Simulation of the mechanical and electrical function of MEMS devices and systems is intended to provide the designer with the ability to insure that the design he submits for fabrication will meet the function and performance requirements of the application. The representation of the device occurs at many levels of abstraction and it is important to be able to move between levels accurately and unambiguously to support top-down and bottom-up design.

Equally, a CAD framework for MEMS needs to support representation and analysis in multiple energy domains (electrical, mechanical, thermal, radiant, chemical, magnetic, acoustic and fluidic) with coupling between them. In each of these domains, the MEMS system must be represented so that function can be verified at the desired level of abstraction. The design framework required for MEMS is complex, but it is important to define the framework properly so that design can be performed effectively and accurately by novice and expert designer.

• Finding: A common language for representing MEMS functions is needed.
• Recommendation: Support the development of a theoretical framework and tools for representation and analysis of (multi-energy domain) MEMS functions, and make the tools available to the design community. Some such tools, by analogy to VLSI, might be:
  • Layout verification tools (design rule checkers, component extractors, layout vs. netlist comparers, etc.)
  • Hierarchical schematic description and editing
  • Multidomain simulators
  • Circuit level simulators (Spice-like equations with parameter extraction capabilities)
  • MEMS specific solid modelers capable of being manipulated to provide object descriptions suitable for transmission to the fabricators
  • Hardware behavioral modeling language (similar to VHDL-A?)
• Finding: Similar to VLSI, libraries of MEMS functional (sub-)elements appears likely to facilitate development of complex systems.
• Recommendation: Establish a framework for libraries of previously successful MEMS devices and elements.