Alliance formed for 0.35-micron tech

Electronic News, Jan 15, 1996

Fort Collins, Colo.--Symbios Logic, Hyundai Electronics Industries (HEI) and Compass Design Automation formed an alliance to better deliver deep-submicron architectures, specifically 0.35-micron, five-layer metal CMOS technology, to the marketplace.

Drawing on the strength of HEI's manufacturing process and DRAM technology, Symbios Logic's design kits and analog design capabilities and Compass' 0.35-micron, cell-based ASIC library, the alliance plans to combine the expertise of the three partners to deliver a deep-submicron technology surpassing the technology offered by any single vendor.

The 0.35-micron library is based on a 3.3-volt, optimized, three-, four-, or five-layer metal deep-submicron CMOS process with the capability of cost effectively embedding of up to two megabits of DRAM into an ASIC design. The library and design kit technology is being jointly developed in the U.S. by Symbios Logic and Compass. The process technology is being developed by Symbios Logic and HEI in Ichon, Korea, and manufacturing will take place in HEI's facilities in Korea and Symbios Logic's 200-millimeter (eight-inch) wafer fab facility in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"By combining the experience and technology of three of the electronic industry's leading companies, we plan to deliver a 0.35-micron technology superior in functions, design kits and manufacturing process," said Dan Ellsworth, VP of technology for Symbios Logic.

Symbios Logic brings experience in submicron process development to the alliance. In particular, this includes its metallization technology and intermetal dielectric planarization technology, both proven in Symbios Logic's 0.75-micron and 0.5-micron TLM technologies, currently in high-volume production.

In addition to its process expertise, Symbios Logic will provide the front-end design kits with a golden simulator. The design kit will include electronic design automation tools for floor planning and non-linear timing delay calculation and the company's analog cell technology to support mixed-signal design.

Symbios Logic expects early design activity in 2Q96 and general design kits available by the end of the year. These kits will be available through Symbios Logic and will be backwards compatible with previous technologies, providing customers an easy migration path from their current design to 0.35-micron technology.