SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Solido Design Automation, a leading developer of software for reducing variation risk in nanometer designs at the transistor level, has opened up its Variation Designer platform for integration into third party simulators and design environments. Variation Designer, introduced to the market in January 2009, is the first truly scalable and extensible solution specifically developed to address variation challenges at the transistor level.

Along with Solido’s PVT (process, voltage, temperature) Corner, Statistical and Proximity applications packages, Variation Designer can be deployed for transistor level design to account for global, local, environmental and proximity related variation effects. Using these solutions, customers are able to achieve better designs with reduced variation risk in less time. Customers have been able to achieve designs with 20-100% better area, power, performance, yield and a reduction in variation design time of over 50%.

Variation Designer is used across the transistor level design cycle – from PVT corner simulations to statistical analysis – to determine mismatch effects or yield. The platform is also useful for post-layout verification and, if required, for silicon debug. Intuitive to learn and easy to use, this interactive tool puts the designer in control. Variation Designer provides a systematic and consistent variation design flow for various transistor level design types (analog/RF, IO, memory or standard cell digital) that can be integrated with various simulator and design environments, providing a consistent interface to designers irrespective of their specific tool environments.

Variation Designer has been deployed for various flows such as Cadence® Virtuoso® Analog Design Environment (ADE) with Spectre Circuit Simulator, Virtuoso ADE with Synopsys’ HSPICE® Circuit Simulator, and HSPICE netlist. Designers use a wide array of flows comprised of different simulators and environments that depend on design type or simulation requirements. Having seen a strong desire by customers to integrate with their specific tool preferences, Solido has opened up their platform for integration by third-party simulator and design environment vendors.

“As we have deployed Variation Designer at customer sites we have observed that designers greatly appreciate a consistent interface for their transistor level designs,” said Amit Gupta, president and CEO of Solido Design Automation. “Integration with Variation Designer will enable our partners to provide a consistent interface to help their customers reduce variation design risk and also to benefit as additional applications are launched to solve new and existing variation problems.”

About Solido Design Automation

Solido Design Automation, Inc. (Solido) provides software for reducing variation risk in nanometer designs at the transistor level. Solido’s Variation Designer and application packages are used by analog/RF, IO, memory and standard cell digital designers to achieve better designs with reduced variation risk in less time. The privately held company is venture capital funded and has offices in the U.S.A., Canada, Japan and Europe. For further information, visit www.solidodesign.com or call 306-382-4100.

MILPITAS, CA – January 19, 2010 – Linear Technology Corporation introduces the LTC2757, the industry’s first 18-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) to offer precision DC specifications of ±1LSB INL (max) and ±1LSB DNL (max). The LTC2757 is 18-bit accurate over a ±10V output range, offering a full-scale settling time of 2.1µs and low 1.4nV•s glitch impulse. Fast settling and low glitch reduce harmonic distortion, making it possible to produce higher frequency, lower noise output waveforms. This unique combination of DC and AC accuracy will enable the design of higher performance instrumentation, automated test equipment, data acquisition systems, and medical devices.

Six unique output voltage ranges (0V to 5V, 0V to 10V, ±10V, ±5V, ±2.5V, and -2.5V to +7.5V) can be selected using software or pin-strapping, eliminating the need to add precision gain stages and allowing customers to improve production logistics and adjust inventory mix on the fly.

The current-mode output enables users to choose their own external amplifier to optimize speed, accuracy, noise, power, or other parameters, and allows the voltage output to swing beyond the DAC supply rails. Alternative 18-bit DACs with internal amplifiers cannot swing beyond 0V to 5V and limit the output near the supply rails.

The LTC2757 uses a bidirectional parallel input/output interface that allows readback of any internal register, as well as the DAC output span setting. Voltage controlled offset and gain adjustment pins enable users to null system offset, gain error, or reference errors.
The LTC2757 DAC is available today in a 7mm x 7mm 48-pin LQFP package. Pricing begins at $25.50 each in 1,000-piece quantities. For more information, visit www.linear.com.

Summary of Features: LTC2757

• 18-bit ±1LSB INL, ±1LSB DNL Over Temperature
• Guaranteed Linearity for Six Software Programmable
• Output Ranges:
  • Unipolar 0V to +5V, 0V to +10V
  • Bipolar ±10V, ±5V, ±2.5V, -2.5 to +7.5V
• Guaranteed Monotonic Over Temperature
• Low 1µA(max) Supply Current
• Low 1.4nV•s Glitch Impulse
• 18-bit Settling Time: 2.1µs
• 2.7V to 5.5V Single Supply Operation
• Voltage Controlled Offset & Gain Trims
• Parallel Interface with Readback of All Registers
• Clear and Power-On Reset to 0V Regardless of
• Output Range
• 48-Pin 7mm x 7mm LQFP Package
• 18-Bit Current Output DAC Guarantees
• ±1LSB INL & DNL

About Linear Technology

Linear Technology Corporation, a manufacturer of high performance linear integrated circuits, was founded in 1981, became a public company in 1986 and joined the S&P 500 index of major public companies in 2000. Linear Technology products include high performance amplifiers, comparators, voltage references, monolithic filters, linear regulators, DC-DC converters, battery chargers, data converters, communications interface circuits, RF signal conditioning circuits, µModule® products, and many other analog functions. Applications for Linear Technology’s high performance circuits include telecommunications, cellular telephones, networking products such as optical switches, notebook and desktop computers, computer peripherals, video/multimedia, industrial instrumentation, security monitoring devices, high-end consumer products such as digital cameras and MP3 players, complex medical devices, automotive electronics, factory automation, process control, and military and space systems.