Mentor Graphics Corp. and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing have partnered to offer a series of new mixed-signal Technology Design Kits (TDKs) supporting 65nm and 90nm process technology available from Chartered. The kits have been validated and are available now for use with Mentor Graphics ICstudio design platform. These open-source design kits enable IC design companies to rapidly set up their design environments and immediately focus on mixed-signal design and productivity gains on leading-edge technology from Chartered.
The new TDKs enable the entire analog mixed-signal IC design flow to be tailored for customers using Common Platform technology processes. The kits provide all the foundry data files and models for use with front-end and back-end IC design tools from Mentor Graphics. Designers can work within the unified design cockpit of Mentor's ICstudio design environment to move seamlessly between designs in front-end logical and back-end physical domains.
"Access to optimized design platforms that shorten critical chip development cycles is of paramount importance to foundry customers facing the challenges of today's market. Such challenges make Chartered's open, third-party EDA and IP strategy even more relevant," said Kevin Meyer, vice president of worldwide marketing and platform alliances at Chartered. "By combining Chartered's production-proven mixed-signal processes with world-class EDA flows from Mentor Graphics, we allow our mutual customers to gain full control and predictability over SoC design and manufacturing to jump-start their designs and plan for aggressive tape-out and production schedules. This is their competitive advantage."
"We understand the time-to-market pressures facing companies, and realize that their design engineers must focus on product development, rather than setting up IC design environments," said Jue-Hsien Chern, vice president and general manager, Deep Submicron division at Mentor Graphics. "At Mentor, we're committed to helping our customers maximize their productivity, especially as they move to more advanced semiconductor technologies in order to stay competitive in their markets. Our design kit collaboration with Chartered as a leading mixed-signal foundry yields a proven design-through-manufacturing flow that saves time and eliminates costly re-spins."
Starting with 90nm generic and 65nm low-power nodes, Chartered and Mentor Graphics plan to broaden the TDK offerings to encompass 65nm and 90nm process variants, as well as extend the development to 45nm. These TDKs tuned to the Common Platform technology processes from Chartered enable chip designers to immediately begin creating, simulating and verifying mixed-signal or analog transistor-level designs targeted for manufacturing at Chartered. Additionally, they are being validated by both companies in support of advanced technologies offered by Chartered. The design kits specifically include: pre-configured symbols and netlist configuration files for schematic capture, Eldo analog simulation models for functional verification, process definition files and device generators for schematic-driven physical layout, and pre-validated Calibre DRC, Calibre LVS and Calibre xRC extraction rule files for final physical verification and parasitic extraction prior to chip manufacturing.
Mentor's new ICstudio design environment contains a unified design platform with a centralized design cockpit that allows seamless navigation throughout the entire analog mixed-signal IC design flow, from schematic capture, simulation and floor planning, to physical layout and final verification.
CharteredMentor Graphics
