News

1 October 2009

 

Agilent announces MMIC tool bar personality for UMS’ pHEMT processes

Agilent Technologies Inc of Santa Clara, CA, USA has made available an add-on process design kit (PDK) with enhanced, foundry-certified features for the PH25, PH15, PPH25 and PPH15 pHEMT processes of United Monolithic Semiconductors’ (UMS). UMS designs and produces RF, microwave and millimeter-wave components and ICs for the telecom, space, defense, automotive and ISM sectors at its facilities in Orsay, France and Ulm, Germany.

Providing what is claimed to be the most complete MMIC design flow available using Agilent’s Advanced Design System (ADS) electronic design automation (EDA) software platform, the new MMIC tool bar personality completely revamps layout functions, adds many design automation and routing capabilities, and helps streamline the MMIC design process.

The new MMIC tool bar personality enables the full set of ADS layout editing commands customized for UMS PDKs, including several single-button commands for converting a trace to transmission-line elements, automatic via insertion, invoking a three-dimensional (3D) layout viewer, and launching the ADS desktop design rule checker. Agilent says that these capabilities improve design efficiency by enhancing the design verification and synchronization between the ADS schematic and layout environment. Along with the industry-proven 3D planar EM technology, MMIC designers can now benefit from the MMIC design flow that ADS provides.

“This enhanced PDK will largely improve the design experience for both our internal MMIC designers and external customers,” says Eric Leclerc, manager of UMS’ foundry business department. “Such upgrades will also ensure that ADS users of UMS kits have a complete front-to-back-end design flow. We intend to bring this feature to other technologies in the near future,” he adds.

“This add-on PDK further strengthens our collaboration with UMS, one in which we will work to continuously bring value to our common customers through advanced PDK development,” says Avery Chung, foundry program manager of Agilent’s EEsof EDA division. “With ADS 2009, users will be able to extract X-parameter models of their PDK designs either directly from ADS or through Agilent instrumentation, providing them with an accurate and complete unified behavioral modeling capability and further simplifying the design process,” he adds.

See related items:

Agilent PDK provides MMIC design flow for TriQuint’s TQPED E/D pHEMT process 

Agilent launches complete, front-to-back solution for MMIC and RF module design

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