Wave Issue 2000 1/3/00 Article 5-01

***Avant!'s Star-RCXT Selected by NVIDIA to Ensure Timing
Convergence For Highest Performance Designs
(December 13)

According to DACafe, Avant! announced that NVIDIA has selected
Avant!'s Star-RCXT to extract and analyze NVIDIA's high-
performance graphics processor unit (GPU) designs. Star-RCXT,
with an extraction core engine, integrated with Milkyway-based
Apollo-II place and route system, enables the production of
smaller and faster chips, with quicker design cycle times. XT is
an option to the existing Star-RC product.

Star-RCXT's ScanBand processing engine allows it to extract
multi-million-gate designs in a matter of hours, with accuracy
within 5 percent or 5 femtofarads of reference field solvers such
as Raphael. The high-speed and high-accuracy combination of Star-
RCXT makes it the extraction tool of choice for both place and
route designers and physical verification engineers, providing
the link between design and final verification. The use of
consistent extraction algorithms during design and final
verification reduces timing mismatches and allows faster timing
convergence.

Star-RCXT reads directly from Milkyway, LEF/DEF or GDSII
databases and generates a parasitic netlist that can be used
directly by delay calculators or timing analyzers. Star-RCXT
allows fast incremental extraction of nets changed by engineering
change orders. Star-RCXT can generate parasitics for shorted and
opened nets and for incomplete blocks. Star-RCXT handles a range
of design technologies, including copper interconnect, local
interconnect, low-k dielectric and silicon on insulator (SOI).
Extraction models for Star-RCXT are available for worldwide
foundries, including TSMC, UMC, Chartered Semiconductor and WSMC.

Star-RCXT is available for Sun Solaris and HP-UX workstations. It
integrates through standard interfaces, including Milkyway,
GDSII, LEF/DEF, DSPF, SPEF and Star-Hspice formats.