Efficient hardware usage in the mask tapeout flow

Mathias Boman; Travis Brist; Yongdong Wang

doi:10.1117/12.815019

16 March 2009 Efficient hardware usage in the mask tapeout flow

Mathias Boman, Travis Brist, Yongdong Wang

Proceedings Volume 7274, Optical Microlithography XXII; 72742H (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.815019
Event: SPIE Advanced Lithography, 2009, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

With each new technology node there is an increase in the number of layers requiring Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) and verification. This increases the time spent on the mask tapeout flow which is already a lengthy portion of the production flow. New technology nodes not only have additional layers that require OPC but most critical layers also end up with more complex OPC requirements relative to previous generations slowing the tapeout flow even further. In an effort to maintain acceptable turnaround time (TAT) more hardware resources are added at each node and electronic design automation (EDA) suppliers are pushed to improve the software performance. The more we can parallelize operations within the tapeout flow the more efficient we can be with the use of the CPU resources and drive down the overall TAT. Traditional flows go through several cycles where data is broken up into templates, the templates are distributed to compute farms for processing, pieced back together, and sometimes written to disk before starting the next operation in the tapeout flow. During each of these cycles there are ramp up, ramp down, and input/output (I/O) times that are incurred affecting the efficient use of hardware resources. This paper will explore the advantages of pipelining the templates from one operation to the next in order to minimize these effects.

Citation Download Citation

Mathias Boman, Travis Brist, and Yongdong Wang "Efficient hardware usage in the mask tapeout flow", Proc. SPIE 7274, Optical Microlithography XXII, 72742H (16 March 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.815019

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available