Web simulation tool verifies power devices

Simulations are typically conducted before the prototype design phase in order to reduce development efforts not only in the automotive and industrial equipment markets. Even when designing electronic circuit boards, simulations are used to minimise the time and effort required for component selection as well as to identify potential or fundamental issues before actual equipment validation in order to significantly decrease man-hours during board prototyping and evaluation phases.

Until now, ROHM has provided a range of solutions that contribute to solving issues for a variety of user development flows, such as SPICE models that faithfully reproduce the electrical characteristics of products through simulation along with thermal design support for validating both heat generation phenomena and dissipation results using fluid analysis.

This time, in addition to focusing on developing and supporting application circuits that maximise the characteristics of driver ICs and power devices designed to supply high power in the automotive and industrial equipment markets, ROHM offers the cutting-edge simulator, ROHM Solution Simulator, that allows users to perform complete circuit verification of power devices and ICs. Among these, validation of SiC devices and gate driver ICs for driving SiC ranks among the most advanced initiatives in the industry.

ROHM Solution Simulator is a new web-based electronic circuit simulation tool that can carry out a variety of simulations, from initial development that involves component selection and individual device verification to the system-level verification stage. This makes it possible to quickly and easily implement complete circuit verification of ROHM power devices (i.e. SiC) and ICs (e.g. driver and power supply ICs), in simulation circuits under close to actual conditions, significantly reducing application development efforts.

The simulator was developed to work with the SystemVision Cloud simulation platform from Mentor, a Siemens business, a leader in electronic design automation software with an extensive track record in the automotive and industrial equipment industry. As a result, users with an SVC account can also perform verification in a more realistic environment by incorporating simulation data executed by the ROHM Solution Simulator into their own SVC workspace.

”ROHM is committed to reducing customer development time and costs by providing a comprehensive online solution built using SystemVision, a multi-domain cloud-based platform,” said Darrell Teegarden, Product Manager for SystemVision Cloud at Mentor, a Siemens business. “By focusing on maintaining and enhancing device models and reference circuits that operate in the SystemVision Cloud environment, ROHM can further contribute to solving customer issues.”

ROHM Solution Simulator can be used free of charge by simply registering on ROHM’s official website. In addition to the simulator, the following dedicated page provides access to tutorial videos and documents required for use.

Key features of ROHM Solution Simulator

Enables complete circuit verification of power devices and ICs using a solution circuit close to the actual application environment

ROHM Solution Simulator is the cutting-edge web-based simulator capable of verifying power devices and ICs at the same time, making it possible to quickly and easily validate ICs (i.e. power supply and driver ICs), along with power devices (such as ROHM’s SiC and IGBT products) under close to actual conditions. This allows users to perform simultaneous simulation of characteristics that cannot be seen with the device alone, but includes peripheral circuits as well, significantly reducing application development efforts.

Forty-four solution circuits are currently available; with additional solution circuits to follow that expand the range of applicable power supply and LED driver ICs. ROHM is also planning to release models for thermal simulation in the near future.

Simulation data can be transferred to the user’s own development environment

ROHM Solution Simulator was developed to work with the SystemVision Cloud (SVC) simulation platform from Mentor. Existing SVC users and those with newly registered SVC accounts can incorporate simulation data executed in ROHM Solution Simulator into their own SVC environment (workspace) to perform verification of system circuits under conditions close to actual use (including customisations).

ROHM Solution Simulator Page

Simply click on the URL below to access the dedicated page and register with MyROHM to begin using the ROHM Solution Simulator. Supporting materials such as manuals along with tutorial videos are also provided in ROHM Solutions Simulator Page.

Solutions EVK (Evaluation Kit)

In addition to the solution circuits registered for ROHM Solution Simulator, ROHM will provide a Solution EVK (Evaluation Kit) that makes it possible to evaluate the same circuit, which customers simulate, as-is. To begin with, we have released a power tree board for automotive power supply ICs. This proposes the ideal power supply IC configuration for power systems required in automotive applications. Also it includes the support for noise (EMC) and thermal designs prone to cause issues during application development. Customers can use them not only in simulation but also as design and verification tools.

SystemVision Cloud from Mentor

SystemVision Cloud is a cloud-based software service (SaaS) provided by Mentor that allows users to perform the latest multi-domain simulations. This system, which can be accessed from a web browser to carry out analysis anytime, anywhere on a PC, supports encrypted VHDL/AMS and SPICE models for importing into Mentor’s PCB design environment (Xpedition software series).