Siemens collaborates with Samsung Foundry

Additionally, Siemens has achieved numerous new product certifications for its IC design and verification technologies.

"Our expanded collaboration with Siemens EDA will help us deliver advanced design enablement solutions that address the evolving needs of our customers," said Sungjae Lee, Vice President and Head of Foundry PDK Development Team at Samsung Electronics. "By aligning our roadmaps and optimising the entire design flow, we can drive advanced packaging innovation across key markets like 5G, automotive, and AI."

Siemens and Samsung: boosting 3D-IC manufacturability

Siemens and Samsung Foundry recently collaborated to update process design kits (PDKs) that seamlessly integrate into Siemens’ Xpedition Substrate Integrator (XSI) software and Xpedition Package Designer (XPD) software – an achievement that allows Samsung to deliver robust PDK updates to mutual customers with minimal disruption to design processes. Siemens’ XSI software empowers engineers to construct a comprehensive digital twin model of an entire multi-die device, enabling seamless design integrations capable of driving all downstream design, analysis, verification, and signoff activities.

Samsung also successfully evaluated Siemens’ digitally integrated High Density Advanced Packaging (HDAP) flow for the foundry’s MDI (multi-die-integration) packaging process. Siemens’ Calibre xACT 3D software and Calibre xL parasitic extraction tools, which quickly and accurately extract register clock parasitics in complex 2.5D and 3D packaging configurations, are now certified for Samsung’s most advanced process nodes, as part of Siemens’ larger Calibre nmPlatform tool. The parasitic extraction tools within Calibre support signal integrity-aware analysis of entire high bandwidth memory (HBM) channels implemented on 3.5D silicon interposers. Samsung has also qualified decks (4nm technology) for the dies with through silicon vias (TSV) and validated the capability and accuracy of the Calibre parasitic extraction tools for TSV extraction and TSV coupling extraction tasks.

Samsung certifies multiple Siemens EDA product lines and reference flows

Among the many additional recent achievements of the Siemens EDA/Samsung partnership are:

Siemens’ Calibre nmPlatform software for integrated circuit (IC) verification signoff, which includes Siemens’ new Calibre DesignEnhancer software, is now fully certified for Samsung Foundry’s latest and greatest process technologies. More specifically, Samsung has qualified Siemens’ Calibre xACT parasitic extraction tool for the foundry’s multi-bridge-channel FET (MBCFET), an optimised version of Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor technology. Siemens used novel methodologies for the efficient technology description and accurate extraction of parasitics of advanced transistor technologies beyond 3nm.  

Samsung and Siemens have also leveraged AI-powered custom IC verification technologies such as Solido Design Environment and Solido Characterisation Suite software to enhance variation-aware verification and characterization, as well as Solido Crosscheck software for comprehensive IP quality assurance.

Samsung has qualified Siemens’ Analog FastSPICE (AFS) platform for the foundry’s latest processes for SPICE accurate applications. Siemens’ AFS platform is now certified across Samsung Foundry’s FinFET, Extreme UltraViolet (EUV) and GAA fabrication processes (SF4X, SF3P, SF2). AFS is also now qualified for Samsung Foundry’s fully depleted-silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) LN18FDS process technology. With these certifications, mutual customers can now verify their designs using Siemens’ AFS platform with SPICE accuracy and high performance.

The two organisations have successfully continued their collaboration around open model interface (OMI) development with Si2’s Compact Model Coalition (CMC). OMI, the industry-standard platform for enabling aging modelling and reliability analysis, is now supported by Siemens’ AFS platform across Samsung Foundry’s processes from 14nm to 2nm.

Samsung has also certified Siemens’ Aprisa software for digital implementation for the foundry’s SF3P process node. With this certification, customers using Aprisa for digital implementation tasks can design projects at SF3P with fully certified technology, proven correlation with Siemens’ Calibre sign-off tools and support for all the design rules and features of Samsung Foundry’s advanced GAA process technology platform.

Further, Samsung and Siemens have created new design implementation solutions that improve power structure robustness and reduce design cycle time. Calibre DesignEnhancer, which is part of Siemens’ Shift Left initiative, takes the foundry’s rules and automatically performs layout optimisation tasks that enhance the customer’s design. Calibre DesignEnhancer currently has three use models that use the Calibre platform to deliver DRC clean results, and multiple customers have successfully proven all three Calibre DesignEnhancer use models. 

DE Via, which maximises via insertion to minimise IR drop, DE Pge, which inserts both vias and parallel interconnects that optimise the power structure to achieve EMIR targets, and DE Pvr, which can save hours by effectively inserting DCAP and Filler cells that are required to run physical verification.

From an IC Test perspective, the partners have established a new design methodology reference flow that supports high-quality testing and precise diagnosis for Samsung’s advanced nodes. Built on DFT technology in Siemens’ Tessent software featuring Siemens’ Tessent TestKompress software, CellModelGen and Diagnosis engines, the solution generates comprehensive fault models, enabling physical defect-based Automatic Test Pattern Generation (ATPG) and scan diagnosis. Covering a wide range of defects, including cell-internal bridge, open, transistor, and port defects, as well as critical area-based interconnect bridge and open and inter-cell bridge defects, this advancement addresses zero DPPM and diagnosis challenges for inside cell and interconnects.

"In today's fast-paced IC design and fabrication landscape, synergy between partners is essential to meeting the increasingly challenging and complex requirements of our mutual customers," said Mike Ellow, CEO of Silicon Systems for Siemens Digital Industries Software. "Our collaboration with Samsung Foundry epitomises this synergy. Together, we're working to deliver the power, performance and area advantages of 3D-IC architectures for our mutual customers. These advances, together with a raft of new Siemens EDA product certifications and novel design innovations, are now available to help our mutual customers differentiate and win in exceedingly competitive global markets.”