Managing Simulation Data and Results

You can create thousands of simulations in a serial link or parallel link project by sweeping different variables in the solution space. Setting up and simulating exhaustive sweeps is easy, but sorting through the results to get answers can be difficult and time consuming. From a visual standpoint, you may only wish to see certain columns of data or re-order the columns to better view the results. From a data management aspect, you might want to quickly sort, filter, or roll-up of data in a column or columns of results. You may also wish to configure and save the applied visual and data management settings of the viewer for present and future Signal Integrity Viewer sessions to simplify the analysis.

You can mine and manage the simulation data generated by the Signal Integrity Viewer in two ways:

• Data mining from the main app window — quick and easy way to evaluate simulation results.

• Data mining using the table control — in-depth process of setting up visibility, sort, filter and roll-up operations for the simulation results.

Data Mining from Signal Integrity Viewer App Window

Simulation results are contained in rows of data. Results for a simulation are in a multi-column row. Depending on the number of variables and settings there can be tens or hundreds of columns. The Signal Integrity Viewer app can only show a limited number of results at a time. But you can quickly sort the results from the main app window.

Moving Columns

To re-order the columns for comparison with others or to group the design critical metrics together, simply select the header and hold down the left mouse button. Drag the column to the desired position in the table.

Sorting Within Column

To quickly sort simulation results such as BER or Eye Height in ascending or descending order, click on the column header with the left mouse button. Select once for ascending or a second time for descending. It toggles between ascending and descending each time selected. The direction of the arrow in the column header shows if the column is sorted in ascending or descending order.

Filtering Data from Column

You can include or exclude data based on a wildcard by filtering data within column. You can enter the text or numerical data wildcard by using the text box below any column and click the filter button next to the text box. To disable filtering, click on the icon a second time. The small down arrow in the lower right-hand corner of the column header allows for setting the filter treatment. In this case it is set to Greater Than Or Equal To.

Note

The Matches Wildcard and Does Not Match Wildcard options can be used with text or numeric values. The other options can only be used with numeric values.

Rolling Up Column

The roll up function collapses the rows of the table so that there is one row for each unique value in the associated column. To roll up a column, click the roll up icon ⌾. To disable rolling up, click on the icon a second time. To choose how the rolled-up data is treated, select the small down arrow in the column header.

The available roll up treatments are:

• Mixed — If there is more than one value in the table, cells that are being rolled up display <Mixed> in the rolled-up cell for this column.

• Vectorized — Vectorizes the values in the table cells that are being rolled up.

• Count — Displays the number of rows rolled up.

• CSV — Displays the unique values as a CSV (Comma Separated Value) list.

• Mean — Displays the mean of all values rolled up.

• Min — Displays the minimum of all values rolled up.

• Max — Displays the maximum of all values rolled up.

• Min,Max — Displays the minimum and maximum of all values rolled up.

Note

The Mean, Min, Max, and Min,Max options can only be used with numeric values. The other options can be used with both text and numeric values.

Data Mining Using Table Column Control

The Table Column Control allows you to set up and save the preferences for column visibility, roll up, and filter. You can fully customize your Signal Integrity Viewer sessions using this tool. A Table Column Control session is unique to each tab (for example, Network, Statistical, or Time Domain in the Serial Link Designer app). Setting up and saving a Table Column Control session can only be used in that specific tab.

To start a Table Column Control session, click the gear icon in the first Row column of the Signal Integrity Viewer app window. You can reset the view to the default status by clicking the home icon.

Visualizing Columns

Table Column Control allows you to set the visibility for each column. The first column in the Table Column Control contains check boxes for each category of results. You can select certain columns for viewing while suppressing lesser relevant columns. You can also re-order columns of data. You can also set all columns to be visible or invisible.

Ordering Columns

To order the columns, simply select the row(s) and use the arrow keys in the top right corner of the Table Column Control window. You can also move the row to the top or bottom of the list.

Rolling Up Columns

The roll up function collapses the rows of the table so that there is one row for each unique value in the associated column. To select a column for roll up, select the checkbox in the Rollup column for that particular row. You can choose the how the rolled up data is treated from the Rolled Up Treatment column.

The available roll up treatments are:

• Mixed — If there is more than one value in the table, cells that are being rolled up display <Mixed> in the rolled-up cell for this column.

• Vectorized — Vectorizes the values in the table cells that are being rolled up.

• Count — Displays the number of rows rolled up.

• CSV — Displays the unique values as a CSV (Comma Separated Value) list.

• Mean — Displays the mean of all values rolled up.

• Min — Displays the minimum of all values rolled up.

• Max — Displays the maximum of all values rolled up.

• Min,Max — Displays the minimum and maximum of all values rolled up.

You can also disable all roll ups or reset all roll up treatments.

Filtering Columns

To select a column for filtering, select the checkbox on Filter column for that particular row. You can enter a numerical or text filtering wildcard in the Wildcard column. You can select the filter treatment option from the Filter Treatment column. You can also disable or reset all filtering treatment options.

Note

The Matches Wildcard and Does Not Match Wildcard options can be used with text or numeric values. The other options can only be used with numeric values.

Saving Table Column Control View

You can save the Table Column Control views to use after simulations has been rerun or to use with other projects. Once you make a change to the Table Column Control dialog box, the Selected Table View changes from Default to Modified. By clicking the View Manager button, you can save the modified view using a unique name.

The Manage Table Views window also shows any currently saved views. You can delete or rename the existing views or save the current view.

While saving the current you, you have two options as to where the views are saved:

• User — The view is saved in your local install area. You can access the view during the current and any subsequent Signal Integrity Viewer sessions regardless which project is open.

• Interface — The view is saved in the project interface folder. You can access the view only when the project interface is open and simulation results are available.

Related Topics

• Network Characterization
• Statistical Analysis Results
• Time Domain Analysis Results
• Results of Pre-Layout Analysis in Serial Link
• Results of Pre-Layout Analysis in Parallel Link