GLOBALFOUNDRIES joins Si2 industry standards efforts

AUSTIN, USA: The Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2) announced that GLOBALFOUNDRIES, a full-service global semiconductor foundry, has joined both the OpenPDK and Design for Manufacturability Coalitions of Si2.

The goal of the OpenPDK Coalition is to define a set of open standards to define a PDK structure that will be as portable across foundries and as agnostic to EDA tools as possible.

The OpenPDK from Si2 will enable greater efficiency in PDK development, verification and delivery and will provide equivalent support to all foundries, all EDA tool vendors, all IP providers, and all end users. This is an ambitious goal, and the project will use the most inclusive approach to involve all stakeholders to create an industry-wide solution. The OpenPDK project aims to support all process nodes including high-voltage analog processes.

DFMC’s charter is to specify open standards for software interfaces between EDA software tools and manufacturing software. The specification includes standard terminology definitions, semantics and exchange formats for relevant manufacturing information. It also includes standard software application program interfaces (API) for models describing different manufacturing processes, yield mechanisms and circuit behaviors.

“The different parts of the semiconductor design chain are more interconnected than ever before. To succeed in this environment, the world is in need of new models for innovation and collaboration, particularly in industries - like semiconductors - that have such a huge impact on our daily lives,” says Mojy Chian, senior vice president of design enablement at GLOBALFOUDRIES.

“The OPDK and DFMC Coalitions are good examples of industry collaborations with the potential to change the way the semiconductor industry operates.”

“It will be extremely helpful to the OPDK and DFMC projects to have the input of GLOBALFOUNDRIES,” says Steve Schulz, president and CEO of Si2. “Both coalitions already have strong support from all leading EDA vendors, and are expanding rapidly as other semiconductor companies join. A broad range of companies ensures that adoption of the coalition efforts can be achieved throughout the industry.”

Membership in the OpenPDK and DFMC Coalitions are open to all interested parties across the semiconductor supply chain.