SMIC and Cadence announce 65nm low power reference flow 4.0

SAN JOSE, USA: Cadence Design Systems Inc. announced that it has delivered a comprehensive low-power design flow for engineers targeting the 65-nanometer process at Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp..

Based on the Cadence(R) Low-Power Solution, the flow enables faster design of leading-edge, low-power semiconductors using a single, comprehensive design platform.

"Power is now a critical design constraint, as important as timing and area from both a technology and cost standpoint," said Max Liu, Vice President of the Design Services Center at SMIC. "The SMIC-Cadence Reference Flow 4.0 addresses the need for power-efficient design innovation with an advanced, automated low-power design capability."

Validation of the flow was accomplished through implementation of low-power chips utilizing SMIC's in-house-designed 65-nanometer libraries, including effective current source model (ECSM) standard cells, power management cells, PLLs, SRAMs and I/O libraries.

Low-power technologies employed in the design include power gating and multi-supply/multi-voltage (MSMV) techniques to reduce leakage and dynamic power consumption.

"Power efficiency is a key requirement for many new semiconductors, yet designers sometimes think it's too new and therefore too risky," said Steve Carlson, vice president of product marketing at Cadence. "The Cadence Low-Power Solution provides a complete, silicon-validated front-to-back flow for designers targeting SMIC's 65-nanometer process technology, including functional and structural verification, while increasing productivity. It's fast, easy and proven."

The SMIC 65-nanometer low-power Reference Flow 4.0 includes the Cadence Low-Power Solution, with Encounter Conformal Low Power, Incisive Enterprise Simulator, Encounter RTL Compiler, Encounter Digital Implementation System, Cadence QRC Extraction, Encounter Timing System and Encounter Power System.