industry news
Subscribe Now

X-FAB Offers Unique Substrate Coupling Analysis Solution to Address Unwanted Parasitic Effects

Powerful new tool facilitates first-time-right analog & high voltage design implementation in even the most challenging of scenarios

Tessenderlo, Belgium – May 9, 2019

Continuing to drive innovation in analog/mixed-signal IC fabrication, X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE (http://www.xfab.com/) has announced the introduction of SubstrateXtractor.

Unwanted substrate couplings can impact modern IC developments, causing parasitic effects that are damaging to overall performance. Engineers have to deal with this by taking a slow and laborious ‘trial and error’ approach, which calls for the allocation of many hours of experienced engineers’ time while numerous different design iterations are made and then experimented with.

The objective of SubstrateXtractor is to change all that. Created in partnership with Swiss EDA software vendor PN Solutions, and based on its innovative PNAware product, this is the semiconductor industry’s first commercially available tool dedicated to addressing the simulation of large signal substrate parasitic effects. Working in conjunction with X-FAB’s established simulation libraries, it allows engineers to investigate where potential substrate coupling issues could occur and make the changes necessary to eliminate them (via better floorplanning, guard rings, etc.) before the initial tape-out has even begun.

Through it, engineers will gain full visibility of all the active and passive elements within the substrate and be able to experiment with different simulations in order to find a design concept that delivers maximum substrate coupling immunity within the project’s particular parametric constraints. Furthermore, they are able to determine the minimum number of substrate contacts and guard rings needed for a project, no matter how complex and sophisticated it is – thereby resulting in more effective utilization of the available area.

“By employing the SubstrateXtractor tool, layout engineers will be able to uncover any adverse substrate effects early on in the development cycle and subsequently mitigate them,” explains Joerg Doblaski, Director of Design Support at X-FAB. “This will make IC implementation procedures far more streamlined and quicker to complete, avoiding the need to rework designs to increase levels of optimization, and resulting in significant cost savings.”

SubstrateXtractor is set to dramatically reduce the number of design iterations required – leading to much lower engineering overheads. This results in a faster time to market making a first-time-right analog design possible. From now onwards this functionality will be integrated into X-FAB’s process design kit (PDK) and available for use with the company’s popular XH018 (https://www.xfab.com/technology/cmos/018-um-xh018/) high voltage 0.18µm mixed-signal CMOS offering. A version for the power management process XP018 will soon follow. A detailed webinar on this valuable new tool will be hosted on May 22nd and 23rd. For details and to register, click here (https://register.gotowebinar.com/rt/7742535881476974860).

About X-FAB

X-FAB is the leading analog/mixed-signal and MEMS foundry group manufacturing silicon wafers for automotive, industrial, consumer, medical and other applications. Its customers worldwide benefit from the highest quality standards, manufacturing excellence and innovative solutions by using X-FAB’s modular CMOS and SOI processes in geometries ranging from 1.0 to 0.13 µm, and its special SiC and MEMS long-lifetime processes. X-FAB’s analog-digital integrated circuits (mixed-signal ICs), sensors and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are manufactured at six production facilities in Germany, France, Malaysia and the U.S. X-FAB employs about 4,000 people worldwide. For more information, please visit www.xfab.com

Leave a Reply

featured blogs
Mar 30, 2023
Damen is an international shipbuilding group with more than 50 shipyards in over 120 countries. While bare hull resistance simulations have been their bread and butter for a long time, they're now looking at more complex simulations such as propulsion and maneuvering. With th...
Mar 29, 2023
Explore the new chip design frontier of AI-powered EDA tools and see how our Synopsys.ai chip design software redefines chip design, verification, and testing. The post AI Is Driving a New Frontier in Chip Design appeared first on New Horizons for Chip Design....
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

In-Cabin Monitoring Systems (ICMS) Using Automotive Short Range Radar
Sponsored by Infineon
Worldwide regulation and legislation is driving a demand for automotive in-cabin monitoring systems. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Michael Thomas and Amelia Dalton investigate how short range radar can be utilized for a variety of in-cabin monitoring systems. They also examine the implementation of these different systems and how Infineon’s low-cost and low power radar solutions could make our vehicles safer than ever before.
Nov 1, 2022
19,375 views