Cadence and Samsung accelerate 3nm mixed-signal silicon
Cadence Design Systems, in collaboration with the Samsung Foundry, has deliver qualified Mixed-Signal OpenAccess-ready process design kit (PDK) technology files that support a range of Samsung process technologies from 28FDS to GAA base 3nm.
The Mixed-Signal OpenAccess-ready PDK will allow the companies mutual customers to speed their time to market by ensuring that the qualified Cadence custom and digital design tools interoperate on various Samsung process technologies. The Mixed-Signal OpenAccess-ready PDK improves productivity for mixed-signal designs used in data centres, networking, 5G, mobile, industrial and automotive applications.
The Cadence digital tools included with the Mixed-Signal OpenAccess PDK for Samsung process technologies are the Innovus Implementation System, Genus Synthesis Solution, Liberate Characterization Suite, Tempus Timing Signoff Solution, Voltus IC Power Integrity Solution, Quantus Extraction Solution, Physical Verification System, Tempus Timing Signoff Solution, Voltus-Fi Custom Power Integrity Solution, and Litho Physical Analyzer.
The Cadence custom tools included in the PDK are the Virtuoso ADE Product Suite, Virtuoso Schematic Editor, Virtuoso Layout Suite, Virtuoso Layout Suite Electrically Aware Design (EAD), Spectre X Simulator, and LDE Electrical Analyzer.
By using using the Mixed-Signal OpenAccess-ready PDK with the Virtuoso and Innovus platforms, customers will be able to access mixed-signal designs in a common OpenAccess database. This co-design methodology promotes shared responsibilities and collaboration between the analogue and digital teams for chip planning, design, implementation, physical verification, and signoff, improving overall productivity and increasing design throughput.
The Mixed-Signal OpenAccess-ready PDK enables the use of the flows, which offer:
- Advanced floorplanning and pin optimisation: Users can pre-plan sensitive analogue parts of the design using constraint-driven placement in the Virtuoso platform, then open the same design in the Innovus system for timing-driven placement of digital blocks. Users can fix pin locations or move them in either tool to optimise routing.
- Powerful block and chip routing capabilities: Users can pre-route sensitive analogue nets using custom design tools and finish the rest using a fast timing-driven router with in-design DFM hotspot detection and automated fixing to fulfil the mandatory DFM signoff requirements.
- Improved static timing analysis (STA): The Innovus and Tempus solutions automatically recognise logic cells on the timing path in mixed-signal design and perform timing analysis while ignoring analogue circuitry that does not impacting timing.
- Improved EM-IR Analysis: Enables faster electromigration IR drop (EM-IR) analysis for mixed-signal designs through a new hierarchical approach.
“In collaboration with Samsung, we’ve developed a Mixed-Signal OpenAccess PDK that enables customers to create mixed-signal designs for emerging applications more effectively,” said Michael Jackson, corporate vice president, R&D in the Digital & Signoff Group at Cadence. “With this new PDK, customers can leverage the Cadence digital and custom tools and Samsung’s process technologies to achieve improved power, performance, and area and successfully deliver new designs within tight market windows.”