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PDK Development Is More Difficult Than Ever

PDK development groups are under pressure as never before. The exploding complexity of CMOS design rules at 65/45nm and below has dramatically increased the effort needed to develop and maintain advanced process design kits. At the same time, many semiconductor companies are freezing or reducing the budget available for PDK development. PDK groups are caught in the middle: asked to produce much more complex design kits in the same or even less time; yet with no increase in resources.

PyCell Block Diagram

There is a solution. PyCell Studio enables fundamentally, dramatically higher productivity in PCell development than the traditional approach. There are two main reasons:

  • For the PDK developer, the PyCell architecture completely separates device geometry from process design rules. This enables the developer to focus on the geometry, without needing to understand the complexities of the process rules. The PyCell Studio RuleWise API constructs the actual DRC-correct geometry, and is capable of optimizing even to extremely complex conditional, DFM, fixed-pitch and other complicated constructs. This means the same PyCells can typically be used over a wide variety of processes. For example, the IPL library works with more than a dozen technologies from .25 micron to 40nm.
  • PyCell coding is simply more productive. The PyCell architecture uses a modern API and the object-oriented Python language instead of SKILL®. As a result, PyCells typically require less lines of code vs comparable SKILL PCells, and execute faster in user designs.

In addition, many PDK groups are being asked to support other EDA tools besides Cadence Virtuoso. PyCells are supported in all OpenAccess-compliant EDA tools used in custom IC design: Cadence® Virtuoso®, Springsoft Laker, Magma Titan, Mentor Calibre and many others. SKILL PCells run only in Cadence tools without the use of third party products like PCell Xtreme.

Best of all, everything you need to develop PyCells is FREE. You can download the PyCell Studio development system and the Interoperable PCell Library from this page.


PyCell Studio: A Better Way to Create PCells

PyCell Studio™ is a complete development environment for creating Universal OpenAccess PCells. This free product includes several components:

In addition, an optional graphical integrated development environment (IDE) is available.

Click image for larger version.

PyCell Studio is a free product, available for download here. It does not require a license manager or any licensing mechanism. Ciranova provides Premium Support for PyCell Studio, including hot fixes, telephone and email contact with Ciranova's support staff, premium features for technology file development, and more.

 

Platform Support

PyCell Studio is available on the following platforms:

  • Linux, 32bit
  • Linux, 64bit
  • Solaris 8 on SPARC
  • Solaris 10 on x86
  • Microsoft Windows XP and higher

 

XPyCell
Universal OpenAccess PCells, created using Ciranova's PyCell Studio software. PyCells are authored using the popular Python programming language, hence the name.
XAMS
Analog/Mixed Signal
XPyros Layout Viewer
A component of Ciranova's PyCell Studio software. The Pyros Layout Viewer can open any OpenAccess block, select layout objects for examination, and manipulate PyCell parameters. Pyros also includes a built-in design rule checker that allows users to check the layout interactively.