Design for Manufacturability — Break on Through

Design for Manufacturability — Break on Through
With a variety of available tools, users, utilities and implementations, there is no one DFM product, solution or process involving the entire manufacturing system. The Design for Manufacturability Coalition (DFMC) addresses this problem by taking a holistic approach to addressing the needs of the entire system.
Teresa McLean, Global Exhibitions Marketing Manager, SEMI, San Jose, www.semi.org -- Semiconductor International, 6/27/2008 10:13:00 AM
“Design for manufacturability (DFM) is no longer a localized issue in the fab, but one that transcends the supply chain.” With a variety of available tools, users, utilities and implementations, there is no one DFM product, solution or process involving the entire manufacturing system. The Design for Manufacturability Coalition (DFMC), quoted above, addresses this problem by taking a holistic approach to addressing the needs of the entire system.

Through this partnership of semiconductor, EDA and equipment suppliers, a focus on reducing cycle time and improving yield is leading to understanding and addressing the challenges of bi-directional data sharing across design and manufacturing flows. This is not a linear process that can be addressed one step or function at a time — the active participation of companies up and down the supply chain is required to improve the overall efficiency of the system.

The DFMC will accomplish its goals through the following methods: a cross-education program between design and manufacturing domain experts; a shared repository of industry test cases, identifying commonality in data and process flows; prototyping data model and API extensions using OpenAccess; and formalizing shared data extensions into OpenAccess-UDM as an open industry standard.

The vision of the DFMC program is an open-standard IT infrastructure that will provide the means for enhanced communication of information across the IC supply chain, and against which design and manufacturing applications can be integrated. There are two keys to creating a program that will foster collaborative effort across a disaggregated supply chain where business partners share knowledge in a reliable way: the solution must be dynamic, and it must facilitate open communication and information exchange in a secure manner, appropriately protecting IP.

The DFMC is one of several initiatives driven by Si2, the Silicon Integration Initiative, whose mission is to “achieve industry adoption of collaborative technology and services that deliver higher levels of silicon design integration, enabling compelling advantages for our members through reduced costs, faster time to market, and improved IC design capability.”

Jake Buurma, the vice president of West Coast operations for Si2, has more than 33 years of industry experience in both IC design and EDA software development; he is a veteran of the DFM process and an expert in the DFMC.

Join Jake and a panel of DFM leaders from IBM, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, DNP, Synopsys and Texas Instruments on Thursday, July 17, at the SEMICON West 2008 DFM TechXPOT as they discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.


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