Posts Tagged ‘custom layout’
Monday, August 8th, 2016
DAC 2016 saw the first Synopsys custom design luncheon to feature Custom Compiler. It was a sold out event with 150 customer attendees eager to hear from Synopsys and other customers about how Synopsys is progressing in the custom design space. Antun Domic, Executive VP and General Manager of Synopsys’ Design Group moderated the event which included speakers from STMicroelectronics, GSI Technology, Samsung Foundry and the Synopsys IP team. For those of you who missed the live event, following is a short summary of the event highlights.
Antun opened the proceedings and presented Synopsys’ fresh approach to custom layout with Custom Compiler. He shared details of the pioneering visually-assisted automation technologies that speed up custom design tasks, reduce iterations and enable reuse.
Antun then went on to introduce each of the customer speakers who related their experiences using Custom Compiler and how visually-assisted automation helped them reduce their layout efforts from days to hours.
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Tags: 10nm, 14nm, 28nm, Custom Compiler, custom layout, DAC, DRC, EM/R, FD-SOI, FinFET, In-Design, low power, SRAM, Synopsys, visually-assisted automation
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Thursday, July 14th, 2016
Planning which metal shape goes on which color (mask) is key when designing in a FinFET process, especially when propagating connections through the layout hierarchy. In addition, highly matched signals such as complementary clocks must be assigned to the same color, as routes on different masks have different resistances. So how do we ensure we are keeping things in order with respect to the matching of resistance and capacitance?
Custom Compiler’s In-Design assistants include a built-in engine that computes resistance of a net from a single source to a single destination or multiple destinations. It is an interactive tool that can be run often during the layout process, has a simple use model and a fast response time. To report the resistance of a net, the layout engineer simply selects the net of interest from either the layout, the design navigator or the schematic. The next step is to invoke the resistance report command which pops up in the electrical report menu. The report type is set to “Resistance” and the source and destination points are entered. The report is run and the results are populated in the Electrical Reporter pane.
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Tags: capacitance, Custom Compiler, custom layout, EDA, FinFET, In-Design, LVS, metal mask, resistance, StarRC, Synopsys
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Saturday, June 18th, 2016
On-line Design Rule Checking (DRC) is nothing new. The technology has been in use for years in a variety of different layout editors and yet nearly every layout engineer has a love/hate relationship with it. Why? Well it really comes down to the use model and the responsiveness of the application.
At the beginning of the design process, layout engineers love on-line DRC. But as the design progresses, the relationship begins to sour. The problem is that as the layout gets bigger and more complex, the performance invariably starts to fall off until it reaches a point where it becomes unacceptable and the layout engineer simply turns it off and resorts to running the occasional batch checks.
To really be effective, on-line DRC has to be an interactive tool that is run often during the layout process, so, as such it needs to have a simple use model and have a fast response. The engine needs to be ‘built-in’ to deliver the required performance and the feedback needs to be comprehensive enough to enable the layout engineer to quickly fix the violation.
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Tags: Custom Compiler, custom IC design, custom layout, design rule checking, DRC, EDA, FinFET, In-Design Assistant, Synopsys, violation, visually-assisted automation
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Tuesday, May 17th, 2016
In the last blog I outlined the kind of tool that layout engineers need in order to get a good placement that delivers robust working silicon within the confines of the FinFET process. We concluded that a guided/interactive approach that is fast and easy to refine such that you do get the result you want is the way to go.
So where else can we look for more efficiency during layout? Well, once you have placed your devices, the next step is to route up all the connections that cannot be completed by simple abutment. Again, because you could be dealing with hundreds of devices [remember the differential pair example? See the “Current Solutions for FinFET (Part 1)” blog] the routing task is one that absolutely screams out for an automatic approach, and there have been lots of efforts at automating custom routing in the past.
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Tags: automation, constraints, custom layout, efficiency, FinFET, routing, user guidance
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Wednesday, April 6th, 2016
So, hopefully, you are now aware of Synopsys’ new Custom Compiler solution tuned for rapid implementation of FinFET custom designs. Custom Compiler features a pioneering visually-assisted automation flow that speeds up custom design tasks from days to hours, reduces iterations and enables reuse–very exciting stuff!
But I want to continue my previous discussion thread to help you get a better understanding of the scope of the challenges inherent in FinFET design (and hopefully avoid some pitfalls).
So, going back to where I left off earlier… PCells for custom layout have been a ‘no brainer’ for decades. They have done all the heavy lifting with respect to generating correct-by-construction layout and have been the most important ‘power’ tool for custom layout engineers. Now however, given the complexity of the FinFET process, they become absolutely vital.
Generating a FinFET device is easy when you have a PCell. When coded correctly, it will automatically generate the device such that the fins are properly spaced on the requisite ‘fin grid’ and that all the rules for Poly width/length, Diffusion width/length, Poly cuts and the like are adhered to. In addition to constructing the device design rule correctly, the PCell will also ensure that the metals in the device are colored correctly and abide by the color-related rules. As you can imagine, there is a lot of stuff going on in a FinFET PCell, but there is more. FinFET PCells have to be ‘smarter than the average PCell’ and they have to be in tune with the layout methodology.
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Tags: correct-by-construction, Custom Compiler, custom layout, DRC, FinFET, iPDK, PCell, routability
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