Design enablement: The challenge of being early, accurate, and complete

Progress evidenced by Moore´s Law has driven increased performance at decreased cost per function. Often, the price of this progress is balanced against complexity and time-to-market (both directly impacting cost). Design enablement teams must mitigate these cost factors by delivering accurate process design kits (PDKs) that predict both process and device performance at production on a schedule that supports time-to-market goals. Here, we examine some key technology issues affecting the critical relationship between process, device, design and products.