WILSONVILLE, Ore., July 7, 2004 - Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq: MENT) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, SMIC (NYSE: SMI, HKEx: 0981) today announced the availability of a Technology Design Kit (TDK) for SMIC's 0.18µm mixed-signal process technology. The open-source design kit, built for use with the Mentor Graphics® Analog/Mixed-Signal (AMS) IC Design Flow, enables IC design companies to rapidly set up all aspects of their design environment - including schematic entry, simulation, layout, verification and parasitic extraction - using the SMIC 0.18µm process technology.
"Setting up a mixed-signal design environment is often time- and labor-intensive," said Jue-Hsien Chern, vice president and general manager, Deep Submicron (DSM) division, Mentor Graphics. "Mentor is committed to offering customers TDKs to simplify and accelerate this process, so we are pleased to be working with SMIC to support its mainstream 0.18µm process technology."
"Our 0.18µm process, together with Mentor's best-in-class mixed-signal IC design flow, can meet the most stringent design and manufacturing requirements of our customers," said Paul Ouyang, Fellow of Design Services Division, SMIC. "With this design kit, our customers can enjoy improved predictability and productivity of their designs with a rapid and confident path to silicon success."
Customer-Proven Kit
SMIC's customers who have benefited from this design kit include Pixelworks, a leading provider of system-on-chip ICs for the advanced display market. "The Mentor/SMIC TDK helped us realize critical time savings, enabling us to meet our goals for getting to market rapidly," said Mike West, vice president and Fellow at Pixelworks. "We were able to ramp up a new design start in a fraction of the time using this TDK. In addition, foundry-qualified parameterized device generators in the TDK, along with IC Station's LDL (Logic-Driven Layout) Cockpit, facilitated easy and relatively painless migration of our designs from an earlier process technology to the new SMIC 0.18µm process."
The new design kit includes the SMIC-supported EldoTM analog simulation models and Calibre® DRC, LVS and extraction technology files. They also include schematic symbols for the Design Architect®-IC tool, programmable device generators for schematic-driven layout with IC Station®, process definition files, and all other configuration files necessary for the effective utilization of the Mentor Graphics complete AMS IC design flow.
Availability
The TDK has been validated and is now available for use with the Mentor Graphics AMS IC Design Flow. To access this release, visit the Mentor Web site or contact SMIC at Design_Services@smics.com.
Mentor Graphics Integrated AMS SoC Design Tools
Mentor Graphics delivers superior technology for AMS SoC design, from capture and simulation through physical implementation, verification and analysis. The tool suite includes the Design Architect-IC schematic entry product with a powerful AMS SoC design cockpit, and the IC Station custom layout product with its integrated ICassemble solution for automated routing and chip assembly. The ADVance MSTM tool is a single-kernel, language-independent simulation environment for digital, analog, mixed-signal and RF circuits. The Calibre and Calibre xRCTM tools deliver the industry's highest capacity, performance and accuracy for physical verification and parasitic extraction. This fully integrated set of tools is available immediately for Linux, HP and Sun platforms.
About SMIC
SMIC (NYSE: SMI, SEHK: 0981.HK) is one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world that provides integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing at 0.35-micron to 0.13-micron technologies. Established in April 2000, SMIC, a Cayman Islands company, operates three 8-inch wafer fabrication facilities in the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in Shanghai, and an 8-inch wafer fabrication facility in Tianjin, China. In addition, SMIC is currently constructing 12-inch wafer fabrication facilities in Beijing, China. SMIC's Fab 1 was named one of two "Top Fabs of the Year 2003" by Semiconductor International, a leading industry publication in May 2003. In addition to IC manufacturing, SMIC provides customers with a full range of services, including design services, mask manufacturing and wafer probe testing. For more information, please visit www.smics.com.
About Mentor Graphics
Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq: MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $600 million and employs approximately 3,700 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com.
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