BANGALORE, INDIA: Magma Design Automation Inc. today announced that Intrinsity, a provider of high-speed, low power processors based on its proprietary Fast14 fast static and 1-of-N Domino Logic (NDL) technology, has standardized on Talus, Magma's complete RTL-to-GDSII platform, for implementation of the static ASIC portion of Intrinsity's IC design flow.
 
Intrinsity's decision to standardize on Talus was based on impressive results achieved using the Magma software to develop Intrinsity's latest design based on combined static and NDL technology. Talus Design's RTL synthesis, Talus Vortex's place & route capabilities and Intrinsity's Fast14 design technology enabled Intrinsity to double the frequency and take the design from final RTL to GDSII in just 48 hours.

In addition, Talus Power Pro's ability to efficiently handle multiple voltage threshold (multi-VT) libraries resulted in a significant power reduction. The software also allowed Intrinsity to deliver the high-performance processor design with a significantly smaller team than is usually required using traditional approaches.
 
"Intrinsity is focused on enabling semiconductor companies to meet ever-increasing processing requirements of today's mobile, networking, storage and other high-speed embedded applications," said David Shippy, Vice President of Processor Engineering at Intrinsity. "The Talus system's advanced IC implementation technology helps us to continue to increase performance and reduce the power, area and development cycle of processor designs based on our ground-breaking Fast14 Technology."
 
"Based on the industry's only unified data model, Talus concurrently and automatically optimizes for timing, area and power, reducing iterations and increasing designer productivity. The unique system architecture coupled with a powerful interface also provides designers with the flexibility to fine-tune the optimization to ensure that parameters are met and the best possible performance is achieved," said Kevin Moynihan, general manager of Magma's Design Implementation Business Unit. "Intrinsity's ability to double the frequency and complete the flow in two days demonstrates why Talus is the ideal tool for high-speed, high-performance designs."
 
Talus platform
Magma's Talus IC implementation is a completely unified RTL-to-GDSII system with advanced capabilities for nanometer design. To address shorter time-to-market windows, Talus is the first implementation solution to multi-process the entire IC design flow. Its front-end design system provides logic designers with a fast, high-capacity, physically aware synthesis capability.

Its physical design system addresses variability and multimode/multicorner complexity with new optimization, place and route, and clock tree synthesis technology. To improve manufacturability and reliability, Talus provides built-in DFM features such as redundant via and litho-aware routing for yield optimization.
 
The Magma platform also includes advanced power optimization and management capabilities, and implements multiple power-saving design strategies to achieve maximum power reduction. Talus integrates low-power analysis and optimization engines throughout the entire RTL-to-GDSII flow.

The system supports advanced techniques such as native multi-Vt, automated multi-voltage designs, adaptive voltage scaling using concurrent multicorner optimization and multi-Vdd, and physical implementation that meet leading foundries' dynamic and leakage power requirements.