Showing posts with label FOSS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FOSS. Show all posts

Oct 28, 2024

[paper] FOSS support for CM with Verilog-A

Bűrmen, Árpád, Tadej Tuma, Iztok Fajfar, Janez Puhan, Žiga Rojec, Matevž Kunaver
and Sašo Tomažič
Free software support for compact modelling with Verilog-A
Informacije MIDEM 54, no. 4 (October 9, 2024)

Abstract: Verilog-A is the analog subset of Verilog-AMS - a hardware description language for analog and mixed-signal systems. Verilog-A is commonly used for the distribution of compact models of semiconductor devices. For such models to be usable a Verilog-A compiler is required. The compiler converts the model equations into a form that can be used by the simulator. Such compilers have been supplied with commercial simulators for many years now. Free software alternatives are much more scarce and limited in the features they offer. The paper gives an overview of Verilog-A, Free software Verilog-A compilers, and Free software/Open source simulators that can simulate compact models defined in Verilog-A. Advantages and disadvantages of individual compilers and simulators are highlighted.

Tab: Comparison of Free software simulators
Asterisk denotes a feature under development as of Sep. 2024

Acknowledgements: This research was funded in part by the Slovenian Research Agency within the research program ICT4QoL—Information and Communications Technologies for Quality of Life, grant number P2-0246.


Mar 21, 2024

[FOSSEE] Better Education


FOSSEE (Free/Libre and Open Source Software for Education) project promotes the use of free open source software (FOSS) tools in academia and research. The FOSSEE project is part of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India. 

Below is the list of projects which are promoted by FOSSEE.
  • Scilab 
    free/libre and open source software for numerical computation developed by Scilab Enterprises, France. Scilab also includes Xcos which is an open source alternative to Simulink.
  • Python 
    general-purpose, high-level, remarkably powerful dynamic programming language that is used in a wide variety of application domains. It supports multiple programming paradigms.
  • eSim 
    (formerly known as Oscad/FreeEDA) is an EDA tool for circuit design, simulation, analysis and PCB design. It is developed by the FOSSEE team at IIT Bombay 
  • Osdag 
    free/libre and open-source software which allows the user to design steel structures using a graphical user interface. The GUI also provides 3D visualization of the designed component and images
  • DWSIM 
    free/libre and open source CAPE-OPEN compliant chemical process simulator. Helps understand the behavior of Chemical Systems by using rigorous thermodynamic and unit operations models.
  • OpenFOAM 
    free/libre and open source CFD toolbox useful to solve anything from complex fluid flows involving chemical reactions, turbulence and heat transfer, to solid dynamics and electromagnetics.
  • OpenModelica 
    free/libre and open source environment based on the Modelica modelling language for modelling, simulating, optimising and analysing complex dynamic systems.
  • OpenPLC 
    free/libre and open source Programmable Logic Controller creating opportunities for people to study its concepts, explore new technologies and share the resources.
  • FLOSS-Arduino
    control of Arduino using Free/Libre Open-Source Software. The interface helps the user to perform embedded systems experiments on the Arduino Uno board.
  • SBHS
    (Single Board Heater System) is a lab-in-a-box setup useful for teaching and learning control systems.
  • R 
    programing language and environment for statistical computing and graphics.
  • QGIS
    (Quantum GIS) is a free and open-source desktop Geographic Information System (GIS) application.
  • FOCAL 
    an initiative by FOSSEE to promote Open Source Software in computer graphics.
  • SOUL
    (Science OpensoUrce Software for Teaching Learning) is a collection of ICT software that can be used as teaching/learning tools by the community of educators and the learners to teach/ learn the basic as well as the advanced concepts in science subjects

Mar 17, 2024

SSCS April Technical Webinar

SSCS April Technical Webinar


Abstract: In this presentation, Matt Venn will share his experience of getting started with chip design using the free and open source tools. Going from zero to 20 chips in 3 years, there are plenty of successes and failures to share. Matt will then move on to sharing the best resources, inspirational example projects, and showcase some of his own tools. The presentation will finish with a demonstration showing just how easy and cheap it is to get your own chip manufactured today.

