Synopsys and IEEE-ISTO launch tech advisory board

BANGALORE, INDIA: Synopsys, Inc., a provider of software and IP for semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing, today announced the open source availability of its Interconnect Technology Format (ITF) for parasitic modeling. It also announced the formation of a technical advisory board (TAB) under the auspices of IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization (IEEE-ISTO).

The purpose of the Interconnect Modeling TAB (IMTAB) is to facilitate the evolution of ITF and promote an interoperable interconnect modeling format to address the industry’s advancing process technology and design needs, said a press release.

IMTAB founding members include representatives from industry-leading semiconductor companies, EDA companies and silicon foundries including Altera Corporation, AMD, Apache Design Solutions, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, LSI Corporation, Magma Design Automation, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics and Synopsys.

“An interoperable interconnect modeling format is invaluable for our design teams at leading-edge technologies,” said Philippe Magarshack, STMicroelectronics Technology R&D Group Vice President and Central CAD and Design Solutions general manager.

“A common format will allow us to seamlessly leverage various EDA tools that support it in our design flows and increase overall efficiency. We are quite pleased with Synopsys’ proposal to advance interoperability in the industry and look forward to the adoption of ITF as an industry-wide standard,” he added.

Rich Goldman, vice president of corporate marketing and strategic alliances at Synopsys claimed that Synopsys pioneered open sourcing of standards over a decade ago with the Liberty and SystemC standards.

“The creation of the IMTAB similarly extends our standardization efforts to interconnect modeling, an area of increasing importance at advanced process technologies. By working with industry-leading member companies, we hope to replicate the success of Liberty and accelerate the evolution of Synopsys ITF into a common industry format,” he said.

The IMTAB will initially consist of 12 members and will grow its membership over time. Member companies represent the broad semiconductor industry including the design community, EDA companies and silicon foundries.