Synopsys tapeouts NEC EMMA system LSI

MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: Synopsys Inc. announced that NEC Electronics Corp. successfully taped out its latest Enhanced Multimedia Architecture (EMMA) chipset using Synopsys' IC Compiler design planning and place-and-route product.

NEC Electronics, working with the Synopsys Professional Services organization, was able to tape out the large 7-million-instances flat EMMA design under extreme time constraints. This latest success builds upon three years of collaboration between NEC Electronics and Synopsys Professional Services in taping out NEC Electronics' EMMA series of System LSI for digital audio/video products.

"The EMMA series of chips from NEC Electronics is a core technology for the digital A/V product line," said Masao Hirasawa, General Manager, Digital Consumer LSI Division at NEC Electronics. "EMMA is used by many leading digital consumer companies, so meeting time-to-market targets is critical. IC Compiler along with Synopsys Professional Services enables a predictable flow that requires less iteration for a successful tapeout. That is why we have chosen IC Compiler for this important NEC Electronics project."

IC Compiler's comprehensive place and route capabilities are designed to enable customers like NEC Electronics to leverage predictable results with less iteration to meet aggressive delivery schedules. The 90nm EMMA design consists of more than 7 million instances with several hundred macros running at multiple speeds. The size of the flat design combined with the time constraints put a high demand on NEC Electronics and Synopsys Professional Services to deliver a solution to customers with highest quality of results.

"IC Compiler continues to meet the demands of our customers as design challenges continue to increase," said Dr. Chi-Foon Chan, President and Chief Operating Officer, Synopsys. "The EMMA chip series from NEC Electronics employs leading-edge technologies that require leading-edge place-and-route solutions to deliver predictable, high quality of results."