IBM Adds Design Kits for Agilent EDA Software to Speed RF Simulations

ARMONK, N.Y. - IBM today announced process design kits (PDKs) for its RF CMOS, RF SOI and SiGe BiCMOS Specialty Foundry technologies, developed for use with Agilent Technologies’ recently released Advanced Design System (ADS) 2011 EDA software. The new PDKs enable chip designers to take full advantage of the advanced performance provided by IBM silicon technologies and the enhanced simulation capability of ADS 2011. The combination translates into a shorter design cycle and faster time to silicon, particularly for high frequency, non-linear applications such as power amplifiers.

"Our customers require dedicated RF simulation support to handle the performance challenges presented by the complex architectures of advanced RF and microwave systems. These new design kits help streamline the RF design process by providing engineers an additional level of circuit performance validation.” said Regina Darmoni, director of IBM’s Specialty Foundry business.

Agilent ADS kits are available today for IBM’s 0.35u SiGe BiCMOS (SiGe5PAe) and 0.18u RF CMOS (CMOS7RF) technologies. ADS enablement for IBM’s 0.18u RF SOI (CSOI7RF) technology will be made available later this year. All of these technologies are part of IBM’s Front-End Module (FEM) technology suite which has been specially optimized for silicon-based FEM component integration. The optimized FEM technology features include specialized active devices, high quality passives (resistors, MIM capacitors and inductors), thick metals and highly accurate device models.

“As a leader in the development of specialized design and verification solutions for RF/AMS applications, we are very pleased that we could further extend our footprint for CMOS and SiGe BiCMOS design support,” said Juergen Hartung, foundry program manager of Agilent’s EEsof EDA organization. “With these kits, our customers can now enjoy the industry’s most comprehensive RF and microwave design platform, advanced RF design and analysis support, and industry proven design-for-manufacturing capabilities inside ADS.”