September 29, 2005 -- A search for what exactly constitutes "DFM" turns up some interesting results. Having looked high and low for the spirit if not the letter of the law of true design for manufacturing, I can only conclude that it's a developing area. Rule-driven DFM must, over time, be shunted aside in favor of a model-based paradigm. To engineers facing a 90-nm tapeout, I can only advise caution in the face of marketing pitches. Look hard for true DFM. It's out there, at least in nascent form.
By David Maliniak, Electronic Design Technical Editor.
This brief introduction has been excerpted from the original copyrighted article.
