Mentor And TSMC Provide 0.13 Micron Mixed-Mode And RF Design Kit

Wilsonville, OR -- Mentor Graphics Corporation announced that in a joint effort with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, TSMC is releasing foundry-qualified process design kits that support Mentor's entire custom/mixed-signal IC design flow.

TSMC provides foundry-qualified design rule check (DRC), layout versus schematic (LVS), and parasitic extraction rule decks qualified for the Mentor Graphics Calibre platform, as well as Spice models for Mentor's Eldo Spice simulator. Starting with this latest release of the 0.13 micron mixed-mode and RF Mentor-PDK for TSMC's CM013RG process, TSMC now supports the entire Mentor Graphics ICstudio custom/mixed-signal IC design flow. This kit includes symbol library for Design Architect-IC schematic capture and parameterized layout generators for IC Station layout editor. This complete Mentor-PDK has been pre-qualified with the TSMC process. Design kits for the 90nm (nanometer) and 65nm nodes are currently being developed.

"We are pleased with the result of this collaboration between TSMC and Mentor Graphics in the development and validation of the Mentor process design kit," said Ed Wan, Senior Director of Product Marketing and Design Services at TSMC. "With the release of qualified process design kits such as this, IC designers will be able to leverage the readiness of our leading-edge analog mixed-signal and RF technologies more efficiently and effectively. This in turn can help them jump start their design activities quickly and confidently."

"The partnership between TSMC and Mentor has long supported chip designers in their quest to complete designs efficiently. I am pleased to see this collaboration elevated to the next level," said Jue-Hsien Chern, vice president and general manager, Deep Submicron (DSM) division, Mentor Graphics. "With the support of Mentor-PDKs and Eldo/ADMS Views, we are enabling our common customers to design in TSMC's leading nanometer technologies."

Mentor's new ICstudio design environment integrates all of the Mentor Graphics custom-IC design tools into a seamless flow that enables designers to conceptualize, capture, simulate, layout, and verify custom, analog, RF, and mixed-signal designs. Design capture tools in the ICstudio environment include Design Architect-IC, a schematic capture, netlisting, and simulation control cockpit, and IC Station, Mentor's connectivity-driven layout editor and chip assembly tool. These capture tools integrate with Mentor's Calibre verification platform and Eldo and ADvanceMS simulation tools to provide a front-to-back IC design flow. ICstudio also provides data management and revision control capabilities to facilitate collaborative IC design.

SOURCE: Mentor Graphics Corporation