关键词: 电路仿真, GPU加速, ALPS, 大规模后仿验证

Abstract: As integrated-circuit technologies continue to advance into the nanometer era, parasitic effects among circuit components have increasingly intensified. Traditional full-accuracy simulators such as Spectre/APS have run into bottlenecks in the design workflow due to their excessive runtime, particularly in post-layout simulation of large-scale analog circuits in advanced nodes, which face multiple challenges in simulation capacity, efficiency, and accuracy. To improve simulation efficiency, leading EDA tools for example, Cadence SpectreX have achieved performance breakthroughs through parallel-computing technology. Practical application has demonstrated that SpectreX significantly outperforms traditional analog simulators while largely maintaining the simulation accuracy of APS. Similarly, ALPS, developed by Empyrean Technology, a leading domestic EDA company, has also addressed the challenges of speed and capacity in large-scale analog circuit simulation while preserving SPICE level accuracy. Focusing on various post-layout scenarios involving large-scale circuits, this paper presents a comprehensive performance comparison between ALPS and SpectreX, which would provide valuable guidance for design engineers in selecting appropriate tools for practical verification requirements.

Key words: circuit simulation, GPU acceleration, ALPS,  large-scale post-layout verification