IC Design

Calibre RealTime Custom

The Calibre® RealTime Custom interface enables on-demand Calibre signoff design rule checking (DRC) for custom and analog/mixed-signal (AMS) design flows, improving both design speed and the quality of results by providing immediate feedback on design rule violations and recommended rule compliance.

Calibre Realtime custom in-depth

The Calibre RealTime Custom interface delivers Calibre signoff DRC inside custom and AMS design flows. With its ability to perform all checks in Calibre DRC, including recommended rules, pattern matching, equation-based DRC, and multi-patterning, the Calibre RealTime Custom interface lets custom and AMS designers correct and adjust their designs during the layout process using the same foundry-qualified rule decks used by batch Calibre runs.

Imagine—no more time-consuming layout-verification-simulation loops, and no more unwelcome, costly manufacturing issues after tapeout. By allowing designers to correct and optimize "on the fly" during the design process, the Calibre RealTime Custom tool lets them make needed layout changes while the design is still highly flexible, and without slowing down the design process. In short, the Calibre RealTime Custom interface lets the designers drive the design process, not their tools. And because it's Calibre, the results can be trusted.

How does it work? The Calibre RealTime Custom tool provides a tight integration between the Calibre physical verification platform and the custom IC design and layout system, based on the OpenAccess industry standard. When invoked from the design tool, the Calibre RealTime Custom interface provides direct calls to Calibre analysis engines running foundry-qualified Calibre rule decks. Now, no matter how many drawn layers a design contains, or how many checks there are per layer, or even how complex those checks are, custom design groups working at all nodes can get to DRC-clean quickly and with Calibre confidence.

 

Features and Benefits

 

 

Features

Uses standard foundry-qualified rule decks Automatically runs Calibre nmDRC when edits are made in layout Provides built-in error review toolbar to enhance ease of use Uses OpenAccess API to enable integration with most custom design environments Employs in-memory checking to ensure best performance Supports user-defined custom filters tied to layout interface Complements existing built-in checkers

Interactive Editing/Verification

Interactive editing and verification of custom/AMS layouts ensures DRC-clean designs in the shortest time possible.

Instant Feeback

The Calibre RealTime Custom interface provides instantaneous feedback on DRC violations during layout creation and editing, enabling quick and accurate correction of the most complex configurations.

Shorter Design Cycle

The Calibre RealTime Custom interface reduces overall design cycle time by eliminating separate, time-consuming verification iterations.

Design Optimization

With more time in the design cycle, designers can provide more design optimization during layout creation, resulting in better quality and higher performance.

Improved Productivity

With more time and information during the design creation process, designers can concentrate on providing the best design possible. No more tedious design rule interpretations, and no waiting around for verification runs to complete.

One Tool, One Interface

The Calibre RealTime Custom interface runs within the custom design tool as an integral part of design creation flow. With a built-in toolbar, Calibre invocation is just a click away.

Calibre Confidence

Because the Calibre RealTime Custom interface uses Calibre analysis engines and foundry-qualified rule decks, designers can have full confidence in the results.

OpenAccess

Using the OpenAccess API enables Calibre RealTime Custom integration with most custom design environments.