X-FAB Announces New Process Design Kits for Cadence Virtuoso IC 6.1 Custom Design Platform

TheKit Now Available for All X-FAB Technology Platforms; Increases Productivity for Analog/Mixed-Signal Designs

ERFURT, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--X-FAB Silicon Foundries, the world's leading foundry for the production of analog/mixed-signal integrated circuits, today announced the availability of comprehensive process design kits (PDK), branded as TheKit, based on the Cadence® Design Systems Virtuoso® IC 6.1 custom design platform and SKILL programming language. TheKit, with best-in-class SKILL PDK, is available for all of X-FAB’s process technologies from 1.0 um down to 0.18 um, and offers a smooth and easy migration from existing projects developed with Virtuoso IC 5.1 to Virtuoso IC 6.1. Its automatic project setup including libraries and default tool settings ensures a seamless design flow that saves setup time. Using TheKit, X-FAB’s customers can benefit from productivity gains, faster time to market and lower risk.

X-FAB developed TheKit for the latest release of the Cadence Virtuoso custom design platform, IC 6.1, to help its customers reduce design time, and to ensure manufacturing-robust designs. With the help of the SKILL language, TheKit supports advanced interactive and automated technologies, such as Cadence Virtuoso Analog Design Environment XL/GXL, for a fast and accurate verification and yield optimization. X-FAB uses the Virtuoso AMS Designer as a simulation hub to link advanced analog and digital simulation engines into a seamless mixed-signal verification environment. For a full automated routing of custom ICs at any level of the design hierarchy, X-FAB supports Virtuoso routing technologies. To ensure a successful production tape-out and to make use of a solution that offers competitive single-processor and distributed processor performance during physical verification, X-FAB relies on the Cadence Physical Verification System.

Thomas P. Beckley, Corporate Vice President - Custom IC Engineering at Cadence Design Systems said: “With X-FAB supporting the latest Virtuoso custom design platform, their customers will benefit from the next level of design automation for analog/mixed-signal design. Besides time-to-market, high quality of silicon is everyone’s concern. By using SKILL as part of the PDK, they enable our GXL technologies including our DFM tools so our mutual customers can optimize their yield.”

X-FAB offers several digital libraries in the Cadence environment optimized for low power, low noise, high density and timing to allow customers to select the most appropriate devices for their specific applications. A large portfolio of analog libraries (e.g., DAC, ADC, OpAmps, Bandgaps, Oscillators), embedded non-volatile memory (NVM) IP such as eFlash, EEPROM and NV latches is available for X-FAB’s technology platforms. Two important design aspects are electrostatic discharge (ESD) robustness and Safe Operating Area (SOA) check. To address the first aspect, X-FAB provides a special tool called ESD-Design-Checker to identify possible ESD weaknesses on schematic level and to estimate the ESD robustness that can be expected for the design. For SOA checks, X-FAB provides additional SPICE models to check whether all primitive devices are operating within permitted ranges.

Dr. Jens Kosch, chief technology officer at X-FAB, said: “Time-to-market is the most critical success factor for our customers. A seamless design flow supporting the latest design methodologies, combined with our state-of-the-art process design kit, perfectly aligns with our customers’ requirements.”

X-FAB also leverages the new Incremental Technology Database (ITDB), based on Open Access, which is a technology library enabling CAD group/users to add or modify technology parameters without violating the original foundry design rules. It simplifies the data management and requires less disk space, especially for processes that have many derivatives. The main foundry technology library is referenced and individual constraints can be overridden if they do not violate the basic minimum rules in the ITDB.

Both X-FAB and Cadence are participating in the SAME Forum & Conference in Sophia-Antipolis, France, Sept. 22-23, 2009. Please visit X-FAB at Booth #14 to discuss its latest process design kits.

About X-FAB

X-FAB is the leading analog/mixed-signal foundry group manufacturing silicon wafers for analog-digital integrated circuits (mixed-signal ICs). X-FAB maintains wafer production facilities in Erfurt and Dresden (Germany), Plymouth (UK), Lubbock, Texas (US) and Kuching, Sarawak (Malaysia), and employs approximately 2,600 people worldwide. Wafers are manufactured based on advanced modular CMOS and BiCMOS processes with technologies ranging from 1.0 to 0.18 micrometers, for applications primarily in the automotive, communications, consumer and industrial sectors. For more information, please visit www.xfab.com.