Signal Integrity Simulation using Altium

[[email protected]]

Dear Robert
I have a question and it's whether you are using signal integrity simulation in you PCB design. If yes, what tool do you use for this purpose?
Have you ever used Altium Signal integrity simulation?
Best regards.

[robertferanec]

If I can, I use Hyperlynx (I do not own the license, so I only can use it if our clients have it). I do not simulate often. If I need, I usually only simulate memories or connections with more chips placed on one bus. I do not use Altium for simulations (I tried it in past, but the results from simulations were not reflecting changes in layout, however maybe they improved it .... I have not tried to simulate in Altium for some time).

Maybe someone else has better experience with Altium simulations? I am also curious what other people use.

PS: I am also planning to do some simulations in Cadence .. let's see how it goes

[[email protected]]

I've done SI simulations with Altium but i have some problem with it, that is in simple PCBs Altium work well and simulation successfully finished but in complicated PCBs Altium stopped after start simulation. it's seems Altium has bug.
in following link you can see a comparing between Altium and cadence.
i think Altium SI simulation is OK if running with no error.

https://www.ee-training.dk/tip/altium-signal-integrity-tool-part-i.htm

[mairomaster]

The overall community opinion is that Altium simulation is crap and I haven't met anybody doing serious work with it. Better not waste your time in my opinion.

[[email protected]]

If I can, I use Hyperlynx (I do not own the license, so I only can use it if our clients have it). I do not simulate often. If I need, I usually only simulate memories or connections with more chips placed on one bus. I do not use Altium for simulations (I tried it in past, but the results from simulations were not reflecting changes in layout, however maybe they improved it .... I have not tried to simulate in Altium for some time).

Maybe someone else has better experience with Altium simulations? I am also curious what other people use.

PS: I am also planning to do some simulations in Cadence .. let's see how it goes

An important thing that must be noted is migrating from Altium to Cadence for any further simulation. in some cases converting .PCBDOC file to .BRD file my not successfully done. i think it's not time wasting if we can simulate with Altium. if we set correct model assignment and do all prerequisite steps to signal integrity simulation (that is mentioned in Altium Online Documentation) the results have enough accuracy in must high speed project.

[robertferanec]

An important thing that must be noted is migrating from Altium to Cadence for any further simulation. in some cases converting .PCBDOC file to .BRD file my not successfully done. i think it's not time wasting if we can simulate with Altium. if we set correct model assignment and do all prerequisite steps to signal integrity simulation (that is mentioned in Altium Online Documentation) the results have enough accuracy in must high speed project.

Yes, a very good point!

PS: That is one of the reasons why I use Hyperlynx. Saving Altium PCB into Hyperlynx format is easy and directly supported by Altium.