Target Modeling Package for IC-CAP Enables Faster IC Design

Venice, Florida — Agilent Technologies Inc. has introduced a package that extracts models from semiconductor manufacturing process targets. An option for the 2008 release of Agilent's Integrated Circuit Characterization and Analysis Program (IC-CAP) software, the package enables designers to develop device-simulation models earlier in the design cycle for faster overall IC design.

The Agilent Target Modeling Package is designed specifically for extracting Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) device models from semiconductor process targets. Process targets are a simplified set of electrical quantities that conveniently describe the performance and behavior of a semiconductor technology. CMOS devices are used in a wide range of consumer products such as microprocessors, memory and communication applications. The Target Modeling Package provides an easy way to extract CMOS device models from a reduced set of Process Control Monitor data before wafers from a new process are produced.

The Target Modeling Package has a Windows®-style graphical user interface for importing and managing data from Excel spreadsheets, running simulations and creating data plots and automatically generated, customizable HTML-based reports. Designers also can add their own methods-, model- and circuit-definitions to the package. As with all IC-CAP extraction packages, the Target Modeling Package includes direct simulation support for Agilent's Advanced Design System (ADS) EDA software, as well as support for Cadence Design Systems' Spectre and Synopsys' HSPICE simulators.

Other New Features
In addition to the optional Target Modeling Package, the IC-CAP 2008 release includes:

• ADS analysis of high frequency noise measurements; and
• extraction of Spectre simulations models (in Spectre syntax) within the ADS environment to take advantage of the high speed IC-CAP-ADS simulation link.

U.S. Pricing and Availability The Agilent Target Modeling Package is an option with the IC-CAP 2008 release. It is available this month, with prices starting at approximately $27,000. For more information about Agilent's IC-CAP device modeling software, visit ICCAP.