Europractice IC service: access to cad tools and manufacturing technologies for IC and soc design.

Objective

A world renowned service, extended from existing self-funded schemes, will be offered to European universities and research institutes. Through the project, the basic self-funded CAD service will be extended with leading edge CAD tools and design flows for IC, MCM and microsystem design. Through the project, the basic self-funded MPW and small volume service will be extended to easy access for all European universities and research institutes for learning and research including full technical support, distribution of cell libraries and design kits, design consultancy and full checking on submitted designs. The basic self-funded MPW service, covering mature technologies, will be extended with the offer and installation of MPW runs in advanced technologies.

DESCRIPTION OF WORK
The whole EUROPRACTICE IC service is run as a broker function whereby EUROPRACTICE acts as the interface between on one side hundreds of customers (academics, research laboratories and companies) and on the other side CAD vendors, foundries, library vendors, assembly and test houses. Concerning the access to CAD tools for learning, EUROPRACTICE negotiates low cost conditions to distribute CAD licenses for IC, subsystem and microsystem design to European universities and research laboratories for educational and non-commercial projects. Concerning access to IC technologies for European companies and academia, EUROPRACTICE negotiates the best conditions with selected foundries to offer low cost prototyping through the organisation of MPW runs. Foundry supplied design kits for the EUROPRACTICE IC technologies will be checked, modified to work with the supported versions of the tools then consolidated onto CD-ROMs for secure low-cost distribution. Whereas the basic MPW service is run on a self-funded basis (from clean layout to packaged prototypes) for industrial companies, the project aims to enhance the basic self-funded MPW service in order to offer a fully supported and affordable access to IC technologies for European academia and research labs both for education and research. A marketing and promotion action is intended to widen the customer base.

Programme(s)

• FP5-IST - Programme for research, technological development and demonstration on a "User-friendly information society, 1998-2002"

Topic(s)

• IST-2002-4.8.1 - Microelectronics design and IP re-use

Call for proposal

Data not available

Funding Scheme

ACM - Preparatory, accompanying and support measures

Coordinator

INTERUNIVERSITAIR MICRO-ELECTRONICA CENTRUM VZW

Address

Kapeldreef 75
3001 Leuven
Belgium

Participants (2)

COUNCIL FOR THE CENTRAL LABORATORY OF THE RESEARCH COUNCILS

United Kingdom

Address

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
OX11 0QX Chilton, Didcot

FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V.

Germany

Address

Hansastrasse 27c
80686 Muenchen