Models help depict first-order nanometre effects

ARM, TMSC, Virage Logic and Library Technologies are all supporting Synopsys open source Liberty Composite Current Source models in their IP for semiconductor design.

ARM, TMSC, Virage Logic and Library Technologies are all supporting Synopsys open source Liberty Composite Current Source (CCS) models in their intellectual property (IP) for semiconductor design.

CCS enables high-accuracy delay calculation to within 2% of HSpice circuit simulator, improving design quality of results and time to results within the Synopsys Galaxy Design Platform.

"ARM's long-standing strategic relationship with Synopsys focuses on making available to our mutual customers advanced, joint design solutions", said Neal Carney, Vice President of Marketing, Physical IP, ARM.

"ARM provides Liberty models for its products supporting a large number of semiconductor foundries and processes, and has enhanced its characterisation infrastructure to generate Liberty CCS models".

"These models enable higher accuracy and more efficient voltage scaling capabilities in support of advanced process demands and new design styles, like the ARM Intelligent Energy Manager (IEM) technology".

"CCS models for the ARM Artisan Sage-X standard cell library on TSMC's 90nm GT process are immediately available for download to beta customers".

"Current-source modelling efficiently depicts first-order nanometre effects", said Edward Wan, Senior Director of Design Service Marketing at TSMC.

"Our evaluation of CCS does show this technique is more accurate in dealing with Miller capacitance and interconnect effects".

"Our library team is working closely with Synopsys to improve and take advantage of this technology, to enhance design quality and accelerate implementation and sign-off".

TSMC Nexsys 90nm libraries that allow the CCS model will be available starting third quarter 2005.

To account for first-order nanometre effects, customers typically add margins to their designs.

This approach, however, becomes prohibitively expensive in designs applying today's advanced process geometries and design styles.

CCS is a breakthrough approach for accurate gate-level delay calculation with detailed RC parasitics.

CCS patent-pending technology includes efficient representation of transistor-level driver and receiver characteristics for each library cell.

CCS provides highest accuracy relative to circuit simulation, and is designed to provide a unified foundation model for cell delay, noise, power and variation.

Using CCS technology, designers can scale back on design margins and produce higher performance designs with smaller areas.

"CCS models provide the accuracy and flexibility needed for our IPrima Foundation and IPrima mobile semiconductor intellectual property (IP) platforms", said Brani Buric, Senior Director of Business Development and Platform Product Marketing at Virage Logic.

"We are pleased to collaborate with Synopsys to provide integrated solutions to our mutual customers to address the complex features of nanometre designs and will have CCS-enabled 90nm libraries available starting in the third quarter of this year".

"CAD organisations today require library characterisation tools that deliver high-accuracy models efficiently", said Mehmet Cirit Chief Executive Officer of Library Technologies "We are very pleased to partner with Synopsys to support the Liberty open source CCS model because it enables highly accurate models to within 2% of HSpice without increasing characterisation runtime".

"Our library characterisation solution LibChar has already been updated to support full set of CCS features".

"The Liberty open source library standard is widely supported in the industry today".

"CCS extends the capabilities in Liberty to enable higher-accuracy modelling of nanometre effects essential in the delivery of today's designs at 90-nanometre and below", said Antun Domic, Senior Vice President and General Manger, Synopsys Implementation Group.

"Our collaboration with industry-leading foundry, IP providers, and characterisation suppliers such as ARM, TSMC, Virage Logic and Library Technologies will give our mutual customers access to the most advanced tools, flows and proven libraries".

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