Sandbridge has created a series of increasingly sophisticated baseband chips for wireless applications. These multi-million gate devices present unique challenges, requiring more silicon- and power-aware design technologies to achieve a successful end product.
The Sandbridge team deployed the Sequence flow on one of their power-gated designs to analyze, optimize, and verify dynamic voltage drop on their power and ground rails. PowerTheater enabled the team to minimize the number of simulation vectors required for identifying the most critical simulation cycles for dynamic voltage drop and to set up CoolTime for detailed power and ground simulation, using both power switch and package parasitics for the highest accuracy analyses. Additionally, CoolTime optimized the dynamic voltage drop by automating the insertion of decoupling capacitors in critical areas.
CoolTime's ability to limit voltage drop without impacting timing or signal integrity is particularly noteworthy, thanks to a built-in timing engine that enables concurrent analysis and optimization of electrical effects. CoolTime also computes the impact of dynamic voltage drop on timing and signal integrity while accurately accounting for the interdependence of events, currents, and voltages within a single tool. CoolTime's library characterization feature using SPICE enables the accurate calculation of voltage drop effects on cell delays and transition times.
"Good planning, along with sound methodologies and tools lay the groundwork for success at 90nm and below," said Gary Nacer, Sandbridge vice president of engineering. "Sequence has focused technology for the development of low-power designs."
"The power-aware design challenge for market and technology leaders such as Sandbridge is to produce quality silicon while consistently hitting critical time-to-market windows," said Sequence president and CEO Vic Kulkarni. "We are very pleased to know both PowerTheater and CoolTime are playing important roles in the design of these next-generation products."
About Sequence Power Solutions
Sequence Design has forged a strong integration between PowerTheater and CoolTime to provide a complete power analysis and optimization platform for large designs. PowerTheater is the industry standard for low-power design at RTL, with capabilities ranging from early RTL analysis to full-chip power estimates for today's largest designs. CoolTime solves for timing and signal integrity, static IR drop, electromigration (EM) and dynamic voltage drop. With more than 150 successful tape-outs at customers worldwide, CoolTime addresses problems unique to nanometer SoCs using 130, 90, and 65nm processes with a concurrent engine that accelerates design closure for even the largest, high-performance designs.
About Sandbridge Technologies (www.sandbridgetech.com)
Located in White Plains, NY, Sandbridge Technologies is a fabless semiconductor company that is transforming and revitalizing the global wireless handset market by enabling freedom from fixed functionality baseband solutions -- providing better features-to-cost ratio, and accelerating the development of next generation wireless devices. Founded in 2001 by veterans of IBM, Lucent and Cadence, Sandbridge has developed a radical new multi-thread DSP architecture with the capacity to perform flexible (SDR) baseband processing and advanced multimedia operations without compromising battery consumption. Sandbridge Technologies Inc. is a venture funded company with investments by Bessemer Venture Partners, Atlas Venture and Columbia Capital and other strategic investors.
About Sequence
Sequence Design accelerates the ability of SoC designers to bring high-performance, power-aware ICs quickly to market. Sequence's power and signal-integrity software solutions give customers the competitive advantage necessary to excel in aggressive technology markets, despite the demanding complexity and time-to-market issues of nanometer design. Sequence serves over 150 customers worldwide, in application segments such as consumer, wireless, mobile computing, multimedia, cell phones, digital cameras, network-on-chip processors, and other power-sensitive markets. Sequence has worldwide development and field-service operations and is privately held. Please see sequencedesign.com.
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Sequence Public Relations
Jim Lochmiller, 541-821-3438
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