Magma Enhances Flip Chip Design Support, Integrates Talus Vortex and Blast Fusion with Rio Design Automation’s RioMagic

Magma® Design Automation Inc. (Nasdaq: LAVA), a provider of semiconductor design software, today announced the availability of enhanced flip chip design support through the integration of the Talus™ Vortex and Blast Fusion® physical design systems with Rio Design Automation’s RioMagic, the electronics industry’s first package-aware chip design software. With the enhanced capabilities, Magma provides tight links between IC implementation and package design and comprehensive redistribution layer (RDL) routing and bump placement capabilities, allowing designers to make packaging and performance tradeoffs and decisions earlier in the design process to ensure better quality of results (QoR), faster turnaround time and optimal packaging.

“By streamlining the interface between our tools, Magma and Rio enable mutual customers to concurrently address timing, area, power, signal integrity, yield and packaging requirements throughout the design flow,” said Kam Kittrell, general manager of Magma’s Design Implementation Business Unit. “This integrated approach will allow them to deliver better QoR and faster time to market.”

“Flip chip design teams are the big winners as a result of RioMagic’s integration with Magma’s Talus and Blast Fusion physical design systems,” said Kaushik Sheth, Rio Design Automation’s chief executive officer. “As a result, they will have a high degree of confidence that their chip will meet the timing, area, power, signal integrity and yield budget and fit into the package.”

RDL routing is necessary for designs that use flip chip interconnect packages – which utilize solder bumps on the chip pads instead of wire bonds – as well as for systems in package (SiPs). The RDL is an extra interconnect layer of wiring used to convert designs from perimeter to area array interconnect structures. Generally these redistribution layers not only route signals but also provide distributed power and ground. The Rio flow automatically routes the RDL on the die, which connects I/Os to bumps, and does the escape routing, which determines how routes "escape" into the package and connect bumps to balls. Rules-driven I/O sequencing and prototyping capabilities are also provided. The RDL routing and bump assignment information is easily imported into the Magma environment through a Tcl interface and used to complete the implementation.

RioMagic and RIO RDL router are resold and supported by Magma through an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreement. This flow is available now through Magma.

About Rio Design Automation

Rio Design Automation is an electronic design automation (EDA) company bridging the gap between the design of high-performance integrated circuits (ICs) and packages, and a chip’s integration with the rest of the electronic system. Its revolutionary approach offers chip designers package-aware software that enables I/O optimization tradeoffs to take place in the context of the package and the printed circuit board (PCB). Website: http://www.rio-da.com.

About Magma
Magma’s software for integrated circuit (IC) design is recognized as embodying the best in semiconductor technology. The world’s top chip companies use Magma’s EDA software to design and verify complex, high-performance ICs for communications, computing, consumer electronics and networking applications, while at the same time reducing design time and costs. Magma provides software for IC implementation, analysis, physical verification, characterization and programmable logic design, and the company’s integrated RTL-to-GDSII design flow offers “The Fastest Path from RTL to Silicon”™. Magma is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with offices around the world. Magma’s stock trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LAVA. Visit Magma Design Automation on the Web at www.magma-da.com.