Partners and Programs

Foundry Program

Our MEMS software provides a great platform for MEMS design kits. We have worked with MEMS foundries to co-develop design kits and training materials that can provide more efficient access to their MEMS technology offerings.

The MEMS ecosystem is evolving. Standardized process modules and process design kits (PDKs) are emerging to further streamline the MEMS development approach. We expect the MEMS industry to finally break the one product, one process model. This will result in a more pronounced shift to a fabless model that has proven so successful in the IC industry, and is beginning to emerge in MEMS. For these reasons Coventor has worked closely with the leading MEMS foundries to build and deliver comprehensive process design kits and reference design flows.

Our Vision

MEMS design and development knowledge is traditionally captured in the form of internal documentation, design handbooks and the experience of MEMS engineers working in design and process development. Coventor has captured existing manufacturing know-how, such as process dependent geometries, material data, design rules, and other design and process data, into Coventor’s design platforms.  Our advanced design platform accelerates MEMS product development, by enabling MEMS Designers to more easily exploit existing technology and transfer their know-how to other development groups.

Coventor’s goal is to reduce MEMS manufacturing complexity using ready-to-use design tools that avoid multiple prototyping cycles, and shorten the overall MEMS development cycle.

PDK Content

A library of PDKs is a fundamental part of our complete, fully integrated and process-centric MEMS design flow. PDKs are available for a large number of MEMS processes for CoventorMP and SEMulator3D.

MEMS PDKs contain MEMS technology and design information, and increase the chance for first-pass successful silicon. Based upon proven technologies from our foundry partners, we have developed MEMS component libraries that contain multi-physics compact models and libraries that enable the reuse of characterized structures across multiple MEMS designs.  Coventor’s Process Design Kits contain material and process information such as layer thickness, Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and stress gradient that have been well defined within the tolerances of specific manufacturing processes. The kits automatically set these constraints for the designer, allowing other design parameters to be varied during design evaluation and only allowing designs that are compatible with a real manufacturing process.

Our parameterized and interactive MEMS component library, combined with our MEMS PDK interface, facilitates the adaptation to foundry specific processes, provides designers with the ability to quickly explore a broad design space, and allows for designs to be optimized for performance and manufacturing.

Coventor and its foundry partners have developed and created verified MEMS PDKs to jump start the MEMS design process.  Benefits of this methodology include an acceleration of the MEMS design process and a reduction in silicon learning cycles during product development.