  We propose an efficient algorithmic framework for time domain circuit
simulation using exponential integrator. This work addresses several critical
issues exposed by previous matrix exponential based circuit simulation
research, and makes it capable of simulating stiff nonlinear circuit system at
a large scale. In this framework, the system's nonlinearity is treated with
exponential Rosenbrock-Euler formulation. The matrix exponential and vector
product is computed using invert Krylov subspace method. Our proposed method
has several distinguished advantages over conventional formulations (e.g., the
well-known backward Euler with Newton-Raphson method). The matrix factorization
is performed only for the conductance/resistance matrix G, without being
performed for the combinations of the capacitance/inductance matrix C and
matrix G, which are used in traditional implicit formulations. Furthermore, due
to the explicit nature of our formulation, we do not need to repeat LU
decompositions when adjusting the length of time steps for error controls. Our
algorithm is better suited to solving tightly coupled post-layout circuits in
the pursuit for full-chip simulation. Our experimental results validate the
advantages of our framework.
