Services

We offer services in the areas of technology development, business development, staff development, and production support, which we can tailor to your specific needs. Some of our services are listed below:

Technology Development

Silicon technology can be a key differentiator in the analog market.  Our extensive experience can help you:

 

  • Generate technology roadmaps
  • Develop competitor technology assessments
  • Define process technologies
  • Define technology design rules
  • Develop component sets and electrical specifications
  • Define component test structures and characterization methods
  • Guide the design enablement team on PDK, SPICE modeling, and ESD considerations for analog

Staff Development

Analog is more about components and details and less about tools and feature sizes, in direct contrast to the digital world.  This requires a change in the DNA and the thought processes of the engineering team, which is a critical element of success.  We can help you:

 

  • Create a technology development methodology
  • Mentor in-house engineers on the analog mindset
  • Teach analog "care-abouts" and “lessons learned”
  • Cross-train technologists and design enablement personnel so they can relate to one another
  • Help recruit, evaluate, and train engineering talent

Business Development

Analog is a very fractured market, which can be a good thing since it allows those that are agile and nimble to find their niches and be successful.  This relates to silicon technology as well as IC products.  We can provide sound advice, from years of experience, in a variety of ways.

  • Develop foundry business models
  • Develop analog target markets
  • Develop technology marketing presentations

Production Support

Analog has many more challenges than digital when it comes to yield.  In addition to normal defect-related yield loss, analog has parametric yield loss due to the numerous interactions between components, as well as more subtle effects such as mismatch. These effects can manifest themselves both in the initial ramp, as well as when transferring a technology to a new fab.  We have worked through many of these issues and can provide help in a number of areas.

  • Troubleshoot product- and process-yield issues
  • Advise on wafer fab equipment set requirements for analog process technologies
  • Develop defect density test chip strategies and characterization methodologies
  • Develop process development methodologies that include defect-related characterization and concurrent process optimization