Biography: Matt Venn is a science & technology communicator and electronic engineer. He has been involved with open source silicon for the last 3 years and has sent 20 chips for manufacture. He has helped over 600 people learn the tools, with 300 people taking part in manufacturable designs:
  • https://zerotoasiccourse.com/
  • https://tinytapeout.com
Date: 2024-04-19 Time: 11 AM ET
Location Webinar - Online
Contact Aeisha VanBuskirk – a.vanbuskirk@ieee.org

Register Here

Jan 18, 2024

[paper] Open-source design of integrated circuits

Patrick Fath, Manuel Moser, Georg Zachl. Harald Pret
Open-source design of integrated circuits
Elektrotech. Inftech. (2024)
DOI: 10.1007/s00502-023-01195-5

* Institute for Integrated Circuits, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria

Abstract: This paper presents the design of a self-clocked 12-bit non-binary fully differential SAR-ADC using the SKY130 open-source PDK. The entire mixed-signal circuit design and layout were created with free and open-source software. The ADC reaches a sample rate of up to 1.44MS/s at 1.8V supply while consuming 703μW of power on a small 0.175mm area. A configurable decimation filter can increase the ADC resolution up to 16 bits while using an oversampling factor of 256. A 9‑bit thermometer-coded and 3‑bit binary-coded DAC matrix using a 448 aF waffle-capacitor results in a total capacitance of 1.83pF per input. Realizations of configurable analog functions using the form factor of SKY130 high-density standard cells allow the parametrization of an analog circuit in a hardware description language and hardening of the macro in an intentionally digital workflow.
FIG: Block diagram of the proposed open-source design flow,
including the essential tools and used/generated files

Acknowledgements: The authors thank Johannes Kepler University for funding the open-access publication, Google and SkyWater Technologies for igniting this recent wave of open-source IC design, and the large crowd of enthusiasts spending their time on developing and maintaining an extensive array of exciting open-source EDA projects. Open access funding provided by Johannes Kepler University, Linz.

Jan 8, 2024

[paper] OTA using the Open Sky130 PDK

Carolina Vieira Souza, Edmar Philipe Ribeiro
and Estêvao Coelho Teixeira
Design of a Linear Transconductance OTA using the Open Sky130 Process Design Kit
Sociedade Brasileira De Microeletrônica
(2023) sbmicro.org.br
doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10646550

Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil

Abstract: This paper describes the design, layout and simulation of a linear transconductance Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA) using the SkyWater 130nm open Process Design Kit (PDK). By using a known source degeneration technique, it is possible to either decrease and linearize the transconductance of the OTA for a wider range of input voltages, making it proper for use on Gm-C filters. Only open source tools, suited for the Sky130 PDK, were used in this design, showing the applicability to analog designs.

Fig: Linear OTA Structure: (a) Complete circuit, with source degeneration resistors;
(b) Alternative source degeneration triode MOSFETs; and its GDSII layout, with identification of some relevant parts: (A) differential pair; (B) source-degeneration resistors; (C) biasing transistors.

Acknowledgment: This work is result from a scientific initiation project covered by the VI VIC 2022/2023 Program, by PROPP/UFJF.


Jan 5, 2024

ISHI-kai January 2024 event

2024年1月イベント「オープンソースPDK団体」勉強会国内外のオ
ープンソースPDKやEDAの状況について、キーマンに語っていただきます
With the recent rise in the semiconductor industry, the movement of open source PDK and EDA in Japan and overseas has become active. Therefore, in this study session, key people will talk about the status of open source PDK and EDA in Japan and overseas.

Schedule
Friday, January 26, 2024, 18:00-21:00 (Reception: 18:30)

Venue (onsite)
Google Shibuya Office
3-21-3 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Shibuya Stream Google reception meeting

Online Broadcast: 
Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/ksa-tjaw-ges

Participation Fee
free
Timetable
TimeSpeakerTitleLecture Outline
Until 18:30ISHI-kaireceptionThe entrance to the facility closes at this time, so if you are participating locally, please come by this time as much as possible.
18:00 ~ 18:30ISHI-kaiChat time-
18:30 ~ 19:15 (Lecture: 30min, Q&A: 15min)Takeshi Hamamoto
Minimal Fab Propulsion Organization Device Engineer 
minimal Fab open PDK1) What is a minimal fab
2) openPDK
3) Design Contest at Semicon 2023

19:15 ~ 20:00 (Lecture: 30min., Q&A: 15min.)Junichi Okamura
IEEE Senior Member 
OpenPDK and the World-
20:00 ~ 20:45 (Lecture: 30min., Q&A: 15min.)@noritsunaAbout the upcoming open source PDK shuttle(To be released at a later date)
21:00ISHI-kaiclosing

What is ISHI-kai?
The association was named ISHI-kai (Inter-linked Society on Homemade IC Kai). The name was conceived from the Society Community (Association) that handles open (democratized) ISHI = stone = Silicon = semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) and connects various fields.

