BACKGROUND
VC-funded start-up with technology centred around algorithms in digital design to drive power efficient on-chip speaker drivers
Having proved the concept using an FPGA and off-the-shelf components, the ultimate goal was a single ASIC combining the patented digital design and speaker drivers
Requirements & Challenges
Requirements & Challenges- The customer initially actually outsourced the analog design and full chip layout to a design services provider
- Four samples from the foundry had significant yield issues, due to ESD failures, and functional problems
- IC Mask Design identified that the root cause of the issues was interference between the analog and digital portions of the chip
- IC Mask Design was asked to re-layout the chip to fix these issues
- Only layout changes (with very limited design changes) we’re allowed due to customer’s budget constraint
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Outcome
Outcome- Using IC Mask Design’s expertise in ESD Layout and mixed signal design, and following the findings from its exploratory analysis, It completely re-laid out the whole chip (only small modifications were made to the digital portion)
- New layout improved ESD robustness and eliminated the crosstalk between analog and digital domains, which was the root cause of the silicon failures
- Produced working silicon samples for the customer’s proof of concept, which ultimately triggered additional VC funding and further design development