Session EP1

 Evening Panel Discussion & Dinner  

Sponsored by PDF Solutions

Donner Pass Room 

6:30pm - 8:30pm

 DFM PDK's: Where do they belong? 
Are Process Design Kits (PDKs) the answer for modern Design For Manufacturing (DFM) issues?

Panel Organizer: Pallab Chatterjee, SiliconMap 

Panel Moderator: Tets Maniwa, Editor in Chief Chip Design Magazine

Current DSM designs require that the design methodologies be modified to accommodate the design tools chosen to implement them. This trend requires a level of EDA and general CAD methodology expertise that was previously provided by the Semiconductor design engineer, now be provided by the manufacturing partner at both the masking and fabrication/modeling level. The current solution to this shift, is to have the foundry or EDA vendor transfer a Process Design Kit (PDK) to the design house with an incorporated EDA infrastructure. This panel will address the issue of the Process Design Kits as a replacement for traditional device models and design rules and discuss the topics of quality standards for PDKs, capabilities of these "blind application" PDKs, applicability of these PDKs to the existing flow and supply chain, and level of expertise that is assumed for both creation and use of these PDKs.

Panelists:

John Kibarian, CEO & President PDF Solutions, Inc.

Nick English, Chairman OpenKit Initiative 

Dan Hillman, Vice President of Business Operations and Infrastructure, Virtual Silicon 

Frank Ramsey, Director of ASIC, Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC)

Richard Siemiakowski, President, E*ECAD, Inc. 

Felicia James, Vice President and General Manager, Cadence Design Systems 

David Lan, TSMC