The Essential Role of Custom Design Kits for Cost-Effective Access to the Mcm Foundry

Abstract

Custom MCM design kits, as exemplified by Hughes' series of Deco Designer/sup TM/ kits for MCM-C and MCM-D design, are essential facilitators to cost-effective access to MCM foundries. Design kits have special features that simplify the physical design of complex MCM's through standardization and the use of special algorithms that can optimize commercial design systems for foundry-specific MCM technologies. These design kits have reduced the design cycle times of MCM-D to four weeks and MCM C to eight weeks, and represent over fifty designs committed to fabrication with first pass success. This paper discusses the cost savings benefits and technical accomplishments realized with design kits for standardization in routing and packaging. This paper reviews the essential role of databases in rapid prototyping for driving soft-tooled manufacturing for cost and cycle time reductions. Finally, future directions for the use of the design function as an "easy access" interface between customer and foundry is discussed.