Date: 29/05/2012

Calibre Litho checks by Mentor Graphics for TSMC 40nm and 28nm customers

Mentor Graphics Corporation has announced the availability of a new DFM analysis service based on the Calibre platform for TSMC 40nm and 28nm foundry customers. The service analyzes the customer's design database in accordance with TSMC's lithography process checking (LPC) flow. It then delivers a results database with hotspot locations and fixing hints that routers can use to perform corrections. This DFM approach is an alternative for designers taping out relatively few advanced node devices per year.

"LPC checking identifies hotspots before designers commit to tape-out," said Suk Lee, TSMC senior director of design infrastructure marketing. "We have worked with Mentor to ensure its DFM Analysis Service can help designers quickly complete DFM checks and enter production."

"Mentor offers a very efficient solution because we work with TSMC to validate sign-off tools and decks early in the technology development process," said Michael Buehler-Garcia, senior director of marketing for Calibre Design Solutions at Mentor Graphics. "Our DFM service links TSMC's process expertise with Calibre's software expertise, and the compute power of Mentor's Calibre data center, resulting in fast, secure LPC runs. For designers with a relatively small number of tape-outs per year, the service option gives them a way to meet TSMC's sign-off requirements until their design volumes and complexity necessitate the need to run LPC in house."

The DFM analysis service performs TSMC's mandatory lithography checks using TSMC DFM data kits (DDK) running on Calibre LFD prior to tape-out and acceptance by the foundry. This helps designer to optimize their physical designs.

Mentor performs all the required tool setup and runs the litho checks against the customer's GDSII design database. The advanced security infrastructure at Mentor's data center in Oregon isolates and secures the customer's intellectual property as the runs are conducted here. Only Mentor employees in support of this service have access to customer files and the customer-specific environment.