Title :
DFM—Don´t care or competitive weapon?
Author :
Redford, Mark ; Sawicki, Joseph ; Subramaniam, Prasad ; Hou, Cliff ; Zorian, Yervant ; Michaels, Kimon
Author_Institution :
Cambridge Silicon Radio, Cambridge, UK
Abstract :
The external specifications of an IC (functions, clock rate, power consumption, etc.) determine the competitiveness of a product. To be successful and profitable in the IC business, designers need to ldquoout-designrdquo their competitors. Usually, Design-For-Manufacturing (DFM) is discussed as a yield improvement strategy, but what is the value of DFM from a competitive point of view? Can DFM gives designers a competitive lever by helping them decide how far to push a design without creating a manufacturing disaster? Can DFM be used to optimize designs rather than just identify hot spots? This panel will explore these and other questions such as: Signoff as a business decision-avoiding disaster while gaining competitive advantage, Rules vs. modeling...style or substance? Do RDRs help or hinder competitive advantage? Can DFM help ensure a parametric yield envelop this is competitive? Design-to-Fab flow as a total quality management process.
Keywords :
design for manufacture; integrated circuit yield; total quality management; IC business; IC external specifications; business decision; competitive advantage; competitive weapon; design-for-manufacturing; design-to-fab flow; manufacturing disaster; parametric yield envelop; product competitiveness; total quality management process; yield improvement strategy; Design for manufacture; Design optimization; Foundries; Manufacturing; Optimized production technology; Permission; Radio frequency; Silicon; Time to market; Weapons; DFM; DRC; RDR; design rules; design-for-manufacturing; manufacturing variability; physical verification; sign-off; yield;
Conference_Titel :
Design Automation Conference, 2009. DAC '09. 46th ACM/IEEE
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA
Print_ISBN :
978-1-6055-8497-3
