Sign in Subscribe
Software industry

Cadence Technology Adoption by SGS-THOMSON Leverages Significant Productivity Gains and Improved Quality

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Cadence Design Systems has secured a long-term contract with SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics, marking the electronics leader's standardization on Cadence's IC Craftsman shape-based routing technology. This technology has reportedly reduced chip-assembly time by dramatically increasing productivity, while maintaining or improving route quality compared to manual approaches. IC Craftsman is a constraint-driven, shape-based place and route solution for custom and structured custom ICs.

Key Takeaways:

  • SGS-THOMSON has standardized on Cadence's IC Craftsman shape-based routing technology for use throughout the company, leveraging significant productivity gains and improved quality.
  • IC Craftsman has reduced chip-assembly time by increasing productivity, while maintaining or improving route quality compared to manual approaches.
  • The technology has provided up to one order of magnitude layout acceleration for multiple applications, including top-level chip assembly, mixed-signal design, and transistor layout.
  • SGS-THOMSON employed IC Craftsman's industry-leading timing, cross-talk, and topology control, as well as interactive and automatic routing, to achieve density and quality routing rivaling hand layout.
  • The company's routing selection criteria included quality and reliability of software, support for pre-wiring of critical signals, and support for five and more layers of interconnect.
  • IC Craftsman has addressed performance-sensitive layout issues for high-speed digital, deep submicron, and analog designs, providing a solution that avoids design flaws due to wire interconnect.

Statistics:

  • SGS-THOMSON has experienced up to one order of magnitude layout acceleration for multiple applications.
  • IC Craftsman has reduced chip-assembly time, increasing productivity while maintaining or improving route quality.
  • The company has evaluated IC Craftsman and other routing tools to determine which ones would meet the advancing requirements of deep-submicron design.
  • SGS-THOMSON's routing selection criteria included assessment of quality and reliability of software, support for pre-wiring of critical signals, and support for five and more layers of interconnect.

Sources:

  • Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
  • PRNewswire
  • SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics

Read more