ClioSoft’s SOS platform provides data management and version control leading to tapeout of embedded temperature sensor for 65nm, 40nm, and 28nm IPs using Synopsys’ Galaxy Custom Designer

FREMONT, Calif., September 27, 2011 – Moortec Semiconductor Ltd., provider of analog IP and semiconductor design services, used ClioSoft’s SOS viaCustomDesigner hardware configuration management (HCM) solution for data management and version control in the development and successful tapeout of its embedded temperature sensor and crystal oscillator intellectual property (IP) for TSMC's  65-nanometer (nm), 40nm and 28nm processes. ClioSoft, Inc., developer of the premier HCM solutions for the electronics design industry, provides developers with an integrated tool suite to improve hardware design team productivity, reduce the chance of mask respins due to configuration errors and make design reuse more efficient.

Moortec has developed many applications for on-chip temperature sensors at low geometries, including performance optimization, thermal management, device reliability, temperature sensing during device qualification (or burn-in) and device security. These latest temperature sensor IP blocks, designed using standard logic processes for 65nm, 40nm and 28nm geometries, can be easily instantiated multiple times across systems-on-chips (SoCs) for temperature profiling. The high-performance IP blocks were taped out on TSMC's 40LP and 28HP processes using Synopsys' custom design solution and TSMC's interoperable process design kits (iPDKs).

During development, Moortec used Synopsys' unified custom design solution to complete the design of its IP. This solution includes Synopsys’ Galaxy Custom Designer^® tool for schematic design and layout for custom analog blocks, the HSPICE^® circuit simulator for pre-layout simulations and the CustomSim™ FastSPICE simulator to verify the extracted netlists from the StarRC™ extraction tool. ClioSoft’s viaCustomDesigner HCM solution, which is tightly integrated with Synopsys’ Custom Designer tool, provided management and version control of design data and streamlined the design process by enhancing communication and facilitating efficient and accurate sharing of design data from concept through tapeout.

“As silicon geometries shrink, on-chip temperature monitoring has become vital to optimize performance and to increase IC longevity,” said Stephen Crosher, managing director of Moortec Semiconductor. “Our team has long used ClioSoft for design data management at Moortec and chose the combination of Synopsys’ custom design solution and ClioSoft’s SOS viaCustomDesigner in the development of these IP blocks to ensure the productivity and performance we needed at lower geometries while maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the design.”

“The integration of ClioSoft’s SOS viaCustomDesigner HCM solution with Galaxy Custom Designer further expands the ecosystem of our custom implementation solution and provides more tool choices for our customers,” said Farhad Hayat, senior director, product marketing at Synopsys. “Custom Designer’s robust ecosystem of partners provides add-on functionality that improves design productivity for our mutual customers.”

“Integration with leading design flows is especially useful to design teams as they need to share design data and IP across an enterprise without wasting time moving in and out of their familiar design environments,” said Srinath Anantharaman, founder and CEO of ClioSoft. “We are pleased that our close partnership with Synopsys enabled Moortec to develop another leading-edge design without worrying about their design management infrastructure.”

About ClioSoft:

ClioSoft is the premier developer of hardware configuration management (HCM) solutions. The company's SOS Design Collaboration platform is built from the ground up to handle the requirements of hardware design flows. The SOS platform provides a sophisticated multi-site development environment that enables global team collaboration, design reuse, and efficient management of design data from concept through tape-out. Custom engineered adaptors seamlessly integrate SOS with leading design flows – Cadence’s Virtuoso® Custom IC, Synopsys’ Galaxy Custom Designer^®, Mentor’s IC flows, and SpringSoft’s Laker™ Custom Layout Automation System. ClioSoft's innovative Universal DM Adaptor technology "future proofs" data management needs by ensuring that data from any flow can be meaningfully managed. The Visual Design Diff (VDD) engine enables designers to easily identify changes between two versions of a schematic or layout by graphically highlighting the differences directly in the editors. For additional information, please see www.cliosoft.com.

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