Open PDK Key Challenge

SpringSoft Perspective
DAC 2010
SpringSoft

Custom IC physical implementation based on

OpenAccess
Heavily involved with IPL
Creates PDK’s based on two development
flows (only EDA vendor with two PDK flows)
• IPL iPDK: PyCell & iCDF
• Laker PDK: tcl PCells & callbacks

Member of OPDK TSG

Value of Openness

Openness leads to innovation

Innovation leads to dramatically higher
productivity (and high EDA market growth)

Let’s take one example in EDA

Verilog – the beginning

1989 Gateway Design Automation has a

proprietary logic design language called
Verilog
Gateway sales are about $12M and the
language-based logic design ecosystem
(VHDL, HiLo, etc) totals about $20M
Since it is proprietary, Gateway has 100%
of the Verilog market
 Verilog ramps up

1990 Cadence buys Gateway and

contributes Verilog language specification
to Accelera
1998 Verilog sales (now from multiple
companies) reaches $150M
There is a lot of innovation
• Verilog emulation
• SystemVerilog test benches
• Formal methods
• Verdi debugger

Source: www.verilog.com
 Verilog growth explodes

2007 Verilog sales reach $420M and the

logic design ecosystem (formal,
emulation, test bench, etc) is $720M
Cadence market share has dropped from
100% to ~30%. But CDNS logic revenue
has gone from $12M to ~$240M!
Obviously designers found a lot of value!

Source: EDAC
Good decision?

Did Cadence make the right decision in 1990?

Interoperability

SpringSoft sees interoperability as a

critical dimension of openness
Members of Interoperable PDK Library
(IPL) have demonstrated it is possible to
have truly interoperable PDK’s
One of the Open PDK’s multiple goals is to
support interoperability
Simplified Open PDK scope

Open PDK Description

PDK Dev. PDK Dev. PDK Dev. PDK Dev.

Flow #1 Flow #1 Flow #1 Flow #1

Device (polygons) in OA
 SpringSoft Perspective
A single PDK description is good
for foundries – only have to Open PDK Description
build one description!

Multiple PDK development

flows are good for EDA PDK Dev. PDK Dev. PDK Dev. PDK Dev.
companies and IDM’s – Flow #1 Flow #1 Flow #1 Flow #1
only have to support my
favorite development flows!

Interoperable devices are good

for users – PDK’s are portable Interoperable devices in OA
between development flows!
Open PDK key challenge

One of the key challenges that SpringSoft

sees for Open PDK is a how to develop a
standard that supports interoperability
given multiple PDK development flows?
The current Request for Technology
solicits contributions to address this issue