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Entropic Communications Tapes Out Home Networking Device Using New Zroute Technology in Synopsys IC CompilerSeptember 16, 2008 -- Synopsys, Inc. today announced that Entropic Communications, Inc. a provider of silicon solutions to enable connected home entertainment, has successfully taped out its latest home networking chip using Zroute, Synopsys' new routing technology in IC Compiler. Zroute's unique architecture with state-of-the-art routing algorithms and native multi-threading support enabled Entropic to improve routing runtimes while still delivering high quality of results in timing, area and manufacturability. Compared to traditional routers, Zroute delivered higher quality of results, a zero-DRC (design rule check) layout with fewer wires and total vias, improved redundant via rate for better manufacturability and a significantly smaller die size. "Entropic is always looking to take advantage of the latest advances in design tools," said Bill Lind, Director of Engineering at Entropic. "As a Zroute early adopter, we saw significant improvements in runtime and manufacturability, particularly in via optimization. Based on these results, we decided to deploy Zroute for the tapeout of our latest home networking chip. Zroute was a key factor in further reducing the die size while still meeting timing and manufacturability goals." According to Synopsys, Zroute was architected from the ground up to take advantage of best-in-class routing technologies and meet the demands of companies that are developing complex, high-performance chips. Utilizing concurrent design-for-manufacturability (DFM) optimization techniques, including soft rules, via redundancy, and wire spreading and widening, Zroute makes an efficient trade-off between manufacturability and the traditional design goals of timing, area, power and signal integrity. In addition, Zroute's native multi-threading support takes advantage of the latest multi-core microprocessor architectures to deliver near-linear scalability of runtimes as the number of threads increases. AvailabilityZroute was announced in May 2008 and is targeted for general production availability as a standard feature in the September 2008 release of IC Compiler. | |
Reprinted from SOCcentral.com, your first stop for ASIC, FPGA, EDA, and IP news and design information. | |