CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
27 October 2008
Implementation Investments
Grace Semiconductor Adopts Cadence Virtuoso 6.1 PDK Development System
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced that Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, a leading foundry in China for analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products for high-volume consumer applications, has adopted Cadence® Virtuoso® 6.1 technology for developing and testing process design kits (PDKs). The Cadence Virtuoso 6.1 "PDK Automation System," or PAS, aids in the efficient creation of PDKs, while the "System for Testing PDKs," or STEP, enables quality assurance of PDKs. Using PAS and STEP, Grace Semiconductor has developed and validated its 0.18-micron mixed-signal, RF PDK, which is now available for its global customers.
"Our new 0.18-micron mixed-signal, RF PDK enables our customers in Asia, Europe and North America to design innovative products for the computer, wireless and communications segments and manufacture them at Grace Semiconductor," said Dr. Thomas Neyer, executive vice president of Technology Development at Grace. "By collaborating with Cadence and using the PAS and STEP technology in Virtuoso 6.1, we have enhanced our leadership in providing high-quality PDKs to support customized analog, mixed-signal and RF flows."
The PAS and STEP technologies are used to create and test PDKs which enable the Cadence Virtuoso custom IC design platform, including the IC 6.1 releases of Virtuoso and the Analog Mixed-Signal Methodology Kit. PAS comprises a unique graphical technology editor, verification run-set generators, PCell generators and the DFII library builder. The differentiated technology significantly reduces PDK development time and maintenance costs by capturing and maintaining PDK-related data in a single document, and generating design rules, PCells and DFII libraries from a single source.
"Given the increasing complexity of mixed-signal designs, high-quality PDKs are critical to improving designer productivity, reducing risk and compressing time to market. We are glad to see that through our collaborative efforts, Grace is on the fast track of PDK development," said Lung Chu, president of Cadence Asia Pacific and corporate vice president of Cadence. "Our mutual customers will benefit from the high-quality, fully featured PDKs that Grace can now provide with lower lifecycle cost."
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