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4. Simulator Coupling

Several works dealing with circuit simulation using distributed devices have been published so far [40,49,12,39]. Most publications deal with the coupling of device simulators to SPICE. This results in a two-level Newton algorithm since the device and circuit equations are handled subsequently. Each solution of the circuit equations gives a new operating point for the distributed devices. The device simulator is then invoked to calculate the resulting currents and the derivatives of these currents with respect to the contact voltages. The other approach is called full-Newton algorithm as it combines the device and circuit equations within one single equation system. This equation system is then solved applying Newton's algorithm. In contrast to the two-level Newton algorithm where the device and circuit unknowns are solved in a decoupled manner, here the complete set of unknowns is solved simultaneously.





Tibor Grasser
1999-05-31