Samsung Foundry uses Keysight MG Software to create VLSI circuit libraries
Date: 27/06/2023
Samsung Foundry is using Keysight IC-CAP Model Generator (MG) to create VLSI circuit libraries, a key component of process design kits (PDKs) for Samsung's RF semiconductor process technologies to make 5G, 6G and such RF communication chips.
IC-CAP Model Generator helps RF modeling engineers to efficiently organize large volumes of data to save time extracting transistor models, where it handles data management and all the details of simulating and displaying multi-device simulations.
Developed using Python 3 programming langauge, MG software is part of PathWave Device Modeling (IC-CAP), where it imports and organizes measured data and circuit netlists for different technology nodes and temperatures. MG software automatically creates and efficiently simulates RF trend plots of key figures of merit based on user input.
Engineers can build custom extraction flows through an intuitive and easy-to-use interface. The product enables efficient simulation and real-time tuning of multi-devices with complex RF sub-circuits, including netlists using layout parasitic extraction files. The MG software framework includes model verification and report generation.
Jongwook Kye, Executive Vice President and Head of Foundry Design Platform Development at Samsung Electronics, said: "Over the past few years, we have been collaborating closely with Keysight EDA to improve the efficiency and accuracy of our RF modeling flow. By adopting the Model Generator in our workflow, our efficiency has improved by at least 30 percent. The Model Generator's ability to handle complex netlists and the variety of measured data, including S-parameters and low and high-frequency noise, is critical to us. The flexibility and powerful performance of this tool helps improve the accuracy of models. We can customize the parameters thanks to Python and adapt the Model Generator to our needs."
Niels Faché, Vice President and General Manager, Keysight EDA, said: "The modeling of today's RF FinFET and tomorrow's innovative devices is hugely complex and time-consuming. Engineers must extract hundreds of parameters to accurately model the RF behavior of devices for different sizes and temperatures. The Model Generator removes critical barriers in the workflow and allows Samsung engineers to focus more on the modeling and less on the programming. We are pleased that this new solution helps Samsung better manage their modeling workflow, shorten process design kits development cycle, and accelerate product time to market."
PathWave Device Modeling (IC-CAP) software is called as industry standard for DC and RF semiconductor device modeling, where the program extracts accurate compact models used in high speed/digital, analog and power RF applications. This modeling is used in latest semiconductor fabs modeling silicon CMOS FET, Bipolar transistor, compound semiconductor devices such as GaAs, GaN and many other chip device technologies. IC-CAP covers measurement, simulation, optimization and statistical analysis tools. IC-CAP is used by both circuit designers and modeling engineers.
IC-CAP supports industry standard CMOS models, such as BSIM3/BSIM4, PSP and HiSIM and can directly links to commercial simulators ensure consistency between extracted models and the simulators used by circuit designers.
More info at:
https://www.keysight.com/in/en/lib/resources/software-releases/pathwave-device-modeling-ic-cap-2023.html
and
https://www.keysight.com/in/en/lib/resources/software-releases/pathwave-device-modeling-ic-cap-2023.html
