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Cutting complexity
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11/07/2006
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Responding to orders of magnitude changes in verification complexity, Mentor Graphics has launched Calibre nm, which is said to reduce total cycle time whilst integrating such elements as critical area analysis and critical feature identification. These developments, said Joe Sawicki, general manager of the company’s design to silicon division, are required to solve the yield challenges of nanometre design.
Sawicki outlined those challenges. “At 130nm, we were checking for random defects using simple geometric checks. Now, because patterns being produced are far smaller than the wavelength of light used to create them, we’re encountering systematic issues. And that needs more sophistication.”
According to Sawicki, there has also been an ‘explosion’ in design rule checks (DRC). “At 0.25µm, there were 200 rules. At 90nm, there are 600, including a whole set of rules that never existed. Going to 45nm, computational complexity is progressing as a cube.”
Calibre nm is said to bring together lithographic friendly design, DRC, resolution enhancement technology and parasitic extraction. It includes the fifth generation of the Calibre data processing engine
The release also supports concurrent design. Sawicki noted that, rather than running the entire design, then debugging, engineers can work on errors when they show up. “Rather than running verifications for days, it’s maybe six hours.”
“With nm DRC,” Sawicki concluded, “we’ve reinvented the product and a confident Calibre will remain the fastest, most complete verification tool out there for the next five process nodes.”
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Author
Graham Pitcher
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