Aprio and Pyxis Technology Collaborate on Lithography-aware DFM Router
Pyxis’ DFM router leverages Aprio’s DFM ViewTM to improve yield, predictability and performance
Santa Clara, Calif. July 10, 2006 -- Aprio Technologies Inc. and Pyxis Technology
announced today the integration of Aprio’s newly announced HaloTM-Quest and
associated DFM View into the advanced DFM-routing technology from Pyxis. This
collaboration allows for a dramatic reduction in performance robbing lithography hot
spots, such as inadequate contact enclosure and line end shortening, thus improving
overall yield. (See related press announcement dated July 10, 2006: "Aprio’s Halo-Quest
Yields Highly Accurate Silicon Image Data".)
"Pyxis is developing new-to-the-industry routing tools that are designed from the
ground up with nanometer manufacturability in mind," said Naeem Zafar, president and
chief executive officer of Pyxis Technology. "The ability to access Aprio’s DFM View
gives us the information we need to optimize timing, performance and yield during
routing to meet the customer’s target manufacturing process."
"We are delighted to be working with Pyxis. Their advanced DFM router is the
perfect vehicle to validate Aprio’s DFM View strategy," said Mike Gianfagna, president
and chief executive officer of Aprio Technologies. "Pyxis’ choice of OpenAccess has
also made the integration of Halo-Quest substantially easier for both companies. This
standard holds great promise to accelerate the introduction of new EDA technology."
The integration between the Pyxis DFM router and Halo-Quest is accomplished
through OpenAccess, a Silicon Integration Initiative, Inc. (Si2)-sponsored interoperability
standard for EDA tool integration. "The vision of OpenAccess is to facilitate the
introduction of new tools for the EDA customer base," said Steve Schulz, president and
CEO of Si2. "The work being done by AprioTM and Pyxis is a perfect example of how to
leverage the standard to get products to market more rapidly."
The combined solution from Pyxis and Aprio will allow SoC designers to
improve the yield, predictability and performance of their designs without the need to
learn complex lithography processing steps. The details of these processing steps are
embedded in the application \u2013 the designer interacts with the tool in familiar terms, such
as routing completion and timing statistics.
An initial technology demonstration will be provided in Pyxis’ booth (2323) at
this year’s Design Automation Conference, to be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center
from July 24 through 27, 2006.
Through a series of announcements today, Aprio is also unveiling its roadmap for
delivering a comprehensive DFM solution that spans both manufacturing and design
applications. Aprio’s approach takes aim at the inadequate communication that exists
today between integrated circuit design and manufacturing teams. By partnering with
key suppliers in the design-to-manufacturing chain, Aprio plans to enable improvements
in chip predictability, performance and yield with minimal impact to current design and
manufacturing work flows.
About Aprio
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Aprio Technologies
Inc. is a leader in design-for-manufacturability (DFM) solutions that ensure successful
design and fabrication of nanometer technology semiconductors. At the core of Aprio’s
offerings is its unique capability to provide correct and accurate information; to designers
about manufacturing issues, and to manufacturing engineers about design intent. Aprio’s
products leverage this capability to help our customers create more reliable and better
yielding semiconductors without the need for dramatic changes to their existing design or
tapeout flows. For more information, visit Aprio’s Web site at
www.aprio.com or call
+1(408) 855-8088.
About Pyxis
Pyxis Technology is creating software to address the problems that chip designers
and foundries face in the physical design, layout, and routing of nanometer-scale
integrated circuits (ICs) and systems on a chip (SoCs). The company is focused on DFM
routing technology based on a new software architecture optimized for design for
manufacturability, which reduces design closure cycle time while improving overall
design yield. For more information, see
www.pyxistech.com. Pyxis has offices in Santa
Clara, California and Austin, Texas.
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