Alps Alpine composes capacitance IC with Symphony

Alps Alpine, developer of electronic components and in-vehicle information devices, has designed and verified a capacitance detection IC for use in human-machine interface systems using the Siemens Digital Industries Software Symphony platform for mixed-signal applications.

The functionally safe IC can be used across automotive and smart device markets for proximity, touch, and spatial gesture detection. Alps Alpine says its use of Symphony enabled a 5X increase in functional verification productivity, bring the part to market quickly.

“As a manufacturer of in-vehicle electrical components, we are required to comply with the ISO26262 functional safety standard, and the semiconductors we use must additionally comply with aggressive Automotive Safety Integrity Level-B (ASIL-B) requirements,” explained Akihisa Iikura, IC design manager for Alps Alpine.

“Siemens’ Symphony platform helped us to rapidly and successfully design and verify our design’s complex operations and functionality. The Symphony platform’s exceptional performance, together with its user-friendly interface, led to greater adoption among our verification teams.“

Symphony has a modular form and is underpinned by Siemens’ Analog FastSPICE platform, combining foundry-certified circuit simulators and industry-standard HDL simulators with the goal of delivering efficient and precise verification of complex mixed-signal projects. It is compatible with other leading digital solvers, including the functional verification engine within Siemens’ Questa platform.

For more on the capabilities of the platforms Alps Alpine used, click here for Symphony and here for Analog FastSPICE.