GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Integrand Software have reported that a comprehensive RF IC design solution is available for GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ 40-nm LP technology.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ RF solutions flow allows designers to improve inductors utilizing the Optimum Inductor Finder (OIF), the inductor synthesis tool of Integrand Software. The flow runs in the Cadence Virtuoso environment. Integrand’s Continuum and EM simulator EMX were used in the development of the OIF technology. Through extensive verification, GLOBALFOUNDRIES has validated that the models demonstrate close connection to silicon measurements.
Integrand’s OIF technology is a GUI-based analog synthesis tool and is now implemented in the PDK to enable customers of GLOBALFOUNDRIES to enter their preferred inductance and formulate their trade-off decisions between minimum area and maximum Q. Moreover, since the parameters of the Spice model are geometric, EDA layout parasitic extraction tools can extract the parameters to perform post layout simulation.
Integrand Software’s President, Sharad Kapur informed that licensing its technology to GLOBALFOUNDRIES will enable RF IC designers to get better capabilities. The company’s Continuum and EMX software generates true scalable simulations for passive components such as inductors. The OIF technology allows designers to identify optimal components within seconds.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ Senior Director, Michael Cheng stated that the company utilizes Integrand’s Continuum and EMX software to classify and model passive devices. These tools help virtual and automatic fabrication of precise scalable inductor simulations with better model-to-hardware correlation. These models are then incorporated into an OIF technology released by GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ RF design kit. The company is happy to include the OIF technology as part of its design kit for the 40-nm LP RFCMOS technology node.