FSA Introduces Mixed-Signal/RF PDK Checklist Version 2.0

SAN JOSE, Calif. (July 18, 2006) – FSA, the voice of the global fabless business model, today announced the release of its Mixed-Signal/RF Process Design Kit (PDK) Checklist version 2.0. The Checklist documents the contents of a PDK, a set of data files that enable analog circuit and layout designers to efficiently design a semiconductor chip for high-yield manufacturing using a set of EDA tools and a selected foundry process.

Since the initial launch in March 2004, the Checklist has been adopted as a standard practice by top-tier foundries and is delivered with almost all foundry PDKs to fabless customers. This latest version of the Checklist is built upon improvements and best practices gleaned from two years of use by leading foundries and feedback from fabless semiconductor companies.

The most important change in the PDK Checklist version 2.0 is its inclusion of FSA’s Mixed-Signal/RF SPICE Model Checklist, released in August 2005. This allows those involved in creating and using the PDK to understand how their designs will correlate with silicon.

“The PDK Checklist has helped fabless customers to understand the limits of the PDKs they use for design and has helped foundries improve the quality of the PDKs they deliver,” said Ken Brock, chairman of FSA’s PDK Working Group and vice president of marketing at Simucad. “By including the SPICE Model Checklist, this new version of the PDK Checklist highlights how analog, mixed-signal, and RF semiconductor devices correlate with their predicted electrical behavior in an easy-to-read, standard format.”

The PDK Working Group has absorbed the best practices of all foundries using the Checklist since its launch and incorporated those practices into the latest version of the PDK Checklist to further enhance the document’s effectiveness.

“Mindspeed Technologies adopted the PDK Checklist from its inception in 2004, and we use it as an effective tool in communicating with our foundry partners,” said Mishel Matloubian, technical director in core technology at Mindspeed Technologies. “These latest enhancements and refinements make the Checklist a very workable system for the entire AMS/RF design community.”

Foundries that have adopted the Checklist include 1st Silicon, Atmel® Corporation, austriamicrosystems, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Jazz Semiconductor, SMIC, Tower Semiconductor, TSMC, UMC, X-FAB, ZFOUNDRY®, and Zarlink Semiconductor. In addition, companies and organizations that have endorsed or adopted the Checklist include Agilent Technologies, Cadence Design Systems, Exar Corporation, IBM, IMEC, Micro Linear, Mindspeed Technologies, and Simucad.

The PDK Checklist and accompanying Users Guide are available free-of-charge at www.fsa.org/committees/msrf/deliverables.asp.

About FSA:
FSA is the voice of the global fabless business model. Incorporated in 1994, FSA positively impacts the growth and return on invested capital of this business model to enhance the environment for innovation. It provides a platform for meaningful global collaboration between fabless companies and their partners; identifies and articulates opportunities and challenges to enable solutions; and provides research, resources, publications and survey information. Members include fabless companies and their supply chain and service partners, representing more than 21 countries across the globe. www.fsa.org.