CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
10 June 2008
Product News
TSMC Reference Flow 9.0 Covers Apache’s Advanced Leakage and System Jitter Analysis
Apache Design Solutions announced that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) Reference Flow 9.0 includes Apache’s advanced leakage and system-wide jitter analysis solutions for TSMC’s 40nm process technology. Specifically, Reference Flow 9.0 will accommodate new Apache innovations for:
• Power noise analysis with RedHawk qualified for transparent half-node design
• Thermal-aware statistical leakage modeling and analysis with RedHawk-ALP
• System jitter analysis including on-chip and high performance Input/Output (I/O) noise with Sentinel-SSO
At advanced process nodes, leakage power dominates total power and the process variation starts to have a significant impact on leakage variation. In order to reduce excessive design margins and optimize performance, a statistical leakage power model for intra-die and inter-die distribution is needed. In addition, leakage is strongly dependent on the operating temperature. RedHawk-ALP enables designers to perform accurate leakage analysis with by providing a model of statistical process variation of leakage power for the full-chip, including the impact of temperature, thus improving design margin and performance.
A high-performance I/O such as DDR is highly susceptible to timing failures due to jitter noise on the I/O interface. System jitter analysis needs to consider both the on-chip noise and I/O noise with the consideration of package/PCB effects. In order to minimize system timing failure risks and improve engineering productivity, a quantitative method for measuring on-chip and I/O jitter is needed. In addition, the impact of dynamic power noise needs to be considered for accurate jitter measurement. Sentinel-SSO delivers the ability to analyze jitter and determine the noise impact on system timing, thus minimizing design failures post tape-out.
“Over the past several years, TSMC has worked with Apache to meet latest deep sub-micron design challenges,” said Tom Quan, deputy director, design automation and service marketing at TSMC. “Through Reference Flow 9.0, Apache can provide unique solutions for managing advanced low power and system timing requirements for our latest 40nm process nodes.”
“We are pleased with the continued collaboration between TSMC and Apache in delivering methodologies that address the most advanced power, noise, and reliability challenges faced by designers,” said Dian Yang, senior vice president of product management at Apache. “Apache’s product portfolio benefits our designers by delivering accurate and reliable power signoff solution.”
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