Siemens Digital Industries Software is collaborating with TSMC to deliver product certifications and new design solutions for the foundry’s latest and most advanced process technologies.

These various solutions, which customers can now access, include substantial innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), 3D IC design, and advanced packaging.

Commenting Mike Ellow, CEO, Siemens EDA, Siemens Digital Industries Software, said, “By combining Siemens’ leading IC and advanced packaging solutions with TSMC’s process technologies, we are enabling our mutual customers to achieve new levels of design innovation and faster time-to-market, reshaping the future of semiconductor development.”

“EDA solutions from our OIP partners have significantly contributed to advancing energy-efficient AI chip innovation, and TSMC will continue working with our ecosystem to enable the rapid proliferation of AI through collaborative efforts,” added Aveek Sarkar, Director of the Ecosystem and Alliance Management Division at TSMC.

Included among the new collaborations and technology updates are:

An AI-focused collaboration with TSMC successfully evaluated Design Rule Check (DRC) productivity improvements using Calibre Vision AI software to analyse and prioritise DRC violations and demonstrated clear enhancements in debugging efficiency, and the results were jointly validated.

Calibre nmPlatform software suite has been certified for TSMC’s advanced processes: Calibre nmDRC, Calibre nmLVS, Calibre PERC, and Calibre xACT software have all been certified for TSMC’s advanced N3C, N2P, and A16TM process technologies, enabling mutual customers to continue accessing Siemens’ industry-leading signoff technology.

Siemens and TSMC have teamed up to certify Siemens’ Solido Simulation Suite software for SPICE accuracy in TSMC’s N3C, N2P, and A16 process technologies, enabling customers to create and reliably verify analogue, mixed-signal, RF, standard cell, and memory designs using advanced TSMC nodes.

This collaboration expands into TSMC’s custom design reference flow (CDRF) on its A16 process, as Siemens’ Solido Simulation Suite software supports Reliability Aware Simulation technology, which addresses IC aging, real-time self-heating, and Safe Operation Area (SOA) checks.

In addition, TSMC’s CDRF for its A16 process incorporates Siemens’ Solido Design Environment software for advanced variation-aware verification, enhancing design sensitivity and automated cell optimisation.

Siemens is collaborating with TSMC to certify its Aprisa software for TSMC’s N2P process. The implementation flow has been validated to meet N2P requirements across placement, routing, chip finishing and engineering change orders (ECOs), with ongoing efforts focused on optimising performance, power, and area (PPA).

Siemens and TSMC have also established major milestones for 3D IC and enabled design flow for TSMC Compact Universal Photonic Engine (TSMC-COUPE) technology.

Siemens’ Calibre 3DSTACK Advanced software is now certified for targeted physical verification solutions while Calibre 3DThermal software is certified for static thermal analysis of designs based on TSMC 3DFabric technologies.

Siemens’ Calibre 3DThermal software provides detailed chip level analysis and combined with the thermal analysis of Siemens’ Simcenter Flotherm software, provides enhanced visibility into thermal impacts throughout the entire design flow and ecosystem.

Additionally, Siemens tools have been enabled to support customers to design using TSMC-COUPE technology.

The companies’ joint activity on silicon photonics includes flow development using Siemens’ Innovator3D IC software, Calibre 3DSTACK software, L-Edit software, Solido Simulation Suite software, Calibre xACT software and Calibre Interactive software for design, implementation and verification of TSMC’s COUPE technology.

Innovator3D IC is enabled for supporting the 3Dblox language format across abstraction levels and Siemens is working to achieve certification for other advanced requirements as 3Dblox continues its transition to become an IEEE standard.

As part of TSMC’s cloud-based initiative, Siemens and TSMC have successfully demonstrated Solido Simulation Suite software, Calibre nmDRC software, and Calibre PERC software running in the AWS Cloud.

Intended for toolsets qualified under TSMC’s N2 Certification, this initiative demonstrates tool accuracy and job parallelism across cloud computing infrastructure, focused on optimising time to tape-out.

By: DocMemory
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