Optimizing Tool Integration Is Essential To Design Success


By James Paris and Armen Asatryan The relationship between a place and route (P&R) application and the collection of system-on-chip (SoC) design implementation, analysis, and verification methodologies and tools has always been very much a two-way street. The P&R system is the base, if you will, of design implementation—it takes the virtual and makes it physical. However, it is use... » read more

Rule Deck Comparison Doesn’t Have To Be Difficult


Foundry rule decks change all the time, as foundries uncover new manufacturing issues, or the process changes, or design criteria are tightened to improve runtime or stability. Sometimes new versions of a user’s design rule checking (DRC) tool are released, and the results from the DRC run differ from the previous version. Or perhaps a company wants to compare results between rule decks from ... » read more

It’s Time to Bring GDS “Reality” Into Routing Closure


By Nancy Nguyen and Jean-Marie Brunet Imported cells, whether macros, standard cells, or intellectual property (IP), are a common element of today’s integrated circuit (IC) designs. Historically, when designers incorporate these cells into a design, they import them using an abstract format defined by a layout exchange format (LEF) file. This abstract view provides basic information about th... » read more