editor's blog
Subscribe Now

An Opening for MEMS PDKs

iStock_000025762659_Small.jpgCoventor recently announced the latest release of MEMS+, their MEMS EDA/CAD tool, and the timing was tough because it came just after I had an article involving process design kits (PDKs). And amongst the things that the latest MEMS+ release brings is movement towards MEMS PDKs (MPDKs).

MEMS devices are, of course, notorious for evading any attempts to rope in process and design options through standardization of any kind. Efforts continue, but it remains a challenge.

This means that any MEMS design involves a collaboration between a particular fab (captive or foundry) and the design folks to come up with a physical design that meets the requirements for a particular new sensor or actuator. And what’s done for some new design may have nothing to do with what has been done in the past. Materials may change, dimensions and shapes may change, and circuits and packages may change. Everything’s negotiable.

With the latest release of MEMS+, Coventor says that they’re enabling the use of PDKs for well-established sensors – IMUs, devices built on Leti’s MnNEMS process, and piezoelectric devices. The MPDK isn’t standardized, but then again, silicon circuit PDKs have also taken a long time to move towards standardization.

So Coventor is working, initially, with one fab and EDA company at a time, starting with XFAB and Cadence. You may recall from the silicon side that the first step away from incompatible PDKs for each tool/foundry combination was for a single foundry to unify its PDKs for all tools. So initially, for example, TSMC PDKs were different for Cadence, Synopsys, and Mentor tools, and then TSMC worked to unify the format.

But the result worked only at TSMC; GlobalFoundries and other fabs would have their own formats, even if unified across tools. This is the issue that the OpenPDK project has tackled since 2010.

This is the path that MPDKs are likely to take, according to Coventor. It would be nice if the lessons of the past allowed us to bypass some of the effort replication. For instance, if XFAB gets something going, it sure would be nice to use that as the basis for someone else, layering on change and generalizing rather than starting from scratch or even turning the XFAB-only MPDK into a similar-but-incompatible someone-else-only MPDK.

You can read more about this and the other new features in MEMS+ 6.0 in Coventor’s announcement.

Leave a Reply

featured blogs
Mar 23, 2023
Explore AI chip architecture and learn how AI's requirements and applications shape AI optimized hardware design across processors, memory chips, and more. The post Why AI Requires a New Chip Architecture appeared first on New Horizons for Chip Design....
Mar 22, 2023
There are few things that get me more excited (at work) than an awesome CFD solution. And as a frugal engineer, I'm all about being efficient. Here's a CFD simulation that doubles down on efficiency. NASA E3 In the early 1980s, NASA's Energy Efficient Engine (E...
Mar 10, 2023
A proven guide to enable project managers to successfully take over ongoing projects and get the work done!...

featured video

First CXL 2.0 IP Interoperability Demo with Compliance Tests

Sponsored by Synopsys

In this video, Sr. R&D Engineer Rehan Iqbal, will guide you through Synopsys CXL IP passing compliance tests and demonstrating our seamless interoperability with Teladyne LeCroy Z516 Exerciser. This first-of-its-kind interoperability demo is a testament to Synopsys' commitment to delivering reliable IP solutions.

Learn more about Synopsys CXL here

featured chalk talk

TE APL: Flexibility for Any Use
Connectors can make a big difference when it comes to reducing system complexity and ease of use but did you know they can also help with automation and sustainability as well? In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Anita Costamagna from TE discuss TE’s APL Connectivity solutions. They dig into the details of these connector solutions and how you can get started using these connector solutions in your next design.
Sep 22, 2022
23,076 views