Disciplines to deliver a comprehensive digital twin

Today, “systems” extend beyond the IP core, IC, PCB, embedded software, ECU, or even automobile your team is developing. Rather it is all those electrical, software and mechanical systems and the network connecting all those systems integrated into smart business environments, smart factories, smart infrastructure and smart cities. It is the whole ecosystem your enterprise or your customers’ enterprises are building. Enterprises therefore must develop product design environments that not only scale with the complexities of design, but also support a “system-of-systems” perspective that captures the many aspects of modern product development.

The Digital Twin

When EDA and semiconductor veterans hear the term digital twin floated as a new concept, they are typically quick to point out that companies have been creating “twins,” “models” and “prototypes” of their ICs since the earliest days of semiconductors. But semiconductor and conventional EDA companies typically stop there – at their IC system – when it comes to addressing a digital twin. To facilitate a true system-of-systems mindset, however, companies must expand their digital twin to encompass the various sub-systems that make up today’s products. To that end, many systems companies are turning to model-based systems engineering to bring together the electrical, mechanical and software domains in a comprehensive digital twin at a systems-architecture level, before design begins.

A Digital Twin Beyond Design

Furthermore, extending the digital twin to cover both design and manufacturing enables these teams to better collaborate to speed up the design process and minimize the respins. Streamlining the transition to manufacturing requires sharing a complete understanding of the product and enabling early downstream access to the data. Using a digitally integrated platform helps teams develop a complete and accurate multi-domain bill of materials that companies can easily integrate with a wide variety of other enterprise applications. A strong connection between system design and production further complements the system-of-systems approach needed to create the products of tomorrow. To learn more about Siemens EDA, download our new whitepaper.