|
JAZZ SEMICONDUCTOR AND LEGEND DESIGN TECHNOLOGY,
INC. COLLABORATE TO DELIVER MEMORY RE-CHARACTERIZATION CAPABILITY
FOR LOW-POWER SYSTEM ON CHIP DESIGNS
SANTA CLARA and NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., October 5, 2005
-- Legend Design Technology, Inc., a leading provider of IP characterization
and circuit simulation software, today announced that Jazz Semiconductor,
an independent wafer foundry focused primarily on specialty CMOS
process technologies, has adopted its CharFlo-Memory!™ and
MSIM® tools for re-characterizing on-chip memory instance models
at various process, voltage and temperature (PVT) corners.
"For low-power designs, our customers need to lower power consumption,
which can be achieved by minimizing the voltage supply, which is
different from the voltage in corner models provided by memory compiler
vendors," said Rajiv Gupta, director of IP and design services
at Jazz Semiconductor. "Therefore, timing and power models
of memory instances must be re-characterized to prevent design failures
and low yields. Legend's CharFlo-Memory! has automated the process
of accurately and efficiently re-characterizing memory instances
at any voltage supply. Jazz also uses CharFlo-Memory! to quantify
the mismatch due to PVT change, and then determines whether to re-characterize
those on-chip memory instances."
On-chip noise is a limiting factor for lowering the
voltage supply in low-power designs. CharFlo-Memory! has provided
the capability of optimizing the voltage supply by analyzing the
'signal versus noise margin' at all possible voltage levels. The
optimized voltage supply will ensure that the signals (e.g., sense-amplifier
input) are stronger than the noise margin, while keeping the power
consumption as low as possible.
For large memory instances, layout parasitic extraction
can take an excessive amount of time and generate huge amounts of
circuit data. By providing 'critical nets' to extract, CharFlo-Memory!
enables layout parasitic extraction on critical-path circuits only.
Since the 'critical nets' are less than 1% of the total nets on
chip, the time-consuming layout parasitic extraction can be done
in a much shorter time, with a significant decrease in the amount
of extracted circuit data.
"The quality and reliability of embedded memory is essential
for the success of SoC designs," said You-Pang Wei, president
and chief executive officer of Legend Design Technology. "Legend
is pleased to have our Charflo-Memory! and MSIM tools chosen by
Jazz Semiconductor, a leader in advanced analog SoC designs, to
enable Jazz customers to re-characterize on-chip memory instance
models at any new PVT (process, voltage and temperature) corners,
for efficient low-power design."
About Legend Design Technology, Inc.
Legend Design Technology Inc. is a leading provider of circuit
simulation and semiconductor IP characterization software for SoC
designs. With an emphasis on productivity and value, Legend's CharFlo-Memory!
toolset revolutionizes the time-consuming and error-prone processes
associated with characterization. MSIM is Legend's high-accuracy
SPICE circuit simulator with great convergence and extensive model
support. Turbo-MSIM is Legend's high-speed and high-capacity circuit
simulator ideal for timing and power simulation, and function verification.
Both simulators are well designed for nanometer technology challenges,
and provide excellent price performance. For more information, visit
www.LegendDesign.com.
About Jazz Semiconductor
Jazz Semiconductor is an independent wafer foundry focused primarily
on specialty CMOS process technologies, including SiGe BiCMOS and
RFCMOS for the manufacture of highly integrated analog and mixed-signal
semiconductor devices. Jazz’s executive offices and its U.S.
wafer fabrication facilities are located in Newport Beach, California.
Jazz has expanded its wafer capacity in China through manufacturing
partnerships with Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation
and Hua Hong NEC Electronics Co., Ltd. Contact Jazz Semiconductor
at www.jazzsemi.com.
Jazz Company Contact
Jessica McNaughton
949/435-8086
jessica.mcnaughton@jazzsemi.com
Jazz Media Contact
Lauri Julian
Lages & Associates
949/715-3049
lauri@lages.com
|
