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Story posted at 11:30 a.m. EDT/8:30 a.m. PDT, 8/26/98
LSI Logic uses physical synthesis
tools to speed design of cell layouts
MILPITAS, Calif. -- LSI Logic Corp. here said today it has signed a three-year license agreement
with Cadabra Design Technology Inc. for Cadabra's Classic-SC cell layout software. LSI is using
Cadabra's standard cell physical synthesis tool to automatically create multiple standard cell
libraries.
"Using 30 copies of Classic-SC, we expect to be able to spin our entire cell library of more than
1,500 cells in 48 hours on a farm of workstations," said Thomas Daniel, vice president of ASIC
technology at LSI Logic. "The market is changing. We need the ability to create more cells--and
application-specific variations of the cells--for different market segments. Classic-SC enables us to
perform extensive experimentation and application targeting."
Daniel said LSI Logic ran several benchmarks and found that the Cadabra tools offered a higher
degree of automation. Classic is a suite of physical synthesis tools that automate the transistor-level
layout of integrated circuits and thus greatly speed the production of quality layouts.
"LSI invented the ASIC market, and now they are reinventing it by elevating library development
to the next level," said Martin Lefebvre, president and CEO of Cadabra, Santa Clara, Calif. "As a
system-on-chip leader, LSI sees the value in rapidly resynthesizing the layout of the entire cell
library, using Classic-SC to explore architectural tradeoffs and meet the needs of diverse end
markets."
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