Addressing the stringent performance and power demands of 5G/6G SoCs, Synopsys, Ansys and Keysight Technologies announced the availability of their new millimeter wave (mmWave) radio frequency (RF) design flow for TSMC's 16nm FinFET Compact (16FFC) technology.
Mutual customers can take advantage of performance, power, cost and productivity benefits using the open, front-to-back design flow, which consists of modern, industry-leading tools for RFIC designs.
Why an Open, Modern Design Flow Is Needed for 5G/6G SoCs
Next-generation wireless communications systems must meet a range of requirements, including higher bandwidth, lower latency, better coverage and support for the proliferation of connected devices. High mmWave frequencies, the drive towards miniaturization and increasing design complexity are all creating new challenges for RFIC designers. At the same time, the market's older generation mmWave design solutions were not developed to address the needs of today's 5G/6G SoC designs and mmWave subsystem designs.
The new mmWave design reference flow from Synopsys, Ansys and Keysight was built for today's wireless communications requirements using TSMC's 16FFC technology. The flow takes full advantage of the process' ability to maximize die cost scaling by simultaneously incorporating optical shrink and process simplification. Key components of the flow include the Synopsys Custom Design Family, featuring the Synopsys PrimeSim continuum of circuit simulation solutions; multiphysics signoff analysis provided by Ansys Totem Power Integrity and Reliability Signoff, Ansys RaptorX Electromagnetic Modeling Family, Ansys Exalto Electromagnetic Modeling, and Ansys VeloceRF RF Device Synthesis; and Keysight Pathwave RFPro and RFIC Design (GoldenGate) solutions for electromagnetic analysis and circuit simulation.
Dan Kochpatcharin, Head of Design Infrastructure Management Division at TSMC
Semiconductor industry megatrends for wireless communication are increasing RF and mmWave content in HPC, smartphone, automotive, and IoT applications. Such complex designs require extensive ecosystem collaboration to help designers achieve silicon success with well-established solutions. The mmWave design reference flow that Synopsys, Ansys and Keysight have developed for TSMC's 16FFC process benefits from its superior performance and power consumption advantage for a tightly integrated solution that enhances productivity and quality-of-results for 5G/6G SoCs.
Aveek Sarkar, VP of engineering for the Custom Design and Manufacturing Group at Synopsys
Our modern, open custom design platform provides high-caliber RF and mmWave end-to-end solutions for the design of 5G/6G wireless communication systems, based on our strong partnerships with Ansys and Keysight, and in support of TSMC's Open Innovation Platform® (OIP). Our mutual customers can use TSMC's 16nm, high-volume RF technology to streamline their circuit designs using the Synopsys Custom Design Family, featuring the RFIC SPICE simulator and the most productive layout capabilities, while leveraging Ansys' multi-physics expertise and Keysight's decades of experience pioneering RF design.
