Agilent Technologies Inc. announced the release of the first commercially available HiSIM2.4 Model Extraction Package for DC and RF parameters for advanced complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device models. The package, for use with Agilent’s Integrated Circuit Characterization and Analysis Program (IC-CAP) software platform, provides an easy-to-use, efficient and customizable method for measuring and extracting accurate DC and RF parameter values for the HiSIM2.4 model.

The HiSIM2.4 device model, developed by Hiroshima University in Japan, is one of the next-generation, industry-standard CMOS compact models for circuit simulation. CMOS devices are used in a wide range of consumer products such as microprocessors, memory and communication applications. Earlier compact models, such as the BSIM4, were primarily developed for digital circuits and have limitations when used for analog and RF applications at smaller technology nodes. The HiSIM2.4 model calculates the device’s surface potential, enabling a more accurate description of the deep sub-micron physical phenomena and resulting in a more accurate description of the internal currents and charges.

“Creating accurate device-simulation models for advanced CMOS digital processes is problematic because gate accumulation and tunneling, trap-assisted tunneling, and halo effects are observed at smaller technology nodes,” said Roberto Tinti, product manager with Agilent’s EEsof EDA division. “Circuit designers can use Agilent’s HiSIM2.4 Model Extraction Package to accurately predict the behavior of highly non-linear RF circuits, such as mixers, amplifiers and switches.”

IC-CAP provides a powerful open and flexible environment for measuring and extracting device models for a broad range of process technologies, including CMOS, BJT and HBT on silicon and compound semiconductors. The HiSIM2.4 package--the latest in Agilent’s series of IC-CAP Device Model Extraction Packages--gives designers the ability to automatically generate a complete device model for DC and RF parameters or adapt the package to meet specific modeling needs.

The HiSIM2.4 Model Extraction Package provides a high-speed link to Agilent’s Advanced Design System (ADS) software. ADS supports the latest version of the HiSIM2.41 model, which is necessary to generate an accurate extraction of DC and RF parameters.