BANGALORE, INDIA: Cadence Design Systems, Inc., a provider of global electronic design innovation, announced on Monday that it has collaborated with TSMC, to deliver their customers DFM expertise and technology in a service model.

Cadence DFM Services includes model-based simulation of litho-process checks and virtual chemical mechanical polishing for TSMC 40-nanometer technology and below.

The goal is to enable design teams to effectively get help in detecting litho or CMP hotspots in order to fix them prior to tapeout. Cadence is the first EDA partner certified by TSMC for DFM services, said a press release.

"At 40 nanometers and below, it is essential that design teams take DFM issues into account throughout the design process," said Suk Lee, director of Design Infrastructure Marketing at TSMC.

He added that the DFM services from Cadence is a key milestone of their long-term collaboration with Cadence to help their common customers to address critical design needs in advanced technologies.

TSMC's collaboration with Cadence in DFM services is the latest in a continuum of joint efforts by the two companies to address manufacturing challenges for the most cutting-edge designs, the release added.

DFM Services to offer engineering expertise

Cadence DFM Services offer engineering expertise gained over many years of collaboration between the two leading companies. Customers get turnkey access to DFM analysis based on TSMC's DFM Data Kit (DDK) to ensure needed accuracy.

It delivers a scalable and secured IT infrastructure that helps reduce the risk of schedule slips while optimizing time to volume.

"TSMC and Cadence have long seen eye to eye on the need for enabling engineers to address DFM issues in a timely way, at lower cost and lower risk," said David Desharnais, group director, product marketing, Silicon Realization at Cadence.

He added that with the collaboration with TSMC, Cadence is offering both the expertise and the technology their customers need to deploy the type of holistic approach to Silicon Realization that's at the heart of the EDA360 vision.