Actually the debate was about Arnoldi delay calculator algorithm vs AWE (pre 1999). The algorithm is about Driver Network Reduction of mesh networks. When the far end of a net is dangling (no resistive load), the entire net resistance would fail to converge during model reduction (from complex to simple) and Primetime would hang. Arnoldi algorithm for Driver reduction solved this problem and it is guaranteed to converge. It is not about accuracy as much as convergence.
Rajat Sewal