IPL Alliance & iPDK Overview

GSA AMS Working Group February 13, 2013

IPL Alliance Interoperable PDK Libraries • Not-for-profit standard organization

– Established in April 2007 by 5 EDA companies – Current board members: ST Micro, Synopsys and TSMC – Working Groups: PCells, Properties and Parameters, Analog

Constraints

• Charter: – Create and promote standards for an interoperable eco-system

in custom design

• Benefits: – Reduce PDK development and support costs – Create choices in building your analog flow – Increase design reuse and portability

IPL Alliance Momentum

July ‘09 1st Foundry iPDK Released: TSMC 65nm

Nov ‘08 iCDF Standard Established

Jun ‘08 IPL Expands from PCells to PDKs

Apr ‘07 1st Interoperable PCell Library Released

Feb‘10 IPL 1.0 Released

June‘11 IPL Constraints1.0 Available

Dec ‘11 IPL Constraints 1.1 Available

June‘12 IPL 2.0 Available

Oct ‘12 All top 5 foundries support iPDK

Jan ‘13 SNPS Contributed PyCell API Tech.

IPL Alliance Members

Growing Membership Go to www.IPLNow.com for more information

IPL’s Approach To Achieving PDK Interoperability • Involve EDA vendors, foundries and users

• Use existing standards where feasible

• Validate standards with prototype iPDK’s and flows

• Target modern process technology nodes – Collaborate with a foundry to implement production iPDK

• Release open standard for industry adoption

Next Steps for IPL Alliance

• Collaborate with Industries' efforts on PDK standardizations

• Increase customer adoption of iPDKs

• Validate IPL 2.0 with IPL Alliance members

• Finalize IPL Constraints 2.0 for general release

• Grow IPL Alliance membership

Get Involved, Become a Member

www.IPLnow.com IPL & iPDK Group

iPDK Standard

Foundry iPDK Content

Cadence OA PDK

OpenAccess (SKILL)

One Foundry iPDK for all EDA vendors

Foundry iPDK

Open Access, Open-standard languages (Python and Tcl)

• OA Schematic Symbols

• SKILL Callbacks

• Tech Files • DRC/LVS/LPE

• Spice Models

• Tech Files • DRC/LVS/LPE

• Spice Models

• SKILL PCells • PyCells

• OA Schematic Symbols • Interoperable Component

Description Format (iCDF) • SKILL Callbacks • Tcl Callbacks

• OA Schematic Symbols • Component Description Format

(CDF) • SKILL Callbacks

• Less PyCell code: ¼ to ½ the code vs. Tcl/ SKILL™ • 40/28/20nm Rules supported

– PyCells can easily support DFM rules such as fixed pitches, conditionals etc.

• Reuse – PyCells and iCDF are process independent – Can be re-used by rebinding to a new-node tech file

• Faster PyCell runtime: 2X to 10X faster

– ROD like APIs without the performance penalty

• Interactive development environment improves development efficiency

Modern Architecture Improves PDK Productivity

• IPL 2.0 40nm reference iPDK download package – Generic 40nm sample iPDK including source code – iPDK developer & User guide – Generic 40nm OpenAccess-based reference design

• Updated release of IPL 1.0’s 90nm reference iPDK

– Available now for IPL Alliance members

• Benefits – Test drive IPL iPDK with multiple custom design flows – Learn, review and comply with IPL 2.0 standard – Create and provide iPDK using IPL 2.0 standard

IPL 2.0 Open Standard For iPDK

• 40 + foundry iPDKs available – Technologies ranging from 0.6um to 20nm

• More than 10 pure play foundries are providing

iPDKs for customers – TSMC, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, UMC, SMIC, TowerJazz,

Dongbu HiTek, X-FAB and more – All top 5 foundries have iPDKs

• Many custom iPDKs available

iPDK Availability & Status

IPL Constraints Standard

IPL Constraints Working Group Members

• Altera • Mentor Graphics • Pulsic • Synopsys • TSMC • Xilinx and ST Micro in an advisory role

14

Need for Interoperable Constraints

• Analog and custom design increasingly rely on design intent constraints to improve productivity – Improves communication among designers – Enables automation of the design process

• There is no common, open standard

• Users enter constraints multiple times – Once for each tool set – Tools don’t pass on constraints

15

IPL Design Constraint WG Charter

• Define syntax and schema for open, interoperable design constraints

• Create a single unified set of constraints – Include formats and semantics – Include ability to define user/custom constraints

• Start with proof-of-concept constraint set – Representative of most common constraints

• Solicit donations to maximize coverage

16

• IPL Constraints 1.1 – Specifications for an initial set of design constraints

• Include both the formats and semantics – Results of the IPL constraint working group – Available to IPL Alliance members for additional validation – Need donations for additional constraints

• Benefits

– Improve productivity and quality of results – Enter once, use many times with multiple tools in the flow

IPL Constraints 1.1 Open Standard For Interoperable Design Constraints

• IPL Alliance is gain momentum with foundries! – 4 of top 5 pure-play foundries are IPL Alliance members

• IPL Alliance members continue to collaborate in developing and validating more iPDKs and developing constraints standard

• IPL Alliance is looking forward to future collaboration with GSA AMS Working Group

Summary