Hi,
I have been doing designs, digital and analog, for over 20 years, without making use of ibis data, but I think that is about to end.
I was doing a design with one of the newer Altera BGA's and could not find the ususal "rise time", "fall time" data, so I inquired to Altera. Altera told me that they provide ibis models for more cases than I could count but that the "old style" specifications were no longer applicable.
What I am trying to do is match the output of an Altera device to a transmission line. If I don't know the rise time and the output impedance then I have little chance of making a good match.
I tried using the freeware tool from Intusoft that can translate ibis models to spice models (I have used spice for a long, long time) but the translator would only translate models up to ibis version 3.0. The ibis models provided by Altera were based upon ibis 3.2 and there were errors in the translation.
The whole process of making use of ibis models must be easier than I am making it.
I would think that if I had an ibis simulator, then I could use the ibis models provided by manufacturers and then creat ibis models of my own to simulate the transmission lines in my design.
1) Is that last assumption correct? 2) Are there freeware ibis simulators? 3) Can someone recommend an inexpensive ibis simulator? 4) What am I missing in all this that makes the process seem more complex than it probably is?Thank You Tom