Software runs pre-compliance tests on SMPS virtual prototypes

A PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS)-compatible workspace enables designers to perform pre-compliance testing on virtual prototypes of switched-mode power supply (SMPS) designs. This new capability saves time and cost by catching errors early in the design before they become a big problem.

Keysight teamed with ROHM to create the digital “twin” of ROHM’s reference design (model P01SCT2080KE-EVK-001) available to mutual customers via Keysight’s web site at https://www.keysight.com/us/en/assets/3120-1476/application-notes/Virtual-Reference-Design.pdf.

Virtual prototypes are complementary to physical prototypes. Physical prototypes are the gold standard for compliance and measured characteristics but have several drawbacks including: expensive and time consuming to design, build and measure; are vulnerable to catastrophic failure (the infamous “smoke test” that produces actual smoke); and it is hard to get a measurement probe onto interior nodes.

In contrast, virtual prototypes are easy to change and while they do flag device overstress as warning messages during simulation, they never emit real smoke. The voltage, current and fields at every spatial point in the 3D grid and every time step in the simulation can be recorded and made accessible for plotting, even points that are physically inaccessible in the real world such as inside a semiconductor package.

“Many of our customers struggle to deal with layout effects when current slew rate in the switched loop exceeds 1A/ns because even tiny parasitic inductances cause ringing. Suppressing EMI is also a big challenge for them,” said Ippei Yasutake, Group Leader at ROHM. “The digital twin gives our customers the insights they need to make changes without running into problems.”

“This is going to be a big timesaver for anyone wanting to get the most out of designs that use wide bandgap power devices. The layouts can be hard to tame, and EM extraction is key. This workspace and application-specific tool like PEPro makes things much easier,” said Steve Sandler, Managing Director, Picotest.

Keysight’s power electronics design solutions enable power device production across the entire workflow from simulation, design, and verification to manufacturing, deployment, and optimization. Keysight offers a complete electromagnetic circuit co-simulation environment with its PathWave Advanced Design System.

Additional information about Keysight’s Power Electronics design solutions is available at:

http://www.keysight.com/find/eesof-power-electronics
https://www.keysight.com/us/en/products/software/pathwave-design-software/pathwave-advanced-design-system/pathwave-ads-power-electronics.html