Synopsys, Ansys and Keysight Accelerate 5G/6G SoC Designs with New mmWave Reference Flow for TSMC Process Technology

Addressing the stringent performance and power demands of 5G/6G SoCs, Synopsys, Inc., Ansys, and KEYSIGHT Technologies, Inc. announced the availability of their new millimeter wave (mmWave) radio frequency (RF) design flow for TSMC's 16nm FinFET Compact (16FFC) technology. Mutual customers can take advantage of the performance, power, cost, and productivity benefits using the open, front-to-back design flow, which consists of modern, industry-leading tools for RFIC designs.

"Semiconductor industry megatrends for wireless communication are increasing RF and mmWave content in HPC, smartphone, automotive, and IoT applications," said Dan Kochpatcharin, Head of the Design Infrastructure Management Division at TSMC. "Such complex designs require extensive ecosystem collaboration to help designers achieve silicon success with well-established solutions. The mmWave design reference flow that Synopsys, Ansys, and Keysight have developed for TSMC's 16FFC process benefits from its superior performance and power consumption advantage for a tightly integrated solution that enhances productivity and quality-of-results for 5G/6G SoCs."

Why an Open, Modern Design Flow Is Needed for 5G/6G SoCs

Next-generation wireless communications systems must meet a range of requirements, including higher bandwidth, lower latency, better coverage, and support for the proliferation of connected devices. High mmWave frequencies, the drive towards miniaturization, and increasing design complexity are all creating new challenges for RFIC designers. At the same time, the market's older generation mmWave design solutions were not developed to address the needs of today's 5G/6G SoC designs and mmWave subsystem designs.

The new mmWave design reference flow from Synopsys, Ansys, and Keysight was built for today's wireless communications requirements using TSMC's 16FFC technology. The flow takes full advantage of the process' ability to maximize die cost scaling by simultaneously incorporating optical shrink and process simplification. Key components of the flow include the Synopsys Custom Design Family, featuring the Synopsys PrimeSim™ continuum of circuit simulation solutions; multiphysics signoff analysis provided by Ansys Totem™ Power Integrity and Reliability Signoff, Ansys RaptorX™ Electromagnetic Modeling Family, Ansys Exalto™ Electromagnetic Modeling, and Ansys VeloceRF™ RF Device Synthesis; and Keysight PathWave RFPro and RFIC Design (GoldenGate) solutions for electromagnetic analysis and circuit simulation.

Industry Leaders Advance 5G/6G SoC Design

"Our modern, open custom design platform provides high-caliber RF and mmWave end-to-end solutions for the design of 5G/6G wireless communication systems, based on our strong partnerships with Ansys and Keysight, and in support of TSMC's Open Innovation Platform^® (OIP)," said Aveek Sarkar, vice president of engineering for the Custom Design and Manufacturing Group at Synopsys. "Our mutual customers can use TSMC's 16nm, high-volume RF technology to streamline their circuit designs using the Synopsys Custom Design Family, featuring the RFIC SPICE simulator and the most productive layout capabilities, while leveraging Ansys' multi-physics expertise and Keysight's decades of experience pioneering RF design."

"Today's high-speed designs need to address an increasing range of multi-physics effects to optimize power, area, reliability, and performance," said John Lee, vice president and general manager of the electronics, semiconductor, and optics business unit at Ansys. "Ansys is a strong supporter of open and extensible design platforms that enable our customers to use Ansys' signoff technology with all major best-in-class solutions. The collaborative mmWave design reference flow using TSMC's 16FFC technology is a successful example that streamlines access to advanced silicon design and manufacturing for 5G and wireless products by bringing together Synopsys' Custom Design Family with Keysight's premier RF design capabilities and Ansys' multiphysics signoff solutions for power integrity and electromagnetic analysis."

"The mmWave market forecast predicts strong growth over the next several years as 5G goes mainstream and we move into the early stages of 6G development," said Niels Faché, vice president and general manager of PathWave Software Solutions at Keysight. "Our PathWave RFPro electromagnetic and GoldenGate circuit simulation tools that have been enhanced to support TSMC process design kit operating directly in Synopsys' Custom Compiler environment provide our mutual customers a complete, fully integrated reference flow. Customers using our tools in this flow can confidently push the boundaries of mmWave design, knowing that actual on-wafer device measurements have confirmed the accuracy of simulation results for the important Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) figure of merit on the 28GHz Power Amplifier (PA)."