In my dad's generation they tweaked cars to become hotrods while in EDA today we have companies that tweak SPICE circuit simulators to become crowned speed champions. The perennial question though is, "How fast and accurate is my SPICE circuit simulator?"
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I read about how Toumaz used the Analog Fast SPICE (AFS) tool from BDA and it sounded interesting so I setup a Skype call with Alan Wong in the UK last month to find out how they design their ultra low-power IC chips.


Interview

Q: Tell me about your IC design background.
A: I've been at Toumaz almost 8 years now and before that at Sony Semi for 5.5 years. My IC design experience goes back to 1997, then starting in 2005 I've been in the IC design group for wireless.

Q: Does Toumaz have a CAD group?
A: Yes, we do have two CAD engineers.

Q: What EDA tools are you using?
A: For RTL simulation ...