MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: Ponte Solutions, the bridge between design and manufacturing, announced an interface between its YA System and the Cadence Virtuoso platform that lets designers efficiently perform Critical Area Analysis (CAA) and repair during layout.

Developed under the auspices of the Cadence Connections Program, the interface allows IP designers to address CAA in an actionable manner during the creation of IP elements, standard cells, and memories. As CAA is both statistical and contextual in nature it has been difficult for designers to take specific measurable actions to reduce CAA issues.

The current release of Ponte's YA System addresses this problem by presenting the designer with prioritized CAA hot
spots, which will ensure the most critical CAA effects as predicted by certified defect kits provided by leading foundries, are identified and corrected. By interfacing to the Cadence Virtuoso platform via Open Access, Ponte's YA System can be used to analyze and correct CAA issues during design.

"It is important that designs at 65nm and below consider the impact of DFM during development," said Walter Ng, senior director of platform alliances, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. "This is a good example of a real design solution resulting from companies teaming up to develop the appropriate interfaces which allow designers to fully utilize the capabilities of today's advanced nanometer process technologies."