New flow automates custom/analog design migration on advanced technologies

Cadence Design Systems, Inc has collaborated with TSMC to create a node-to-node design migration flow constructed on the Cadence Virtuoso design platform for custom/analog IC blocks that utilise TSMC's advanced process technologies. The companies' R&D teams worked together to provide the Virtuoso Schematic Editor, and Layout Editor automatically migrates a source design on TSMC N5 and N4 process technologies to a new design on TSMC N3E process technology. Early analog design IP trials of the new migration flow indicated that design time on common analog blocks was more than 2.5X faster than manual migration.

The Virtuoso Application Library Environment schematic migration solution, which is incorporated into the design platform, automatically migrates a source schematic's cells, parameters, pins and wiring from one process node to another technology. The target schematic is then tuned and optimised employing the Virtuoso ADE Product Suite's simulation environment and circuit optimisation technology to verify that the new schematic fulfils all required measurement targets.

"Through our continued collaboration with Cadence, we're enabling our customers to improve productivity and accelerate design closure when performing node-to-node design migration of analog blocks within the Virtuoso design platform," said Dan Kochpatcharin, head of Design Infrastructure Management Division at TSMC. "Through the availability of our enhanced PDKs, we're making it easy for our customers to easily migrate custom/analog blocks from one of our widely used processes to another and benefit from the power, performance, and area improvements of our latest technologies."

"By working closely with TSMC, our customers now have access to the most sophisticated migration and custom/analog place and route automation capabilities within the Virtuoso design platform," said Tom Beckley, senior vice president and general manager in the Custom IC, IC Packaging, PCB and System Analysis Group. "We've continuously collaborated with our mutual customers to understand their real-world design requirements. This new easy-to-use, node-to-node design migration technology addresses a key requirement for our customers' most challenging custom analog designs."