Electro-thermal simulation of microsystems with mixed abstraction modelling

Electro-thermal coupling is only one aspect of numerous interactions betwee n physical domains in microsystems. Different physical effects govern the f unctionality of microsystems and the system-level modelling using standard electro-thermal tools is not easy. In order to predict potential failures i n microsystem designs and reduce the costs of prototyping, it is important to involve the simulation of electro-thermal effects at the system level, e arly in the design process. Also, it is necessary to conduct a final verifi cation of the complete system with all governing subsystems, This paper con siders different issues of electro-thermal modelling for microsystems and p roposes analogue simulators with hardware description languages as a tool f or the system-level modelling, With increasing system complexity, the mixed abstraction modelling is the only way to achieve an optimal blend of the a ccuracy and the speed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.