Sharing design models between different thermal simulation toolsets

Cadence Design Systems announces that Cadence Sigrity PowerDC technology supports Future Facilities’ new open neutral file format, which solves the challenge of sharing design models between different thermal simulation toolsets.

The PowerDC technology’s adoption of the single, open-model file format streamlines the thermal supply chain, promotes interoperability and data exchange, and enables customers to improve their thermal and electrical designs while also accelerating their schedule.

With easy access to thermal models, design teams using PowerDC technology can shorten design cycle time by up to two weeks.



Thermal and electrical component suppliers currently develop and provide their customers with proprietary model files that support different tools, which is a time-consuming and error-prone process.

Future Facilities’ open model format enables these suppliers to develop a single common model file that works with all vendors’ simulation tools supporting the neutral file format.

The PowerDC technology can read in this component model file and use it directly, saving customers valuable time and resources otherwise spent obtaining or recreating a component model from the supplier.

Adopting the neutral file format enables interoperability and data exchange between traditional thermal/mechanical engineering tools and PowerDC technology, improving overall productivity between mechanical and electrical engineering design teams.

This allows them to explore variants and run more iterations, leading to better designs that meet product cost requirements.

“Over the years, we have seen significant demand from our customer base for seamless data transfer from various tools. The neutral file format allows us to take an important first step in democratising the thermal industry, bringing it on par with the MCAD and ECAD markets where neutral file formats are the norm,” said Akhil Docca, corporate marketing manager at Future Facilities. “With support from Cadence, we look forward to bringing a single, common format to the thermal engineering and simulation community.”

“Electrical and thermal co-simulation is rapidly becoming a requirement for our customers,” said An-Yu Kuo, senior group director, R&D at Cadence. “A key enabling factor for these co-simulations is unification of the various thermal model formats into a common neutral file format that can be used by all EDA tools. To help our customers focus on the critical electrical and thermal co-simulations needed for their designs, we offer them easy access to thermal models by supporting Future Facilities’ neutral file format in our Sigrity PowerDC technology.”