SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 29, 2007 -- Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced a breakthrough in high-frequency SPICE simulation technology. The simulation technology is part of the Advanced Design System's new Signal Integrity Designer Premier software suite, providing the high-speed digital board designer with accurate time-domain response. "Measured or modeled interconnects at data rates exceeding 1 Gbps are best represented in frequency domain, and it is very difficult for pure time-domain simulators to predict a correct response," said Sanjeev Gupta, signal integrity application engineer with Agilent's EEsof EDA division. "To address this challenging technical problem, we've developed a new convolution simulator that can automatically enforce passivity on S-parameter models, and can determine, very accurately, the causal time domain response, which represents the original S-parameter data." Agilent's Advanced Design System EDA software offers a complete set of front-to-back simulation and layout tools and instrument links for RF and microwave IC design in a single, integrated design flow. Its signal integrity solution for high-speed digital design is made possible through its unique co-simulation technology. The software can model entire serial data links, including interconnects, pre-emphasis and adaptive equalization, in the presence of non-linear driver and receiver models. Signal Integrity Designer Premier also provides two additional capabilities that are important for accurate high-speed digital design: a new, fully integrated set of IBIS (I/O Buffer Information Specification) models for single-ended and differential components such as sources, buffers and terminations; and a broadband SPICE model generator. IBIS models describe the behavior of circuits when triggered by waveforms. They eliminate the need to obtain the often proprietary transistor-level details of components. The broadband SPICE model generator automatically processes frequency-domain data produced by electromagnetic structure simulators such as Agilent's Momentum, a three-dimensional planar electromagnetic simulator and Electromagnetic Design System (EMDS), Agilent's full three-dimensional EM simulator, or by measuring with a vector network analyzer to create models that are accurate over a broad band of frequencies and are usable by a time-domain simulator. "This technology breakthrough is a great example of our philosophy of continual investment in creating tools that directly help our customers build better designs from the start," said Jim McGillivary, general manager with Agilent's EEsof EDA division.