Beyond the netlist: Visualizing the invisible enemies of IC performance

As IC design pushes to sub-7 nm nodes like FinFET and GAAFET, parasitic effects (resistance, capacitance, inductance) have become critical threats to performance and reliability, leading to significant silicon failures and signal delays. This paper introduces advanced visualization and analysis techniques that go "beyond the netlist" to expose these invisible enemies. Leveraging Siemens Calibre extraction tools, these methodologies—including heat maps, layer-based views and component-level insights—enable precise identification and resolution of complex parasitic issues. The result is a dramatic improvement in design efficiency, with a 40-50% reduction in debugging time, 35% improved first-pass silicon success, and 25% enhanced critical path timing performance. Discover how these essential approaches ensure design quality, accelerate innovation, and optimize IC performance in today's advanced semiconductor nodes.

What you’ll learn:

• The critical impact of parasitic effects (resistance, capacitance, inductance) on sub-7 nm IC performance and reliability, and why traditional netlist analysis is insufficient.
• Advanced visualization and analysis techniques—such as heat maps, layer-based views, and component-level insights—that effectively identify and debug complex parasitic issues.
• How structured parasitic analysis workflows and integrated simulation environments can significantly reduce debugging time, improve first-pass silicon success, and enhance critical path timing performance.

Who should read this:

• IC Design Engineers (especially those working on advanced nodes)
• Physical Verification Engineers
• CAD Engineers
• Layout Engineers
• Performance and Reliability Engineers
• Managers overseeing advanced IC development