The resources required to produce the intricacies of nanometer designs, combined with shorter product life cycles and shrinking market windows, are having a chilling effect, leaving semiconductor companies shivering over threats to business profitability. And as both market and profit margins have tightened, workloads have increased, placing further strain on how to manage fixed or receding financial resources.

Key among the serious challenges is that of cost containment. How does a company, faced with increasing demand for costly resources characteristic of complex nanometer ICs, reduce costs without jeopardizing schedules critical to market timing? As an example, formerly simple functions in the design flow, such as physical verification and rule deck qualification, have grown in complexity and sophistication, requiring more and more of the design team's time.

Verification of modern design rule checks (DRC) and layout vs. schematic (LVS) files is an ever-increasing task. Rule decks accumulate more checks, since there are more layers to deal with; for example, eight levels of metal instead of two, and more layers to accommodate systems-on-chip designs. And smaller geometries require complex rules that ensure post-layout optical and process correction (OPC) goes smoothly.

With each new design, process node and software release, rule files must be qualified and optimized to ensure a smooth transfer of data to the manufacturer. Accurate and reliable execution of these tasks is critical. But with limited resources and available man hours, how does a company manage these necessary tasks? One way to help contain costs without threatening design schedules is to outsource portions of the work in the flow to experienced business partners with specialized expertise. By turning to outside consulting services, design firms can remain focused on their core areas of expertise, devoting resources to overall higher-value activities such as design innovations and development of new intellectual property.

Outsourcing a critical function such as physical verification and rule deck qualification allows companies to manage internal resources more efficiently, gain control over costs and resources, and stay on schedule while remaining updated on EDA software and manufacturing requirements.

In addition to conserving scarce resources to focus on core competencies, outsourcing delivers important benefits that critically affect the manufacturability of designs. Physical verification and rule deck qualification collectively represent functions in design flows that are crucial to the successful manufacture of IC designs. Verification validates design components by comparison to "gold standards" adopted by chip foundries.

Rule deck optimization ensures that the DRC and LVS aspects of the design exactly match the foundry's specifications. As the capabilities of each generation of silicon evolve, these manufacturing-critical activities must be constantly managed. And as the technologies evolve, engineering staff must be trained on new features of the latest methods and software tools.

Any delay in updating physical verification software or rule decks runs the risk of a design's non-compliance at the manufacturer, resulting in development cost increases and time-consuming delays that could let an all important window of market opportunity slip away.

Of course, critical to the success of any outsourcing plan is selection of a business partner who can deliver the best services. A consulting firm employing an industry leading verification tool is essential. The best possible scenario is to have a vendor that can provide delivery of a broad spectrum of services coupled with ongoing tool development. The enhanced communication and cooperation resulting from such a vendor relationship ensures compliance with foundry standards and reliable manufacture of designs.

As the semiconductor business begins to grow again in this upward economy, it is more important than ever for companies to steer dollars toward the most effective solutions for these tasks that ensure successful and profitable manufacture of designs.

Bill Martin is vice president of Mentor Graphics' Consulting Division.