SpringSoft's Laker Leads the Way to SignOff-Driven Custom Layout Flow with Integration of Calibre RealTime

Industry’s only OpenAccess-based integration of Calibre DRC speeds path to foundry sign-off and shortens design cycle of custom chips

HSINCHU, Taiwan, March 11, 2011 — SpringSoft, Inc., a global supplier of specialized IC design software, today introduced a new signoff-driven layout flow with its Laker™ Custom Layout software and the new Calibre® RealTime platform, announced separately today by the Mentor Graphics® Corporation. The Calibre RealTime platform provides instantaneous design rule checking (DRC) in the Laker OpenAccess (OA) layout environment for sign-off quality physical verification during design creation. This unique capability enables Laker users to generate high quality custom layouts in less time and get to foundry sign-off sooner, even at the most advanced technology nodes. The Laker signoff-driven layout flow is immediately available with the latest Laker OA software release.

SpringSoft’s collaboration with the Mentor Graphics Corporation is yet another milestone in the company’s strategy for providing OA-based custom chip design solutions that enable true interoperability. The Laker system already provides rule-driven physical design with its specialized automation engines and schematic-driven layout flow. Integration of the Calibre RealTime DRC product into the Laker environment takes this approach even further by combining the industry’s most robust OA custom design implementation with the same foundry-qualified rule decks and the Calibre DRC engine used for foundry sign-off. Implemented using the OA runtime model (RTM), the Laker signoff-driven layout flow realizes the promise of OA interoperability by enabling two world-class tools to work seamlessly together.

“Mentor and SpringSoft both recognized that the challenge facing custom IC designers working at advanced process nodes with the explosion of design rules and recommended rules could be addressed by the integration between Calibre sign-off DRC and the Laker custom layout environment,” said Michael Buehler-Garcia, director of marketing at Mentor Graphics.  “The API of the OpenAccess run-time model provided the mechanism to both tightly integrate Calibre with third-party tools, and leverage the SpringSoft Laker team’s extensive experience in using the OA runtime model to do this type of integration.”

Laker Sign-off-driven Layout Flow

“Laker enables custom chip designers to achieve superior layout results with less effort.  The integration of Mentor’s Calibre RealTime and Laker was designed with this same principle in mind. With signoff-driven custom layout, designers can reach design closure faster and shorten the overall design cycle of their custom chips,” said JT Li, vice president, Physical Design and Technology Product Group, at SpringSoft.

SpringSoft and the Mentor® teams worked very closely to ensure that the Calibre RealTime DRC platform is easy to use and intuitive for Laker users. Their efforts focused on providing both real-time and single-click operation with virtually instantaneous results. Every time designers edit a polygon, path, or placement in the Laker layout environment, the Calibre RealTime product detects the change and automatically runs DRC on that change. Users can run more rules or different rule sets at any time with a single click. In addition, a graphical user interface enables Laker users to easily define custom rule sets and design styles, all without editing the ‘golden’ rule file. Feedback is immediate and all error navigation is entirely within the Laker environment using a built-in Calibre RealTime error review toolbar. Users can focus on creating DRC-clean layout without all the window clutter normally associated with multiple tool flows.

About Laker Custom IC Design

Laker custom IC design solutions offer the power of controllable automation and unmatched interoperability to achieve superior layout results with less effort for analog, mixed-signal, and custom digital designs. More than 300 companies, including many of the world’s leading semiconductor companies, have adopted the Laker layout system for designs down to 28 nanometers.  For more information about Laker products, visit: http://www.springsoft.com/products.

About SpringSoft

SpringSoft, Inc. (TAIEX: 2473) is a global supplier of specialized automation technologies that accelerate engineers during the design, verification and debug of complex digital, analog and mixed-signal ICs, ASICs, microprocessors, and SoCs. Its award-winning product portfolio features the Novas™ Verification Enhancement and Laker Custom IC Design solutions used by more than 400 of today's leading IDM and fabless semiconductor companies, foundries, and electronic systems OEMs. Headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, SpringSoft is the largest company in Asia specializing in IC design software and a recognized industry leader in customer service with more than 400 employees located in multiple R&D sites and local support offices around the world. For more information, visit www.springsoft.com.