SANTA CLARA, CA, —May 24, 2011— Berkeley Design Automation, Inc., the nanometer circuit verification leader, today announced that Forza Silicon Inc., a fabless semiconductor company specializing in high-resolution, high-speed CMOS image sensors, has selected the company’s Analog FastSPICE Platform for full-circuit verification and block-level characterization.
“The CMOS image sensors we design have tremendous verification challenges,” said Daniel Van Blerkom, Ph.D., CTO at Forza Silicon. “We selected AFS because it can handle verification of our CMOS image sensor ICs with nanometer SPICE accuracy on circuit complexities which were impossible in our current verification flow. At the block-level, AFS delivered identical results to traditional SPICE 20x faster in post-layout characterization.”
The Analog FastSPICE Platform is the industry’s only unified verification platform for nanometer analog, RF, mixed-signal, and custom digital circuits. The AFS Platform combines foundry-certified nm SPICE accuracy, 5x-10x faster single-core performance than any other SPICE circuit simulator, >10M-element capacity, and the industry’s only comprehensive silicon-accurate device noise analysis. The AFS Platform is a single executable that uses advanced algorithms and numerical analysis to rapidly solve the original device equations and full-circuit matrix without any approximations. It includes licenses for AFS Nano SPICE simulation, AFS circuit simulation, AFS Transient Noise Analysis, AFS RF Analysis, and AFS Co-Simulation.
“We are excited that Forza Silicon has selected the Analog FastSPICE Platform for their verification and characterization flow,” said Ravi Subramanian, president and CEO of Berkeley Design Automation. “The design of high-resolution, high-speed CMOS image sensors requires an accurate and efficient verification flow targeted to the growing complexity of these circuits. Forza’s adoption of the AFS Platform is further evidence that leading fabless semiconductor companies specializing in CMOS image sensors select Berkeley Design Automation for nanometer circuit verification.”
About Berkeley Design Automation
Berkeley Design Automation, Inc. is the recognized leader in nanometer circuit verification. The company combines the industry’s only unified verification platform, Analog FastSPICE, with exceptional application expertise to uniquely address nm circuit design challenges. Nearly 100 companies, including most of the world’s top 20 semiconductor suppliers, rely on Berkeley Design Automation to efficiently verify their nm-scale circuits. Founded in 2003, the company has received several industry awards in recognition of its technology leadership and impact on the electronics industry. Berkeley Design Automation is privately held and backed by Woodside Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, Panasonic Corp., NTT Corp., IT-Farm, and MUFJ Capital. For more information, visit http://www.berkeley-da.com.
About Forza Silicon
Forza Silicon Corporation is a privately held fabless semiconductor company, specializing in high-resolution, high-speed CMOS image sensors, high-speed communication chips, high resolution data converters and high speed serial interface custom IP blocks. More information can be found at www.forzasilicon.com.
