AWR And WIN Semiconductors Announce Next-Generation PDKs For MMIC Design
El Segundo, CA - AWR and WIN Semiconductors Corporation (WIN) recently announced the latest release of the WIN PP15-10 process design kit (PDK), the first in a series of next-generation commercial foundry PDKs available for monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) design. The combination of the PP15-10 pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) MMIC PDK with AWR's leading-edge Microwave Office2007 software uniquely enables designers of radio, satellite, radar, and automotive products to leverage the advanced WIN process to its fullest extent, providing optimal product performance and time-to-market advantages.
The WIN PP15-10 is a high-frequency and high-power GaAs pHEMT MMIC process that has been in production since 2003. Until now, however, existing PDKs and design tools have lacked the technology needed to take full advantage of the advanced features in the WIN process. This new class of AWR WIN PDKs is able to leverage the foundry process using the innovative and unique new technologies in the latest version of Microwave Office software. The PDK supports AWR's groundbreaking Intelligent Net (iNet) routing technology and the ACE automated microwave circuit extractor, both of which serve to cut interconnect design time by 100-fold or more. Built-in design rule support through the native AWR design rule check (DRC) engine alerts engineers to manufacturing issues during early design stages, where design faults can be more quickly and easily corrected, saving significant design time and capturing precious performance margin. The WIN PP15-10 can be loaded into Microwave Office software simultaneously with packaging and other IC PDKs for module co-design.
"These kits mark a major new thrust at WIN Semiconductor," said Gary St. Onge, vice president of technical marketing at WIN Semiconductors. "We intend to facilitate our customers' design flow with accurate models and pCells in not only the most advanced compound semiconductor processes, but also the most advanced EDA tools and flows. AWR's iNets, ACE, and multi-PDK capabilities are unique innovations that our customers want to use. These PDKs bridge the gap from design concept to working product like no other design kits previously offered. The benefits of our process capability can now be fully exploited."
"WIN Semiconductors is a world-class foundry recognized for its excellence in service and technology," said Sherry Hess, vice president of marketing for AWR. "Our mutual customers rely on this quality as they continue to push the envelope in design, and the collaboration between WIN and AWR enables them to do so more confidently and quickly. WIN's latest processes integrated in these new PDKs open up new possibilities for MMIC design."
SOURCE: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.