Cadence Introduces Industry's First Yield Diagnostics Tool; Encounter Test Pinpoints Most Critical Design-Related Yield Issues
SAN JOSE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Oct. 19, 2004—
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CDN) (Nasdaq:CDN)
today announced Cadence(R) Encounter(TM) Diagnostics, the industry's
first yield diagnostics tool. Encounter Diagnostics accelerates yield
by identifying customers' most critical nanometer IC yield issues and
precisely locating root cause defects. The result is higher yield in
less time. The new tool supports all digital design styles and test
vectors produced by all popular ATPG tools.
"Leading-edge chip designers and manufacturers require advanced
diagnostic tools to effectively test and verify their increasingly
complex designs," said Michael Bouvier, manager of PowerPC New Product
Intro at IBM. "We collaborated with Cadence to refine a diagnostics
system that can deliver a unique set of features and capabilities
ideal for both volume and precision nanometer diagnostics."
Yield ramp is perhaps the biggest challenge presented by nanometer
designs today. According to a recent report from International
Business Strategies, Inc., the time to reach nominal yield has
lengthened to six to nine months for 130-nanometer designs. Many IC
products do not reach expected yields during their lifetime. The main
problem is subtle design-process interactions that are not predictable
before actual silicon and difficult to isolate within silicon.
Encounter Diagnostics brings a proven solution to the general
market for the first time. Developed in conjunction with IBM and
demonstrated with select customers, the tool provides a unique set of
advanced capabilities required for effective volume and precision
operation. It includes static and dynamic diagnostics, patented
Pattern Fault Modeling, and support of all industry standard test
vectors.
Traditional ATPG-based diagnostics tools are typically less than
40 percent accurate at 130 nanometers and do not support volume
operation, dynamic diagnostics, customizable fault modeling, or
vectors generated by other ATPG tools. Encounter Diagnostics was
developed specifically to accelerate nanometer yield in production
manufacturing environments. In volume mode, the tool identifies the
most critical design-related issues based on analyzing a statistically
significant sample size. In precision mode, it precisely locates the
root cause defects, which can then be verified in a physical failure
analysis lab.
"Combining Encounter Diagnostics' advanced precision capabilities
with our EmiScope time-resolved emission microscope provides joint
customers with a very effective method of locating nanometer defects,"
said Dr. Israel Niv, president, Diagnostics and Characterization
Group, Credence Systems Corporation.
"AMD has used Encounter Diagnostics for evaluation and it has
helped us achieve many of our target yields," said Pat Patla,
director, Server/Workstation Marketing, AMD's Microprocessor Business
Unit. "AMD is utilizing some of the most advanced software tools
available within our Automated Precision Manufacturing to achieve
unprecedented yield levels to deliver the greatest performance to our
customers."
"Yield ramp is a huge problem for our customers working on
nanometer ICs," said Paul Estrada, general manager of Encounter Test
for Cadence Design Systems. "Encounter Diagnostics provides a proven
system for quickly finding the root cause of the most critical
design-related issues."
Encounter Diagnostics will be available in the Encounter Test 2.2
release shipping at the end of October.
About Cadence
Cadence is the world's largest supplier of electronic design
technologies and engineering services. Cadence products and services
are used to accelerate and manage the design of semiconductors,
computer systems, networking equipment, telecommunications equipment,
consumer electronics, and other electronics based products. With
approximately 4,850 employees and 2003 revenues of approximately $1.1
billion, Cadence has sales offices, design centers, and research
facilities around the world. The company is headquartered in San Jose,
Calif., and trades on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq
under the symbol CDN. More information is available at
www.cadence.com.
Cadence and the Cadence logo are registered trademarks and
Encounter is a trademark of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. in the U.S.
and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
Contact:
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
Judy Erkanat, 408-894-2302
jerkanat@cadence.com
