SOFRADIR selects Asygn’s Tactyle™ simulator technology to enhance quality control of imaging arrays during production

Asygn’s full imaging system simulation overcomes shortcomings in traditional simulation tools enabling more accurate signal integrity checking in imaging arrays

SOFRADIR, a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced infrared detectors for military, space and commercial applications, and Asygn, a developer of simulation solutions for large analog systems, today announced that SOFRADIR has selected Asygn’s Tactyle™ simulator for use in SOFRADIR’s imager signoff flow (i.e. the company’s critical checks just prior to releasing the design for manufacture). The Tactyle™ simulator is particularly suited to analog systems with large repetitive structures, such as the large pixel arrays SOFRADIR uses to develop its infrared detector chips.

Unlike the traditional simulation tools where SOFRADIR was forced to break the system up into smaller sections, and then simulate them separately in order to identify if there were any signal integrity problems, Tactyle can simulate a full imaging system, thereby eliminating cumbersome steps and improving the result.

“Until now, full simulations of infrared imaging systems have been impractical and a weak link in our verification flow,” said Anthony Bardet, design leader at SOFRADIR. “Traditional simulation tools were not designed to handle large pixel arrays (in excess of 1 million) and the full analog/mixed-signal system, including readout circuits, which are extremely heterogeneous (including analog, digital and optical components).  We literally couldn’t see the whole picture until the arrays came back from manufacture.  Now, with our Tactyle™-based signoff flow, we can simulate a full imaging system, with analog accuracy, in a few minutes. As a result, project schedules are more predictable and overall product quality is significantly improved, which boosts customer confidence.”

“SOFRADIR’s choice of Tactyle confirms our long-standing belief that analog/mixed-signal simulation technology is at a turning point,” said Daniel Saias, CEO at Asygn. “Given the size and complexity of the analog subsystems in modern IC products, it is no longer possible to rely exclusively on SPICE-like tools. New verification techniques, exploiting the analog system level of abstraction, are becoming mandatory. Tactyle, a time-domain simulator, is the twin of Fasyle™, its frequency-domain counterpart. We have designed both tools to fit into established flows, and they can plug directly into widely used analog design environments.”

About SOFRADIR S.A.S

SOFRADIR develops and manufactures advanced infrared detectors (IR) for military, space and commercial applications. It specializes in cooled IR detectors based on a sophisticated high performance technology, Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT), and its vast product portfolio of scanning and staring arrays covers the entire infrared spectrum. SOFRADIR also offers QWIP detectors developed in cooperation with Thales.

SOFRADIR's headquarters are located in Châtenay-Malabry, near Paris, France. Its manufacturing facilities and those of ULIS, its subsidiary that manufactures low-cost uncooled IR detectors, are located in Veurey-Voroize, near Grenoble, in France.  SOFRADIR EC, the company’s US subsidiary, operates in Fairfield, NJ. Together SOFRADIR, ULIS and SOFRADIR EC employ more than 500 people. For more information, visit www.SOFRADIR.com

About Asygn

Asygn is a Grenoble-based startup, specializing in the design and verification of analog/mixed-signal and RF systems.  The company delivers application-focused solutions in order to deal with tough issues that traditional, generic approaches cannot handle.  Asygn's solutions incorporate their own analog system level simulators, which provide major performance advantages.  The company has had notable successes in the following applications: imaging arrays; mobile phone radios; MEMs and NEMs sensors; digital and fractional PLLs; high speed IOs.