Emerging simulation approaches for micromachined devices

In this survey paper, we describe and contrast three different approaches for extending circuit simulation to include micromachined devices. The most commonly used method, that of using physical insight to develop parameterized macromodels, is presented first. The issues associated with fitting the parameters to simulation data while incorporating design attribute dependencies are considered. The numerical model order reduction approach to macromodeling is presented second, and some of the issues associated with fast solvers and model reduction are summarized. Lastly, we describe the recently developed circuit-based approach for simulating micromachined devices, and describe the design hierarchy and the use of a catalog of parts.