Press Coverage

By Michael Fury,  Director and senior technology analyst, Techcet Group
For Solid State Technology

The 10^th Annual MEMS Technology Symposium sponsored by MEPTEC (MicroElectronics Packaging and Test Engineering Council) was held May 23 at the San Jose Holiday Inn. This year’s theme was “Sensors: A Foundation for Accelerated MEMS Market Growth to $1 Trillion.” Registered attendance was ~230.

The conference opened with a keynote address by Prof. Kristofer Pister, UC Berkeley speaking on sensory swarms. Inexpensive, wireless sensor networks have moved out of the lab and are being implemented in myriad applications. A refinery in Richmond, CA has methane gas sensors at every valve to monitor emissions. Parking spaces in San Francisco and Hollywood are tagged with car sensors to provide dynamic signage directing drivers to open spaces; this system also communicates with a smart phone app (“Parker”) to take you to specific open spaces. Rail cars have temperature and vibration sensors on every truck for predictive and preventive maintenance. Wireless sensors in the field are projected to top 1.1 billion units by 2015, up from 168 million units in 2010.

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By Stephen Breit, Coventor, Inc.
EE Catalog

As MEMS component suppliers compete to offer more functionality in their components, companies will be driven to adopt a MEMS design-automation platform that can most efficiently integrate multiple technologies.

MEMS integration means different things to different audiences. To pioneers in the MEMS industry, integration may imply a monolithic fabrication process, in which the MEMS and accompanying CMOS electronics are fabricated on the same die. MEMS design automation software suppliers have a broader view of integration, one the includes combining MEMS with CMOS electronics, whether in a monolithic process, as separate die in the same package, or even in separate packages. And integration encompasses packaging effects on the MEMS as well. The electronics are analog/mixed-signal (A/MS) circuits that provide electrical input to the MEMS and perform A/D conversion on its output. Such circuits are designed and simulated at a high level of abstraction with tools such as MATLAB and Simulink, and at lower levels of abstraction with EDA software such as the Cadence Virtuoso suite. MEMS designers, therefore, must deliver models of their designs that are compatible with the tools of choice for electronics design. The integration challenge is a major focus throughout the MEMS ecosystem.

By Bryon Moyer
EE Journal

Back when discussion CMOS-compatible MEMS, I briefly mentioned a couple tools from Coventor that are used in MEMS design. But one of them actually has use for any semiconductor process. You might think it’s another TCAD tool, but actually, it isn’t. read more…

Electronic Components, Nick Flaherty

Design tool developer Coventor is aiming at the process and integration challenges of 28nm and beyond with the latest version of its 3D software.

Already used widely for designing micromachined (MEMS) systems and memory structures, the technology is increasingly important for building 3D transistor structures at leading edge geometries.
SEMulator3D 2012 adds 64bit support and increased capacity, speed and automation advancements to accelerate development of leading-edge process technology nodes.
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By Colin Johnson
Electronic Engineering Times

Reaching the advanced semiconductor process nodes at 22-nanometer and beyond requires accurate three-dimensional (3-D) models of the proposed physical structures to obviate the need for repeated trial-and-error design cycles. In fact, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors has designated modeling 3D physical structures as a “grand challenge” at advanced processing nodes.

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Solid State Technology
Coventor, Inc., micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) and semiconductor device fabrication software provider, launched the latest release of its SEMulator3D software, SEMulator3D 2012. It features improved predictive process modeling tools with increased capacity, speed, and automation for leading-edge process technology nodes. read more…