Foundry
& Design Support
IC Design Flow Management
IC Design Flow Management involves the development and/or maintenance of the front-end through back-end IC design process. CDBC can provide this service for a multi-vendor flow as well as a single vendor flow as there is no conflict of interest between CDBC and the design tool vendors. The following describes activities that may be part of this service. The activities fall into four distinct categories: Process Consulting, Programming, Education, and Testing. The services/activities listed are not comprehensive and will be customized to your particular needs.
Activities Provided
by IC Design Flow Management
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Process Consulting
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Programming
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Design Flow Review and Analysis
Design Flow Enhancement Planning
· Automation
· Repeatability
· Quality
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Flow Automation
Tool Integration Development
Tool Integration Maintenance
Productivity Enhancement Development
Productivity Enhancement Maintenance
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Education
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Testing
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Design Flow Documentation
Design Flow Training
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Regression Test Suite Generation
Regression Testing and Debug
Design Tool Revision Update
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Process Consulting
Process consulting contains a series of consulting activities to review your current IC design process, analyze opportunities for improvement, and plan changes to the IC design process with specific goals in mind. Typical enhancement opportunities will involve improving automation, repeatability, and quality.
Programming
Custom programming, generally in the form of scripts, is the glue that holds the design flow together. Programming enables efficiencies, assures repeatability, maintains quality, and guarantees predictability. CDBC has proficiency with compiled programming languages such as C and C++, interpreted languages like TCL and Perl, and tool related languages like Skill and SVRF. Great care is taken to bound the scope of programming applications to your individual needs.
Education
Education is essential for the proper and efficient use of the IC design flow. This activity consists of the generation of documentation. To efficiently roll out new processes or changes formal training can be developed for your team.
Testing
Testing is an important aspect of maintaining an existing IC design flow. There are a number of factors that conspire to breakdown the IC design flow over time. Some of these factors are enhancements, new PDK releases, new design tool revisions, and new product designs that add new constraints. Activities included in this category are Regression Testing and Debug and Design Tool Revision Upgrade.
Offload your team from the maintenance activities necessary to effectively use your foundry’s PDK. PDK Management involves loading new versions of the PDK, testing that the new release works in your design environment, and releasing the PDK to your design team.
Foundry and Process Selection
Are you looking for a new process as a platform for your next design? CDBC will work with your team to select the best process for your design requirements and business constraints.
Whether you are trying to increase design process throughput or operate the process with fewer hands-on resources; design process automation is essential for maintaining an efficient, repeatable, and predictable quality design process. At CDBC we’ll analyze your design process to determine the optimal application of automation and work with your team to implement the plan.