Using the Si Projects feature with Speedstack and Si8000m/Si9000e
Application Note AP8189 

Working with Si Projects in Speedstack and Si8000m/Si9000e

The Si Projects feature incorporated in Speedstack and Si8000m and Si9000e v15.10 and later allows for easy transfer of controlled impedance structures from the Speedstack stackup design tool into the Si8000m and Si9000e field solvers.

Si Projects allows groups of structures to be saved and recalled in Si8000m and Si9000e and entire stackups of structures to be pasted from Speedstack into Si8000m and Si9000e with just a few clicks of the mouse – the toolbar option copies a group of structures from Speedstack and places them onto the clipboard, these structures can then be pasted directly into the Si8000m / Si9000e Project group.

Transferring structures from Speedstack to the field solver

The stackup below in Speedstack's Stackup Editor contains controlled impedance structures in the layers indicated by the Ohms symbol.

Speedstack editor

Click Speedstack's Controlled Impedance tab to display the structures.

Use the toolbar buttons in the Speedstack and the Si8000m/Si9000e interfaces to transfer the structures to the associated field solver.

Within Speedstack click Speedstack's To Si Project toolbar button:

In Si8000m/Si9000e click Paste from Speedstack into Si Project:

The complete set of structures appears in the Si8000m/Si9000e Project window

Ln indicates the layer number in Speedstack.

Adding/deleting and modifying structures

Selecting each structure displays its associated graphic in a grey background.

Right click on a structure in the structure list to view the structure options.

Click the + and – buttons in the structure graphic to add additional structures from the Si structure library or remove selected structures from the Project folder. Click the Rename Structure (the pencil icon) to assign the structure a descriptive name.

With a structure selected the structure parameters can be modified as required and the impedance recalculated.

For Si9000e users, once the Speedstack structures have been imported into the Si Project, it is possible to use the frequency dependent calculation options to predict the conductor loss, dielectric loss and total attenuation for each structure. This is valuable for when designers need to control both impedance and insertion loss.