-PI provides SoC-aware modeling and analysis of the system-level power delivery network to enable IC package and PCB designers to optimize their designs, from early stage prototyping to system signoff.

Sentinel-PI delivers the following new capabilities in a single integrated solution:

• 3D, full-wave power network extraction and power integrity co-analysis engine.
• DC, AC, and transient/dynamic analysis within a single tool.
• Seamlessly integrated Chip Power Model (CPM) for SoC-aware package/board power integrity.

SoC-Aware Package and PCB Power Integrity
Sentinel-PI provides a 3D full-wave power network extraction and power integrity analysis engine optimized for package and PCB designs. The new engine enables designers to perform resistance check and static IR-drop analysis (DC), frequency-domain simulation including impedance analysis of multi-port power delivery network of the chip, package, and board (AC), and time-domain dynamic voltage drop analysis (transient).

By embedding CPM, Sentinel-PI enables SoC-aware package/PCB power analysis from early in the design flow and throughout the entire process. During early design, Sentinel-PI enables accurate and predictable package selection, as well as power pad and package decoupling capacitance optimizations. Later in the design flow, Sentinel-PI allows package and PCB designers to accurately run power integrity analysis of the package and the PCB with the power delivery network behaviors of the IC, diagnose potential chip-package LC resonance issues, and validate package/board dynamic voltage noise margin.

"Power is a system-level concern that spans the chip, package and PCB. Semiconductor and system companies are looking to chip-package-system co-design to help mitigate risk, optimize cost, and improve productivity. However, traditional co-design solutions have fallen short on integration, accuracy, and interoperability," said Dave DeMaria, senior vice president of chip-package-system at Apache. "Sentinel-PI is the company's first product that addresses the system-wide power and noise challenges from IC, to package, to PCB by leveraging our core competencies in SoC power and noise, as well as package/PCB extraction and modeling."

Apache will showcase Sentinel-PI, along with the Apache's entire power, noise, and reliability solutions for chip-package-system at the upcoming Design Automation Conference (DAC) in Anaheim, Ca.

You can see a Webminar about Sentinel-PI by going to Techonline

US pricing for the Sentinel-PI starts at $35,000 for a 1 year time-based license. Delivery of the product are expected to commence during Q3 of this year.