According to Future Facilities, the key focus of development for Release 14 has been improvements in optimisation, allowing engineers to better balance thermal requirement design constraints such as weight, size and cost. New optimisation features also include the ability to improve heatsink geometry, fan speed or heat spreader design using a new ‘Design of Experiments’ functionality.
In addition, the new 6SigmaET incorporates Future Facilities’ “fastest, most accurate solver yet”. This includes significant new advancements in the speed of joule heating and thermal co-simulation, as well as smart features to ensure that radiation is only calculated when necessary.
Additional features of the new 6SigmaET
- Solving on a Linux or Windows PC, HPC Cluster, Private Cloud and Public Cloud
- Enhanced package modelling and throttling when working with power maps
- Import support for the new IPC-2581 file format
- Access to Orion fans, AlphaNova heatsinks and Cambridge NanoTherm materials
- Support for component models from Intel, Qualcomm, Xilinx and Samsung
The new release also takes advantage of Future Facilities’ commitment to a neutral file format for thermal simulation. Having been developed alongside Intel and several other industry leaders, the new EXCML format allows thermal engineers to easily share thermal models across different toolsets, as well as importing and exporting a wide range of objects, materials and properties.
Commenting on the new release, Chris Aldham, Product Manager at 6SigmaET said, “With AI, the Internet of Things and 5G technology on the horizon, it’s vital that thermal simulation platforms keep up-to-date with the rapidly evolving electronics industry.
“Independent research has already found 6SigmaET to be the fastest electronics thermal simulation software on the market today, however we are continually working on ways to improve our performance. Release 14 represents a major step forward on this journey.”
