Stop waiting for GDSII layouts to finish loading—switch to the OASIS file format

File size and layout loading time have become increasingly important concerns as process technology advances and designs become larger and more complex. The OASIS file format has been around for more than 15 years, is accepted by every major foundry, and is supported by all commercial EDA tools. Switching to the OASIS file format and utilizing features such as CBLOCK and strict mode can provide designers with dramatically smaller file sizes and faster loading times, with no loss of data integrity.

Converting GDSII IC design layout files to OASIS file format delivers file size and load time reductions

As more content goes into a IC design, the file size also increases, which creates a difficult challenge: dealing with full-chip GDSII design layout files that are hundreds of gigabytes, or even terabytes, in size. EDA tools struggle with these large GDSII design files, resulting in longer loading times that can frustrate designers and impact aggressive tape-out schedules throughout the design process: when creating or modifying a layout, when checking timing, when running simulations, when running physical verification, or even just viewing a layout.

The OASIS file format has been available for more than 15 years, and is accepted by every major foundry. It is also supported by all commercial EDA tools. Switching to the OASIS format using options such as CBLOCK compression and strict mode can provide designers with dramatically smaller file sizes and faster loading times, with no loss of data integrity. In a series of measured testcases, the recommended OASIS format conversion consistently delivered smaller file sizes and faster load times.