TSMC selects Berkeley Design Automation analog FastSPICE transient noise for TSMC AMS reference flow 1.0

SANTA CLARA, USA: Berkeley Design Automation Inc., provider of the Analog FastSPICE unified circuit verification platform (AFS Platform), announced that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has incorporated the AFS Platform in the Analog Mixed Signal (AMS) Reference Flow 1.0 for device noise analysis.

"We have worked closely with Berkeley Design Automation to ensure that the powerful benefits of their Analog FastSPICE Platform transient noise analysis are available within the TSMC AMS Reference Flow 1.0," said Tom Quan, deputy director of design methodology and service marketing, TSMC.

"Our internal design teams have already been using the Analog FastSPICE Platform because it delivered SPICE accurate results much faster than traditional SPICE on our analog/mixed-signal IP and building blocks across our major process technologies. Our mutual customers using the AMS Reference Flow 1.0 will benefit from the differentiated capabilities the AFS Platform delivers for device noise analysis."

TSMC AMS Reference Flow 1.0 offers an advanced multi-vendor AMS design flow fully integrated with an innovative TSMC AMS design package to manage the growing complexity of process effects as well as design complexity in 40-nm and 28-nm process nodes.

Analog FastSPICE platform
The Berkeley Design Automation Analog FastSPICE Platform is a unified circuit verification platform for analog, mixed-signal, and RF design. It delivers true SPICE accurate results with comprehensive device noise analysis and 10M-element capacity.

The AFS Platform is a single executable that uses advanced algorithms and numerical analysis to rapidly solve the full-circuit matrix and original device equations without any shortcuts.

"Our inclusion in the TSMC AMS Reference Flow 1.0 caps several years of collaboration between the two companies," said Ravi Subramanian, president and CEO of Berkeley Design Automation. "Design teams need best in class solutions to tackle the verification challenges in nanometer analog, RF, and mixed-signal designs. Our cooperation with TSMC in the AMS Reference Flow will enable customers to gain significant improvements in device noise analysis, for their analog/RF circuits."