Product category: Design and Development Software
News Release from: Aprio Technologies | Subject: Halo suite
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 18 January 2005
Suite promises full
optical proximity correction
Aprio Technologies is staking its claim as the leading supplier of second-generation DFM tools with the release of its one-of-a-kind Halo suite of tools
In less than two years since its founding, Aprio is bringing to market its first products: Halo OPC, Halo SIM and Halo-Cal. The products deliver a fresh and effective answer to the thorny problems that come with chip design respins, designs that need OPC (optical proximity correction) modification to solve yield issues, or modified designs that require a quick change to mask data (also called ECOs).
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 18 January 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Aprio attracts investment
KT Venture Group, the investment partner of KLA-Tencor, is to invest in Aprio Technologies, the leading design for manufacturing software and technologies company
Alliance to address DFM from manufacturing side
KLA-Tencor and Aprio Technologies are to collaborate on the development of an integrated advanced mask design inspection and repair tool
Completely complementary, the Halo suite provides the necessary pathway to a truly complete OPC solution.
The Halo suite of tools was created for IC manufacturers using advanced processes particular for the ultra-deep sub-100nm technology nodes and below.
As it stands, manufacturers using first-generation OPC tools are spending weeks to generate the final mask data for their design.
And, in many cases, they are sorely missing an easy methodology to correct any problems found without rerunning the entire OPC generation from the beginning.
Aprio's one-of-a-kind Reconfigurable OPC Technology is the source for Halo OPCs stature as the first tool to reconfigure an OPCed layout for a new, optimised OPC result.
Further reading
Programme lines up DFM partners
Aprio has unveiled the initial list of partners collaborating on the design-side phase of what will be the industry's first complete design for manufactring solution
NEC signs for design-for-manufacturing expertise
Design-for-manufacturing specialist Aprio Technologies has signed its first technology partnership with NEC Electronics
Gianfagna takes control
Aprio Technologies has signed up Mike Gianfagna as its new President and Chief Executive Officer
Such a result can deliver huge performance gains, such as 30x faster results in implementing a design change in the mask data.
Clive Wu, PhD, CEO and CTO of Aprio explains: 'Our starting point was creating the Trinity Data Model - a completely new data model capable of understanding circuit, geometry and process information'.
'Armed with the ability to track the relationships between versions of the drawn layout and the corresponding OPC results, we quickly saw several interesting possibilities surface'.
To achieve breathtaking results instead of just incremental improvements, Aprio rethought the problem and came up with several brand new concepts, for which the company has already filed several patents.
Wu continued: 'There are so many good reasons to re-use your previous OPC results so, of course, we do'.
'Halo-OPC makes it possible to get through the mask data preparation phase in a fraction of the time its taking today while maintaining compatibility with the same tools manufacturers are using today'.
Because qualification of an OPC tool can take considerable time and require several test wafers, Aprio has chosen to architect its Halo suite to leverage incumbent OPC tools when applicable.
In those instances, the Halo-Cal tool is used to generate models for Halo-OPC and Halo-Sim that mimic the behaviour of the already-qualified tool.
This calibration tool makes it possible to use Halo-Sim for finding errors in existing OPC results while Halo-OPC is then used to fix those errors in a style consistent with the tool initially used.
As this approach allows for qualification in software, Aprio's Halo suite of tools really complement existing OPC generation tools that have already been qualified by the manufacturer.
Halo-Cal also supports a flexible modelling approach to work straight from measured results when applied to new processes without an existing OPC solution.
'We've already used our tools with customer data in processes below 65nm'.
'Customers have been astonished at our accuracy, especially considering we can even create their initial OPC corrections several times faster than the tools they've used before', said Wu.
'We are excited to present this technology to the market'.
'And there is certainly more to come'.
Time-based licence packages for the Halo suite start from $380,000 and are available immediately.
Halo tools run on Solaris 32 and 64bit, Linux 32 and 64bit, and Linux cluster systems.
• Aprio Technologies: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• NEW
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Related Business News
Icoa Is Partnering With Anchorfree To...
...Enhance And Monetize Thousands Of Wi-fi Hotspots. Icoa, Inc., a national provider of wireless broadband Internet access and managed network services in high-traffic public locations, and AnchorFree Inc., a rapidly growing Wi-Fi community powered by advertising, have announced today that they are partne
Olympics raises demand for IT contractors
The number of IT contractors working in the engineering sector has almost doubled in 12 months because of demand generated by the 2012 Olympics, according to contractor Giant Group PLC.
Stellar Appoints CIO to Lead Call...
...Centre Outsourcing Technology Strategy. Stellar, a leading global business process outsourcing provider, today announced that Warwick Marx has been appointed Chief Information Officer of Stellar Asia Pacific.
Dell pushes for better Linux drivers
Dell wants to see better software drivers for Linux so that the firm can ship more notebooks and desktops running the operating system, according to one of its software engineers.
Eds Sales Take A Tumble
Dave Friedlos, Computing , Thursday 17 May 2007 at 00:00:00 But experts say downturn may reflect market weakness, writes Dave Friedlos Outsourcing giant EDS has released disappointing first-quarter figures showing slower growth and fewer con
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
