The Full Service Foundry business unit of ams AG (SIX: AMS) today
announced its fast and cost-efficient IC prototyping service, known as
Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) or shuttle run, with an updated schedule in
2014. The prototyping service, which combines several designs from
different customers onto a single wafer, offers significant cost
advantages for foundry customers as the costs for wafers and masks are
shared among a number of different shuttle participants.
ams’ best in class MPW service includes the whole range of 0.18µm and
0.35µm specialty processes. In order to provide leading analog
semiconductor process technologies, manufacturing and services, ams
offers four MPW runs in 0.18µm CMOS (C18) process as well as four MPW
runs in its advanced 0.18µm High-Voltage CMOS (H18) technology. The H18
process technology is based on IBM’s industry-proven 0.18µm CMOS process
CMOS7RF and offers industry-first RF (Radio Frequency) integration and
high density SoC (System on a Chip) capability. It is perfectly suited
for applications such as smart sensors, sensor interface devices, smart
meters, industrial and building controls, and LED lighting control in
the automotive, industrial and medical markets.
For the 0.35µm specialty processes, which are based on the 0.35µm CMOS
process transferred from TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Company), a total of 14 runs are offered in 2014: ams' 0.35µm
High-Voltage CMOS process family with a 20V CMOS option, which is
ideally suited for power management products and display drivers; a 50V
CMOS option, which has been optimized for automotive and industrial
applications; and a 120V module, which meets the requirements of sensor
and sensor interface chips in high-voltage applications. The advanced
High-Voltage CMOS process with Embedded Flash functionality adds to ams’
MPW service portfolio. The CMOS compatible 0.35µm SiGe-BiCMOS technology
S35 enables RF circuit designs with an operating frequency of up to 7
GHz combined with high-density digital parts on one single ASIC.
Overall, ams will offer almost 150 MPW start dates in 2014, enabled by
long lasting co-operations with partner organizations such as CMP-TIMA,
Europractice, Fraunhofer IIS and Mosis. Japanese customers may also
participate via our local MPW program partners Toppan Technical Design
Center Co., Ltd (TDC) and Dai Nippon LSI Design Co, Ltd.
The complete schedule for 2014 has now been released and detailed start
dates per process are available on the web at http://asic.ams.com/MPW.
To take advantage of the MPW service, ams’ foundry customers deliver
their completed GDSII-data on specific dates and receive untested
packaged samples or dies within a short lead-time of typically 8 weeks
for CMOS and 12 weeks for High-Voltage CMOS, SiGe-BiCMOS and Embedded
Flash processes.
All process technologies are supported by the well-known hitkit, the ams
industry benchmark process design kit based on Cadence, Mentor Graphics
or Agilent ADS design environments. The hitkit comes complete with fully
silicon-qualified standard cells, periphery cells and general purpose
analog cells such as comparators, operational amplifiers, low power A/D
and D/A converters. Custom analog and RF devices, physical verification
rule sets for Assura and Calibre, as well as precisely characterized
circuit simulation models, enable rapid design starts of complex high
performance mixed-signal ICs. In addition to standard prototype
services, ams also offers advanced analog IP blocks, a memory (RAM/ROM)
generation service and packaging services in ceramic or plastic.
Download Press Picture at
http://www.ams.com/eng/Press/Press-Releases/
Copyright Business Wire 2013