DFM: don't care or competitive weapon?

ABSTRACT

The external specifications of an IC (functions, clock rate, power consumption, etc.) determine the competitiveness of a product. To be successful and profitable in the IC business, designers need to "out-design" their competitors. Usually, Design-For-Manufacturing (DFM) is discussed as a yield improvement strategy, but what is the value of DFM from a competitive point of view? Can DFM gives designers a competitive lever by helping them decide how far to push a design without creating a manufacturing disaster? Can DFM be used to optimize designs rather than just identify hot spots?

This panel will explore these and other questions such as:

• Signoff as a business decision---avoiding disaster while gaining competitive advantage

• Rules vs. modeling...style or substance?

• Do RDRs help or hinder competitive advantage?

• Can DFM help ensure a parametric yield envelop this is competitive?

• Design-to-Fab flow as a total quality management process

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  B. Hardware
  B.7 INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
      B.7.2 Design Aids

General Terms:
Design, Verification

Keywords:
DFM, DRC, RDR, design rules, design-for-manufacturing, manufacturing variability, physical verification, sign-off, yield