SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 31, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Magma(r) Design Automation Inc. (Nasdaq:LAVA), a provider of chip design software, today announced the availability of a qualified design for manufacturability (DFM) flow for ICs targeted at 65-nanometer (nm) processes of Common Platform technology -- an alliance between IBM, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing and Samsung. The flow is based on Magma's DFM-aware design environment that accounts for process variability and lithographic effects in the context of timing, power, noise and yield. With this flow, Magma and the Common Platform technology alliance enable mutual customers to meet their performance, yield and time-to-market goals.
The two organizations completed joint qualification of Magma's full RTL-to-GDSII implementation flow, including the lithography fixing capability of Quartz(tm) DFM, adding support for DFM to Magma's existing Advanced Low-Power Reference Flow for Common Platform technology.
Quartz DFM has been integrated into implementation flows for both Blast and Talus(r) platforms, allowing customers to address random particle defects using critical area analysis (CAA), planarity effects using advanced dummy metal fill, and lithography hot spots using a pattern recognition followed by fixing approach.
"We continually work to provide customers with design and manufacturing solutions that help ensure silicon success," said Walter Ng, vice president, design enablement alliances, Design Services Division of Chartered on behalf of the Common Platform technology alliance. "Our collaborative work with Magma on its Quartz DFM solution has demonstrated how it could accurately fix litho-related hot spots caused by the router, thereby reducing potential design spins and accelerating overall time to market."
"Magma is leading the industry with a comprehensive characterization-to-silicon DFM-aware solution," said John Lee, general manager of Magma's Physical Verification Business Unit. "This revolutionary design platform offers improved analysis accuracy and variability management -- along with built-in DFM techniques for optimizing catastrophic and parametric yield -- resulting in designs with better performance, smaller area and lower power that are inherently less sensitive to process variations, thereby ensuring the highest possible yields."
About Magma
Magma's software for designing integrated circuits (ICs) is used to create complex, high-performance chips required in cellular telephones, electronic games, WiFi, MP3 players, DVD/digital video, networking, automotive electronics and other electronic applications. Magma's EDA software for IC implementation, analysis, physical verification, circuit simulation and characterization is recognized as embodying the best in semiconductor technology, enabling the world's top chip companies to "Design Ahead of the Curve"(tm) while reducing design time and costs. Magma is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with offices around the world. Magma's stock trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LAVA. Visit Magma Design Automation on the Web at www.magma-da.com.
Magma and Talus are registered trademarks and "Design Ahead of the Curve" and Quartz are trademarks of Magma Design Automation Inc. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Forward-looking Statements:
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements about Magma's software's ability to deliver designs with better performance, area, power and yield; and statements about the features and benefits of Magma's software and the Common Platform technology alliance processes are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially including but not limited to the abilities of Magma's and the Common Platform technology's products to produce the desired results, the companies' abilities to keep pace with rapidly changing technology and the companies' decisions to continue working together. Further discussion of these and other potential risk factors may be found in Magma's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). The companies undertake no additional obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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