An EMC-oriented VHDL-AMS simulation methodology for dynamic current activity assessment

Dynamic current activity extraction plays a very important role in estimating the electromagnetic compatibility of integrated circuits. For that purpose, the Integrated Circuit Electromagnetic Model (ICEM) is being developped by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). This article introduces a mixed-mode simulation methodology, based on the VHDL-AMS language, which dramatically reduces simulation times while taking into account various circuit activities. The use of such a methodology in the case of SRAM memories is described, allowing the definition of an ICEM-compatible intellectual-property (IP) dynamic activity model aimed at emission level prediction.