Tech Demos Served With Music and Food: An Overview of Silicon Players That Matter

Magma Design Automation helps chip companies create high-performance integrated circuits (ICs) for a wide range of applications. At the forum, they presented Talus-based RTL-to-GDSII reference flows for the Common Platform 28nm process that features Talus Power Pro for low-power and Hydra for hierarchical design. They also provided information on timing analysis, circuit simulation, and analog design.

>Magma Fastest Path to Silicon scheme

Kilopass Technology designs, develops, and delivers innovative, embedded non-volatile memory (NVM) silicon intellectual property for SOC applications. An OTP, extra-permanent XPM memory family goes up to 1Mb and is manufactured in standard logic CMOS processes from 180nm to 40nm.

Kilopass introduced Gusto, the industry's first 4Mb embedded non-volatile memory, which enables on-chip code storage in standard CMOS logic. The product has been named one of this year's DesignVision Award Finalists. The Awards honor the achievements of innovative semiconductor companies, prominent visionaries and successful design tools in the industry.

Across the aisle was Apache which provides power, noise, and reliability solutions for chip-package-system convergence from RTL power analysis and reduction, to early state prototyping and optimization through chip and package sign off. For advanced process nodes, Apache delivers reliability solutions including ESD/EM verification.

Helic was another company involved in Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software tools and IP geared towards higher levels of miniaturization for semiconductor-based wireless and broadband systems. They provide rapid electromagnetic modeling and high frequency synthesis and extraction/verification technologies. Sushi was among the finger foods we enjoyed while perusing the showroom. Coincidentally, we came to Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) out of Tokyo Japan still licking rice off our fingers. 

The company was founded in 1876 printing newspapers aimed at spreading Buddhist and Shinto teachings. In 1946, they began printing new Bank of Japan notes. In 1965, they developed a gravure technique for printing on cloth. Over the centuries, DNP has stayed ahead of the technology curve. In 1985, they developed read-only optical cards with large memory capacities. In 1999, came ultra-high density multi-layered substrates for use in BGA/MCM semiconductor packages. 2005 saw the establishment of their Nano Science Research Center. In the Common Platform exhibit hall, they were showing off their expertise in photomask technology through R&D and advanced manufacturing capacity.

Aragio Solutions in Plano, Texas is an IP provider of I/O library solutions and ESD protection solutions for I/O libraries used on numerous CMOS processes. They have developed ESD protection and high latch-up immunity IP for system interface circuits directed at standard interfaces such as USB 2.0, DDR2/DDR3, mDDR/LPDDR2, and LVDS. Aragio also provides analog and high bandwidth connectivity circuitry which is available for 90nm through 0.25 micron processes. They utilize EDA tools from Synopsys and Mentor Graphics.