Si2 Announces the OPDK v1.0 Standard

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2) today announced the release of the OPDK v1.0 Standard as approved by the Open Process Design Kit Coalition. This initial standard by the OPDK Coalition is the result of several technical donations and extensive engineering work by the member companies. The OPDK v1.0 Standard includes the Schematic Symbol Standard and the Design Parameter & Callback Specification.

Schematic Symbol Standard: Schematic symbols within the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry have long been a source of frustration when moving from one Process Design Kit (PDK) or foundry to another. Although some symbols may be similar between PDKs or foundries due to de-facto standards that emerged through popularity or widespread usage, these symbols have not been formally inducted into a standard. The end result is that often schematic designs need graphical adjustments with respect to symbol placement and wiring to pins when a new PDK is used. The OpenPDK Schematic Symbol Standard provides a specification and reference implementation for common symbols used within the EDA industry. Guidelines are also provided for creating derivative symbols that may be specific to a given PDK such as having extra terminals on a device (“nontraditional”).

Design Parameter & Callback Standard: A design library or an individual design may have a set of parameters associated with it. The specification of each parameter includes: attributes, relationships with other parameters, and callbacks. Examples of parameters include length, width, and area. An example of an attribute is maximum allowed area. Examples of relationships are between length and area, and between width and area. A change in the length or width automatically changes the area.

Callbacks, which are optional, are triggered whenever a parameter’s value or attributes change. Callbacks fall into two main categories:

Data callbacks – apply to all parameters; information includes: initialization callbacks, finish callbacks, callback order for batch execution
Parameter callbacks – apply to a single parameter; information includes: automatic callbacks, user callbacks, and attributes specifying value limits, grid, and other constraints

The new OPDK v.1.0 Standard components will be described in more detail during the “OPS Comes to Life” session for the “Si2 Round-Up@DAC: Standards in Action” co-located event at the Design Automation Conference at The Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. The session will be on Monday, June 4, from 9AM – 10:30AM, in Room 301, and is free of charge.

This session is part of a free day-long program, consisting of 4 individual events, which will showcase standards activities currently underway of great value to the semiconductor industry. Attendees should include engineers and technologists working at both current and cutting-edge technology nodes and also managers responsible for driving both design and manufacturing strategy.

All sessions are summarized in this link: http://www.si2.org/?page=1525.

All sessions are free, register here: http://www.si2.org/events_register/dac_2012_registration.php

For admission into the Moscone Center you will need to register for DAC at this link: http://www.dac.com/registration+rates.aspx

Several of these events are sponsored by Cadence Design Systems, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, LSI, NanGate, and Spectral Design & Test.

About Si2

Si2 is the largest organization of industry-leading semiconductor, systems, EDA and manufacturing companies focused on the development and adoption of standards to improve the way integrated circuits are designed and manufactured, in order to speed time-to market, reduce costs, and meet the challenges of sub-micron design. Now in its 24th year, Si2 is uniquely positioned to enable timely collaboration through dedicated staff and a strong implementation focus driven by its member companies. Si2 represents nearly 100 companies involved in all parts of the silicon supply chain throughout the world. See www.si2.org.