Foundry

Synopsys is taking IC design on TSMC processes into the cloud with the launch of the Synopsys Cloud Solution, which will run on platforms from Synopsys, Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure.

The LightSuite Compiler produces designs based on Python descriptions and certifies them DRC-clean through hooks into the market-leading Calibre DFM suite.

GlobalFoundries has decided to put development of its 7nm process on the backburner and focus on its existing finFET and FD-SOI processes.

FD-SOI is gradually building up a presence as a technology not just for low-power but RF and power integration.

Foundries have taken aim at standard-cell track height and design-rule tweaks to try to improve the area efficiency and performance of derivative finFET processes.

At VLSI Symposia 2018, GlobalFoundries researchers proposed looking at the metal-gate ‘gear’ ratio as a way of improving the routability of standard cells.

DAC 2018 will see Synopsys focusing on close links with foundry partners, as well as exploring ways to exploit the potential of machine learning, in both SoC architectures and SoC design flows.

Energy harvesting, mechanical reprogrammable logic, and genetic algorithms were among the finalists for the MEMS design competition.

Samsung Electronics will describe at the upcoming VLSI Symposia how its engineers have applied EUV to a variety of layers in a 7nm finFET process.

New flow enables high-performance, high-integration designs.