High current density – is it a problem?

A question I get all too often on power integrity results is whether or not a current density issue is going to cause a problem.  The answer to that question is how much heat is going to result from that current density, and to know that you really need to do a PI/Thermal co-simulation.  I have blogged in the past about PI/Thermal co-simulation, and its importance in characterizing these issues.  With the fast built-in thermal solver in HyperLynx PI, it is really easy to do a co-simulation and get accurate results.  Modeling can be as simple or as complicated as you want, but extensive setup is not necessary to get accurate co-simulation results.  Stop guessing at whether or not you have a PI problem that is going to cause thermal issues, and vice versa…  Check out the product demo here to see how easy it is to include temperature effects in your PI simulations.  And while you’re at it, there are a lot of other great product demos on PCB design as well.