Mentor
Graphics Corp. (NASDAQ:MENT) today announced that the Calibre®
PERC™ reliability verification product has been added to the
TSMC9000 IP quality program. TSMC and Mentor Graphics jointly developed
electrical checks to help improve IP dependability as part of the
TSMC9000 qualification process. The companies are also collaborating on
an offering that will allow IP partners to access TSMC9000-compliant
checking on a per-use basis. This extends the capabilities customers
enjoy today with the Calibre PERC product to TSMC’s IP partners,
enabling further pre-verification of third-party IP and increasing the
coherence between customer and third-party IP reliability verification.
“The goal of TSMC9000 is not only to make IP easy to exchange and re-use
within the TSMC Open Innovation Platform® (OIP) environment, but also to
ensure dependability, quality and robustness for our customers,” said
Suk Lee, TSMC senior director, Design Infrastructure Marketing Division.
“We have done extensive work with Mentor to define the initial
reliability checks for TSMC9000, which will help identify design issues
that could increase the risk of failures when circuits are operating in
the field.”
This IP quality initiative is built on top of EDA enablement
collaboration between TSMC and Mentor Graphics in the past 12 months,
automating reliability checks on previously non-checkable rules. With
the offering of a new ESD/LUP checking deck from TSMC, early adopters of
TSMC 28nm, 20nm, and 16nm technologies have enjoyed this unique
reliability solution as the benefits of TSMC9000 are proliferated
through the IP space.
Under the program, TSMC will provide IP Alliance partners with Calibre
PERC rule decks that perform reliability checks designed to address
customers’ advanced circuit verification needs for electrostatic
discharge (ESD), electrical overstress (EOS), signals crossing multiple
power domains, advanced ERC, and other reliability concerns. The Calibre
PERC product was the platform selected for these checks because it
provides advanced functionality by enabling checks that combine
knowledge of both the physical layout and the netlist, which defines
device types and connectivity.
In addition, Mentor will offer additional Calibre PERC service options
to IP companies participating in TSMC9000. IP submitted to TSMC can also
be provided to Mentor Graphics, where designated customer application
engineers run the TSMC9000 checks using in-house datacenter facilities
and provide the IP companies with reports indicating pass/fail results,
along with pointers to any errors and hotspots.
“Working closely with TSMC, we’ve defined a program that makes advanced
reliability checking available to all TSMC OIP IP Alliance partners,”
said Joseph Sawicki, vice president and general manager of the
Design-to-Silicon division at Mentor Graphics. “This means that our
mutual customers will be able to incorporate TSMC9000-qualified IP into
their designs with a high confidence that those IP blocks will pass
full-chip reliability checks at signoff.”
TSMC will implement these initial checks in their TSMC9000 quality
program starting with multi-project shuttles in early 2014. TSMC and
Mentor will also be working to expand the number of checks offered to
third-party IP providers in future releases tied to various process node
updates.
About Mentor Graphics
Mentor Graphics Corporation is a world leader in electronic hardware and
software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and
award-winning support for the world’s most successful electronic,
semiconductor and systems companies. Established in 1981, the company
reported revenues in the last fiscal year of nearly $1,090 million.
Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road,
Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com/.
(Mentor Graphics, Mentor, and Calibre are registered trademarks and PERC
is a trademark of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or
product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their
respective owners.)
Copyright Business Wire 2013