The Mentor Graphics ICstation and Falcon environments come "out-of-the-box" as incredibly flexible and powerful toolkits. The specific requirements for RF design can, therefore, be implemented as site-specific customizations of Design Architect, IC Station, and any simulators integrated into Falcon. The RF Personality Module (RF PM) represents an "off-the-shelf" solution for RF design-simulation, SDL layout, and verification-which significantly reduces the time and cost of realizing a high-productivity design environment. This paper reviews the components and architecture of the RF PM and identifies key areas and opportunities in which the RF PM can enable a shorter SDL implementation and extensible customization.

Bio:
Dr. Michael Heimlich received a Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has industrial experience in RF IC circuit and system design, test, and fabrication, and PCB and IC EDA. Prior to co-founding VistaCAD, a supplier of EDA value-added products and services, Dr. Heimlich was responsible for EDA and MIS of M/A-Com's IC Business Unit.