GlobalFoundries joins OpenPDK group

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2) said that GlobalFoundries Inc. has joined both the OpenPDK and Design for Manufacturability Coalitions of Si2.

The goal of the OpenPDK Coalition is to define a set of open standards to define a PDK structure that will be as portable across foundries and EDA tools. DFMC’s charter is to specify open standards for software interfaces between EDA software tools and manufacturing software.

In May, Si2 announced the founding members of the new OpenPDK Coalition. They are AnaGlobe Technology, Cadence Design Systems, IBM, Intel, Mentor Graphics, NXP, Pulsic, SpringSoft, STMicroelectronics and Synopsys.

At least for now, missing from the membership are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) and other pure-play silicon foundries. To date, TSMC has not joined the effort.

As reported, there is now a path towards an ''open'' PDK or process design kit, which is said to enable and speed up new analog and mixed-signal designs in the foundries.

Recently, the Interoperable PDK Libraries (IPL) Alliance released its ''open standard'' for interoperable process design kits (iPDKs). The standard, dubbed IPL1.0, is supposed to reduce cycle times and costs. As part of the standard, IPL is rolling out an IPL1.0 reference kit, which consists of an iPDK developer's guide, a sample 90-nm reference iPDK, a reference design and a user guide.

Based on the OpenAccess database, the technology from the IPL Alliance will continue to evolve over the various process nodes--at least until 28-nm. Then, Si2 recently said that it is working with the IPL Alliance to extend ''open PDKs'' starting at the 22-nm node. This effort is called the OpenPDK Coalition.

Silicon foundry vendor GlobalFoundries, the IC manufacturing spinoff of Advanced Micro Devices Inc., is part of IBM’s technology alliance. GlobalFoundries is a joint venture between AMD and Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Investment Co. (ATIC). ATIC plans to boost its stake in GlobalFoundries from about 68 percent to 70 percent. Over time, ATIC will take the entire stake in GlobalFoundries from AMD.

Last year, ATIC acquired Singaporean foundry vendor Chartered, which has been folded into GlobalFoundries.