austriamicrosystems´ business unit Full Service Foundry and MunEDA, a leading EDA technology provider for analysis and optimization of yield and performance of analog, mixed-signal and digital designs, announced today the support of MunEDA’s Design for Manufacturability and Yield (DFM/DFY) tool “WiCkeD” as part of austriamicrosystems’ DFM reference design flow. The further improved DFM reference design flow is now available for austriamicrosystems advanced 0.35µm and 0.8µm CMOS, High-Voltage CMOS and SiGe-BiCMOS process technologies.

The combination of highly accurate fab-related Monte Carlo models provided by austriamicrosystems and MunEDA’s yield optimization tool “WiCkeD” results in an excellent correspondence between measured and simulated results on parametric yield in consideration of supply voltage and temperature variations. Easy to use and fully integrated into
austriamicrosystems’ process design environment (HIT-Kit), “WiCkeD” supports product designers to create robust and first time right designs.

Design for Manufacturing/Design for Yield (DFM/DFY) is a highly demanded necessity in order to ensure fast yield ramp-up and stable volume production. In addition to the support of simulation based yield optimization, austriamicrosystems’ DFM reference design flow also includes layout-related analog DFM utilities such as advanced antenna rule checks, fill pattern generation utilities and critical area determination. The verification routines are based on analog DFM rules defined on top of the standard design rules and tailored to the needs of austriamicrosystems specialty processes. A special high-voltage extension includes parasitic modeling, Safe Operating Area Check (SOAC) and leakage verification routines. As an additional service, austriamicrosystems offers full design support including analog High-Voltage CMOS design guidelines and DFM design reviews to its foundry customers.

“Supporting MunEDA’s state-of-the-art design analysis and optimization tool “WiCkeD” is a further step in the continuous improvement of
austriamicrosystems DFM reference design flow”, states Peter Gasteiner, Senior Vice President and General Manager of austriamicrosystems' business unit Full Service Foundry. “Supporting our customers to maximize their production yield and ensure robustness of their analog designs gives us a clear competitive advantage and strengthens our position as a leading supplier of specialty process technologies and extended foundry services.”

”We are very pleased austriamicrosystems has selected MunEDA’s DFM-DFY solution WiCkeD as integrated strategic part of austriamicrosystems’ DFM reference design flow”, states Andreas Ripp, Vice President Sales & Marketing and Managing Director of MunEDA. “We look forward to further enhance our close cooperation with austriamicrosystems to support design teams and customers of austriamicrosystems with a common and seamless DFM-DFY methodology for higher circuit yield and robustness”.

About austriamicrosystems
austriamicrosystems’ business unit Full Service Foundry has successfully positioned itself in the mixed-signal foundry market offering well-established RF CMOS, High-Voltage CMOS, BiCMOS and SiGe-BiCMOS processes. With superior support during the design phase, high-end tools and experienced engineers, austriamicrosystems succeeds to be an attractive analog/mixed-signal foundry partner especially for fabless design houses.

austriamicrosystems is a leading designer and manufacturer of high performance analog ICs, combining almost 25 years of analog design capabilities and system know-how with its own state-of-the-art manufacturing and test facilities. austriamicrosystems leverages its expertise in low power and high accuracy to provide industry-leading customized and standard analog products. Operating worldwide with more than 850 employees, austriamicrosystems focuses on the areas of power management, sensors & sensor interfaces, portable audio and car access in its markets Communications, Industry & Medical and Automotive, complemented by its Full Service Foundry activities. austriamicrosystems is listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange in Zurich (ticker symbol: AMS).

About MunEDA
MunEDA provides leading EDA technology for analysis and optimization of yield and performance of analog, mixed-signal and digital designs. MunEDA´s products and consulting enable customers to reduce the design times of their circuits and to maximize robustness and yield. MunEDA´s solutions are in industrial use by leading semiconductor companies in the areas of communication, computer, memories, automotive, and consumer electronics.