Process Design Kit (PDK) development for particular technology

[frasheed]

Hello,

I have recently started to develop PDK for our own technology, It is currently in research phase and we do not have much information about technology parameters. My task is to develop PDK. I know there is a FreePDK available that I could use as a base PDK. But, I am planning to start everything from scratch (because it is not CMOS technology). I have already written the basic technology file (*.tf) using DEFT and also the display.drf. Now I am moving towards pCell development. I have some experience with CAD tools and programming (C,perl, SKILL). My question is how hard would it be to make a develop whole PDK flow (Schematic, layout, simulation, DRC, LVS, extraction) for our own technology.

Secondly, I have heard about this Open-Acess PDK's but haven't worked with them. Should I focus open-access based PDK development ?. After developing whole PDK would it be difficult to convert it to open-access based PDK?. Any good guides related to Open-Access PDK development

 

[ThisIsNotSam]

can't help with the open access question. it seems to be a trend these days but not all PDKs adhere to it.

for schematic and layout you should make your PDK compatible with cadence. they own this share of the market and drive it the way they see fit. for simulation you can go with hspice or spectre. both are similar.

you should, at this point, think really hard about characterization. this affects DRC and LVS choices. there are only 2/3 tools that are used in industry, and you will have to most likely pick just one and support it all the way. calibre is the industry gold standard. I would start there, and see how easy it is to interface with calibre.

 

[frasheed]

Thanks!
I am confused at the characterization part. How it would effect the DRC LVS tool choice ? Could you please describe briefly!

 

[ThisIsNotSam]

Thanks!
I am confused at the characterization part. How it would effect the DRC LVS tool choice ? Could you please describe briefly!

You can only run characterization (extraction) on a database that passes DRC and LVS. Ideally you want the same tool or toolchain to do all 3.