Frame assembly editor

As the cost of a complete mask set has dramatically increased and now represents a significant part of the overall project cost, it is critical for design teams, mask data preparation teams, and mask shops to implement a robust and repeatable Mask Data Preparation flow, which increases the productivity of the mask set creation and removes any risk of error.

Insertion of process specific items in the reticule, such as alignment marks, test structures, titles, and barcodes, is a necessary step for mask and chip manufacturing and inspection.

Often this operation is handled manually, making it a lengthy and error prone process, at a stage where errors can be very costly.

GOTframe is a powerful  frame generation engine. It increases productivity by automating reticule edition and enabling maximum reuse of process specific item definitions and constraints and avoids costly errors due to manual operations:

• A frame description file defines once all process specific items and constraints. It can be reused throughout multiple projects and  can be parameterized for further reusability
• Reticule optimization ensures maximum number of chip in the  reticule and minimum scribe line expansion to accommodate all mandatory items
• Insert items inside and around regular arrays of dies as well as in empty areas of multi chip assemblies
• An assembly rule checker warrant that the frame is free from any error and can be manufactured
• The final layout database is constructed to avoid consistency problems and generated user documentation can be customized for the design teams and manufacturin

GOTframe comes with a ghaphic debug environment to visualize and control in real time the steps of GOTframe’s placement engine.

GOTframe is fully integrated in XYALIS Mask Data Preparation solution and handles standard layout formats: GDSII, OASIS ^®. Each module can run through a graphical user interface, or on the command line for automatic processing and easy inclusion in an existing flow.