(Image courtesy of Altair.)
The main products from MODELiiS focus on the simulation of C-code behavior for various commercial chips on the market. The tools also include a SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) circuit simulator.
MODELiiS would therefore be a hit for Altair users looking for EDA, system modeling, electromagnetic and system modeling.
MODELiiS’ EDA technology is optimized to help engineers design digital and analog electronic equipment for the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous vehicles and hybrid systems.
“With the MODELiiS acquisition, we plan to continue our growth and investment in our EDA capabilities to deliver the most relevant, optimal, simulation-driven design solutions for IoT,” said James R. Scapa, Altair’s Founder, Chairman and CEO. “Simulation and optimization are fundamental to the design of communication and controls for everything from personal devices to autonomous vehicles.”
Altair also noted that MODELiiS contains “easy-to-use solutions” to design IoT, electronics and hybrid systems. This would suggest that the MODELiiS brand might make a good home within Altair’s solidThinking brand.
The solidThinking portfolio contains a series of fit-for-purpose design software options that democratize anything from computer-aided engineer (CAE) to model-based design (MBD). These tools include:
- Inspire for topology optimization
- Evolve for industrial design and surface modeling
- Click2Cast, Click2Extrude and Click2Form to simulate casting, extrusion and metal forming
- Compose for matrix-based numerical computations
- Activate for multi-disciplinary systems simulation and optimizations
- Embed for MBD and C-code generation
Activate and Embed both have an IoT design focus. Embed also produces C-code. As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a merger of technologies into one interconnected tool.
Alternatively, MODELiiS could get solidThinking’s democratization rebranding treatment, resulting in a new tool that focuses more on the EDA side of the IoT design workflow, separate but compatible with Activate and Embed.
Talking about compatibility, it would also make sense for Altair to make sure this new tool in its portfolio plays nice with the company’s other design tools that can help with the production of IoT products. These include:
- Flux for electromagnetic and electric simulations
- FEKO for antenna design and placement
- WinProp for signal propagation and network planning
To learn more about IoT design portfolio, read: Altair's CAE Portfolio for IoT Product Design.