Prototype design and fabrication are the core business of EUROPRACTICE-IC. We have agreements with leading foundries to offer the most advanced technologies to our customers at competitive prices.
The cost of producing a new ASIC for a dedicated application within a small market can be high, if directly produced by a commercial foundry. EUROPRACTICE has reduced the prototyping cost, especially for ASIC prototyping, by two techniques:
1. Multi Project Wafer Runs (MPW) or
2. Multi Layer Masks (MLM)
Our current portfolio includes a wide range of technologies, such as ASICs, MEMS, Si-Photonics and Power electronics. Once the technology is chosen, customers need detailed information about it, such as design rules, electrical parameters and standard cell libraries. All this information is put together by the foundry in the so-called ‘Design Kit’. Customers can obtain access to it by signing the appropriate NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) or DKLA (Design Kit License Agreement).
After the design phase has finished, the results can be submitted via the Design registration system. This will initiate a verification process, involving Electrical Rule Checking (ERC) and Design Rule Checking (DRC). After that, the corrected specifications will be delivered to the foundry where prototypes will be fabricated during an MPW or a mini@sic run. Finally, the resulting prototypes will be shipped to the customer for the test and validation phase.
EUROPRACTICE usually delivers unpackeged and untested prototypes. If required, we also provide packaging, system integration and wafer-level services.
