CAD, CAT and MPW for MEMS

International audienceThis paper is dealing with design, simulation and test of microsystems (microelectromechanical systems, MEMS). Both existing tools and open research areas are addressed. All through the paper, similarities between the present development of MEMS and the development of microelectronics decades ago are pointed out, including the migration from point tools to Computer-Aided Design (CAD) frameworks, testing, foundries/fabless business or Intellectual Property (IP) issues. Specific aspects such as thermal simulation of microstructures, thermomechanical design at the package level and infrastructures for Education and Research are also addressed. The conclusion is depicting a possible global simulation scheme integrating the needs of Systems on Chip (SoCs) multilanguage simulation together with the needs of MEMS multipurpose simulation