Ciranova to Support ST's Deployment of Pycells for Advanced Silicon Technologies at 32/28nm and Beyond

Ciranova, Inc. announced today that it has signed a license agreement with STMicroelectronics (ST), one of the world's largest semiconductor companies, to support ST's deployment of Ciranova's interoperable PyCells for advanced silicon technologies at 32/28nm and beyond. STMicroelectronics intends to provide PyCell-based Physical Design Kits (PDKs) to both its internal and external customers.

PyCells are a form of "parameterized cell," a basic building block for analog and mixed-signal IC layout. Under the agreement, Ciranova will provide training and consultation, as well as contract PyCell development.

"We've been evaluating PyCells for more than a year, and we've been quite impressed by their capability to handle the complexity of leading-edge silicon design rules," said Vincent Varo, CMOS and Derivative PDK Manager, Technology R&D, STMicroelectronics "In some cases, using Ciranova's API (Application Programming Interface) and PyCells have helped in reducing cycle time by several weeks in generating differentiated RF and analog elements, such as inductors, into ST's first advanced 32/28nm RF PDKs. This has enabled our designers to start optimizing right away off the shelf 32/28nm analog and mixed-signal IPs ported from previous technology nodes."

PDKs are a fundamental enabler and vital ingredient in integrated circuit (IC) design; reduction in PDK generation cycle time contributes ultimately to shorter time to market. Ciranova PyCells complement ST's already-existing interoperable PDK environments, by enabling faster support of a wide range of complex devices for multiple foundry processes across a myriad of third-party tools (technology rules & electrical models). PyCell Studio also integrates an efficient and user-friendly IDE (Integrated Development Environment).

"STMicroelectronics is one of the world's most sophisticated developers of analog and mixed-signal IC technology, with vast experience in PDK and custom layout methodology," said Eric Filseth, CEO of Ciranova. "We're delighted to be working with them in this area."