Cadence Collaborates With Samsung Foundry to Deliver Design-for-Manufacturing Solution for 32-, 28- and 20-Nanometer Chip Design

Critical DFM Technology Integrated Into Samsung Foundry's Advanced-Node Flow, Establishes World-Class Infrastructure for ASIC and SoC Design

SAN JOSE, CA --  Feb 06, 2012 -- Cadence Design Systems, Inc., a leader in global electronic design innovation, today announced that Samsung Electronics' Foundry business, Samsung Foundry, has collaborated with Cadence(R) to develop a world-class design-for-manufacturing (DFM) infrastructure to produce the most advanced chips. Working closely together, Cadence and Samsung Foundry have developed "in-design" and signoff DFM flows to tackle physical signoff and electrical variability optimization for 32-, 28- and 20-nanometer SoC designs. The new flows address both random and systematic yield issues, providing customers with a proven foundry option for advanced-node designs built on the Cadence Encounter(R) digital and Cadence Virtuoso(R) custom/analog implementation solutions.

The unique Cadence in-design approach to Silicon Realization moves traditional DFM steps into the implementation stage of digital and custom chip design. This approach is aimed at boosting productivity, predictability and profitability while reducing risk. The DFM flows developed at Samsung Foundry leverage multiple groundbreaking technologies, including Cadence Pattern Classification and Search, Cadence CMP Predictor, Cadence Litho Physical Analyzer and Cadence Yield Analyzer and Optimizer.

"As we expand our customer base at advanced process nodes, customers require various design flows," said Kyu-Myung Choi, senior vice president of Infrastructure Design Center, Samsung Electronics, "By teaming with Cadence to build a strong foundry ecosystem for advanced node designs, we've achieved numerous benefits we can pass along to our customers such as reducing risk and speeding time to market. We've enjoyed great success at 32 and 28 nanometers with Cadence, and we have now extended our advanced DFM flow to 20 nanometers as well."

Manufacturing complexity is growing exponentially at advanced nodes, and it impacts design cycle time and time to yield compared to previous nodes. With the new infrastructure optimized for advanced nodes, Samsung Foundry is able to use the hierarchical design approach and pattern matching to perform effective and accurate systematic failure analysis. And the Cadence production-proven in-design DFM prevention and optimization in Cadence Encounter(R) digital and Cadence Virtuoso(R) custom/analog implementation solutions enables first-time-correct silicon.

The Cadence pattern classification technology allows Samsung Foundry to classify the yield detractor patterns into easily usable pattern libraries. The infrastructure enables Samsung Foundry's customers to leverage the in-design and signoff pattern matching with automated fixing flows in Encounter and Virtuoso. Another new innovation from this collaboration is the development of a Chip-based CMP analysis flow to enable early convergence of topography yield issues in advanced digital and custom designs.

"As the provider of cutting-edge technologies and methodologies for leading foundries, we worked closely with Samsung Foundry to integrate our robust DFM suite, which continues to gain momentum as the advantages of in-design DFM become increasingly evident," said Tom Beckley, senior vice president, Custom IC and Signoff, Silicon Realization Group at Cadence. "The flows and underlying infrastructure our companies created together can provide a significant competitive edge by enabling engineers to meet tight deadlines while reducing the risk of costly errors."

About Cadence

Cadence enables global electronic design innovation and plays an essential role in the creation of today's integrated circuits and electronics. Customers use Cadence software, hardware, IP, and services to design and verify advanced semiconductors, consumer electronics, networking and telecommunications equipment, and computer systems. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with sales offices, design centers, and research facilities around the world to serve the global electronics industry. More information about the company, its products, and services is available at www.cadence.com .