DFM support at 45-nm Minneapolis MN

As the Common Platform technology alliance http://www.commonplatform.com/, IBM Corp. http://www.ibm.com, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing http://www.chartered.com and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. http://www.samsung.com today announced the availability of design-for-manufacturing (DFM) technology models, data files and design kits from leading EDA and DFM companies that support Common Platform technology at 45-nm.

This is the second node, following 65-nm http://www.edn.com/article/CA6258695.html, where the three alliance partners have provided a family of comprehensive DFM solutions http://www.edn.com/article/CA6320376.html. The companies formed the Common Platform alliance http://www.edn.com/article/CA603449.html in 2005 to focus together on leading-edge, jointly developed digital CMOS process technologies and advanced manufacturing. The group began with joint development at the 90-nm process node and just last month extended their agreement to work together all the way down to the 32-nm node http://www.edn.com/article/CA6445715.html.

According to the companies, the 45-nm DFM offering for Common Platform technology supports a wide range of capabilities that address manufacturing-related issues from design to mask making. While continuing to support existing capabilities from multiple companies previously announced at 65-nm, the Common Platform companies have enabled additional tools, including DFM tools from Mentor Graphics http://www.mentor.com that perform critical area analysis (CAA) and critical feature analysis (CFA) and a silicon-validated CMP Predictor from Cadence Design Systems http://www.cadence.com.

Today's news comes from the 44th annual Design Automation Conference http://www.dac.com taking place this week in San Diego, Calif., where the Common Platform technology alliance is exhibiting.