Silicon Integration Initiative Targets New Silicon Carbide Standard SPICE Model

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The Si2 Compact Model Coalition has voted to fund and standardize a SPICE model for silicon carbide-based metal-on-silicon field-effect transistors. Featuring high efficiency and fast operation with low switching losses, silicon carbide-based metal-on-silicon-field effect transistors are popular in high-growth semiconductor applications such as photovoltaic inverters and converters, industrial motor drives, electric vehicle powertrain and EV charging, and power supply and distribution.

 

Peter Lee

A CMC working group will oversee the model development as part of advancing Si2’s mission to reduce interoperability costs, said Peter Lee, CMC chair. Participating companies include Analog Devices, Cadence Design Systems, Infineon, Qualcomm, Siemens EDA, Silvaco and Synopsys. The decision to launch the working group came after the CMC evaluated the model’s ROI for members and interest by the industry at large. “I’d encourage companies with a stake in SiC devices to join this effort and help guide selection of the model which best represents their intended use,” advised Lee. “They can benefit from both cost reduction that comes from shared model support and a standardized and qualified model that has ongoing bug fixes and requested feature enhancements from many like-minded companies.”

 

Colin Shaw

“Next Generation SiC MOSFETS has many features that make them suitable, and even superior to legacy silicon solutions, for several high voltage applications. While the devices can handle high-temperature and voltage, its minimal ON-resistance allows smaller packages and better energy savings than comparable silicon devices,” stated Colin Shaw from Silvaco, the working group chair.

 

 

 

 

About the Compact Model Coalition

Now in its 25th year, the Si2 Compact Model Coalition provides semiconductor manufacturers, designers, and simulation tool providers a means to pool resources to fund standardization and optimization of standard compact SPICE models and standard interfaces to promote simulation tool interoperability. CMC funds and supports select university and national laboratory compact model developers. The CMC quality assurance program ensures that simulations are accurate and uniform across different vendors. The world’s most advanced semiconductor designs are all designed and simulated using the standards funded by the CMC.

 

About the Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2)

Si2 is a leading research and development joint venture that provides standard interoperability solutions for IC design tools. Its primary products include OpenAccess, the world’s most widely used, open reference database for IC design, with a supporting standard APA. All Si2 activities are carried out under the auspices of the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993, the fundamental law that defines R&D joint ventures and offers them a large measure of protection against federal antitrust laws.

Si2 Names Vic Kulkarni Chief Strategy Officer

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Vic Kulkarni, former vice president of strategy at Ansys, has joined Silicon Integration Initiative as chief strategy officer. He now supports the Si2 leadership team’s expanding opportunities as one of the semiconductor industry’s leading R&D joint ventures.

Before retiring from Ansys last month, Kulkarni was responsible for steering the business, technology, go-to-market and product strategy of the Semiconductor Business Unit. His areas of responsibility included chip-package-board and system design software solutions, multi-domain simulation technology, and AI/ML to address challenges faced by multiple verticals ranging from connectivity, 5G, autonomous, aero-defense, HPC and edge-node compute. He also drove strategic acquisitions for the Ansys leadership team.

Prior to Ansys, Kulkarni served as co-founder, president and CEO of Sequence Design, which focused on EDA solutions for power and energy-efficient chip designs. He also held a variety of engineering and senior management positions in leading semiconductor and EDA companies in Silicon Valley.

Kulkarni earned an MSEE in Solid State Electronics from the University of Cincinnati, which honored him with the “Distinguished Alumnus Award” in 2007. He has a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

John Ellis, Si2 president and CEO, said Kulkarni’s time as a former Si2 board member provides an excellent backdrop for his current role. “While on the board,” Ellis said, “Vic was involved in developing a new methodology for setting Si2’s long-term strategy. In this newly created role, he will be diving even deeper into hands-on reshaping of the organization for its future sustainability and growth.”

“The duality of Moore’s Law and the More-than-Moore trend in scaling below 10 nanometers is creating a renaissance in the semiconductor industry,” Kulkarni observed. “I am honored to join John and the Si2 ecosystem in addressing crucial interoperability challenges facing the next generation of semiconductor-to-electronic system designs.”

About Si2

Founded in 1988, Si2 is a leading research and development joint venture that provides standard interoperability solutions for integrated circuit design tools. All Si2 activities are carried out under the auspices of The National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993, the fundamental law that defines R&D joint ventures and offers them a large measure of protection against federal antitrust laws. The Si2 international membership includes semiconductor foundries, fabless manufacturers, and EDA companies.

John Lee of Ansys Joins Si2 Board of Directors

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John Lee, general manager and vice president of the Ansys Electronics and Semiconductor Division, has been elected to the Silicon Integration Initiative board of directors. He replaces Vic Kulkarni, who retires from Ansys this month.

Lee co-founded and served as CEO of Gear Design Solutions, which was acquired by Ansys in 2015. Gear Design developed the first purpose-built big data platform for integrated circuit design. Lee had previously co-founded Mojave Design, which was acquired by Magma Design Automation and later purchased by Synopsys in 2012. His first startup, Performance Signal Integrity, was acquired by Avanti, and then by Synopsys.

“I have seen firsthand how vital interoperability is to our customers and how it benefits the entire electronics design ecosystem,” said Lee. “I am honored by this opportunity to contribute to Si2 and look forward to joining my fellow board members in advancing its important mission.”

John Ellis, Si2 president and CEO, said, “John’s experience as a successful serial entrepreneur brings unique insights to the board of directors. He is well known in the industry, and the members of our board who have worked with him hold his judgment in high regard. He is a welcome addition to the team.”

About Si2

Founded in 1988, Si2 is a leading research and development joint venture that provides standard interoperability solutions for integrated circuit design tools. All Si2 activities are carried out under the auspices of The National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993, the fundamental law that defines R&D joint ventures and offers them significant protections against federal antitrust laws. The Si2 international membership includes semiconductor foundries, fabless manufacturers, and EDA companies.