Integrating and enhancing tools for ASIC design using MOSIS fabrication

D. F. Newport, D. W. Bouldin, C. L. Britton, G. T. Alley, W. L. Bryan, M. S. Emery, M. N. Ericson, H. R. Brashear

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), which have traditionally been cost-effective only for high volume applications, can now be designed using high quality, inexpensive tools and can be fabricated in small quantities using MOSIS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Implementation Service). Numerous computer-aided design tools developed under government sponsorship are available to organizations within the United States for just a media handling fee (typically about $200 each). The tool integration and enhancement activities described in this paper have resulted in a proven set of high quality aids that permit the design of custom and semicustom analog and digital ASICs. Examples of projects implemented using this tool set are given along with the support activities that are being conducted to transfer this technology to other federal agencies and universities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)370-373
Number of pages4
JournalIEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science
Volume37
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1990

Funding

The first requirement to support development of ASICs using standard cells was the availability of a standard cell library that can be fabricated by MOSIS, the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Implementation Service operated by the University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute [2]. The use of MOSIS permits the costs of mask and wafer fabrication to be shared among many users so that prototypes of a design can be obtained for as little as $450 for four packaged chips. Furthermore, the National Science Foundation [2] provides support to universities for educational projects. A public domain library that can be fabricated by MOSIS was selected. It is a scalable set of CMOS cells developed by the Institute for Technology Development at Mississippi State University for fabricating designs at 3-, 2-, 1.6-, and 1.2-micron feature sizes [31. *Research sponsored in part by the U.S. Navy RADIAC Development Program under DOE Interagency Agreement No. 0531-0531-A1 and in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency der DOE Interagency Agreement No. 1868-B135-A1. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is operated by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. for the U. S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-840R21400.

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