ABSTRACT
To understand the value of model-based engineering in the arena of analog/mixed-signal application-specific integrated circuit design, it helps to have a brief overview of analog/mixed-signal application-specific integrated circuit design operations. The vertical axis represents complexity of the circuits comprising the application-specific integrated circuit. The horizontal axis represents the resources it takes to create them. The left branch of the V-diagram represents implementation tasks such as the creation of schematics, layout, and test benches. The complexity of IC design has created opportunities for electronic design automation companies to create and sell tools that help application-specific integrated circuit designers be more productive. There are many different analog/mixed-signal modeling strategies in use today, many of which are customized to a particular class of application-specific integrated circuit or product line. Most design organizations do not invest resources in behavioral modeling until large-scale integration of the circuits creates a simulation bottleneck.
