Pair Hopes To Beat ICs’ Heat

A partnership between Gradient Design Automation and Flomerics aims to co-develop tools that will enable chip designers to analyze and avoid temperature-induced electrical issues at the chip level while taking into account the effects of the package and ambient conditions.

The integrated software will be based on product platforms from both companies. Gradient's FireBolt is a full-chip thermal analysis tool that enables IC designers to access temperature anywhere within a chip and to evaluate how to improve the design with respect to timing, leakages, and reliability. Flomerics' Flopack is a package-level thermal analysis tool that automates model creation through wizard-driven, intelligent geometry macros (SmartParts). SmartParts produce thermal models in detailed or two-resistor and DELPHI (JEDEC-compliant) compact forms.

Together FireBolt and Flopack will form a complete silicon-to-environment thermal analysis solution that enables temperature-aware silicon design within the context of the surrounding environment that includes the package, printed circuit board (PCB) and chassis.