OpenMPW (Open Multi Project Wafer), which appeared as a forerunner, is a shuttle program created by Google investing in Efabless, and includes the tools necessary for making semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) (EDA/PDK) to ISHI manufacturing in IC fabs). This is exactly the "openness of semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) and EDA/PDK" of the open source movement (democratization of software) that started with GNU!

Therefore, this association was established as a user society community (association) that focuses not only on experts in semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) in the past, but also on those who see the potential of the open source movement of semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) in the future and those who want to create new semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC).

We/ISHI-kai will continue to work toward a world where semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) and EDA/PDK can be used by everyone, just as OSs, compilers, libraries, apps, electronic boards, 3D CAD and 3D printers that we/ISHI-kaire only available to experts can now be used by everyone as open source software, open hardware, open modeling, etc.

As for the future activity plan, we/ISHI-kai have a policy of revolutionizing the semiconductor (ASIC/LSI/IC) field by involving people from other fields, and we/ISHI-kai will hold events such as hands-on seminars for ultra-beginners for other fields and in-depth study sessions for experts, form a team to challenge the OpenMPW shuttle and Chipathon from around the world, and Maker we/ISHI-kai would like to participate in events such as Faire, so thank you.

Precautions
As events move online, we/ISHI-kai ask participants to act in accordance with the spirit of the Code of Conduct. If you have any problems, please contact the organizer. If it is judged that there is no improvement in the request even if there is no abuse such as vandalism or malicious intent, we/ISHI-kai may respond on a case-by-case basis. 
https://www.contributor-covenant.org/ja/version/2/0/code_of_conduct/

Acknowledgements
Thanks to the kindness of Google for providing a real/onsite venue.

Nov 21, 2023

[webinar] Open Source Silicon Landscape

Unveiling the Open Source Silicon Landscape
a cutting-edge approach for the European semiconductor industry
5 December 2023


Who should attend and why:
  • Policymakers at the regional, national, and European level who want to strengthen their respective semiconductor ecosystem while collaborating and contributing to the Union’s industry as a whole
  • Research and academia representatives who are interested in deepening their knowledge or discovering the potential of the Open Source Silicon landscape
  • SMEs in the semiconductor industry who aim to expand and innovate their business by using a cutting-edge approach
  • Start-ups that are eager to elevate their business to the next level by embracing vanguard strategies
  • Citizen scientists and the general public who would like to have a better understanding of the new horizons in the semiconductor landscape
  • Experts active in industrial development who are interested in integrating potential new approaches
Registration:

The event is free of charge, but registration is mandatory. Registrants will receive the link to access the event by email.

Agenda:

11:00 - 11:05 Welcome
11:05 - 11:10 Introducing Open Source Silicon
11:10 - 11:20 BACKGROUND Open source silicon between software and hardware Background
11:20 - 11:40 POLICY BRIEF PRESENTATION Open source silicon’s position in the semiconductor value chain
11:40 - 12:35 PANEL Key opportunities and threats relevant to open source silicon strategies
12:35 - 12:45 Q&A and conclusions

Nov 3, 2023

The first IC designed in B&H has been fabricated

On 18 May 2023, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, presented the first integrated chip of semiconductor technology, which represents the most sophisticated technological process.

FIG: IC oscillates as per design specification and pre/post-layout simulation

Faculty of Electrical Engineering has become one of the higher education institutions where one of the most important engineering disciplines of today and the future is studied according to the best world programmes, with the direct application of industrial standards in teaching, thus preparing the next generation of engineers to be the flywheel of economic revival through innovation.
It took students and professors at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering five years to develop the first integrated chip. Student Vanja Žerić is one of the innovators of this idea, and he states that the knowledge gained was a prerequisite to start the production.
"We are talking about two chips, one of which is a stabilizer or a voltage regulator that has the ability to stabilize the voltage from 1.8 to 3.3 volts. The second was an oscillator that is essential for a chip like this.'', Vanja said.
Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Aleksandar Pajkanović, PhD, who teaches several courses in the field of chip development at the Department of Electronics, pointed out that the CMOS technological process is the most sophisticated technology that exists in the world, and that it is commercially available, and that they have mastered it and demonstrated it through the implementation of the chip.
"It is particularly important to point out that this technology is significant as a military and industrial strategic resource as well as in higher education, and the most important thing is that we are now among world universities that study this field. It is usual for the implementation of chips to be done in doctoral studies, but with great efforts we managed to do it with third-year students. This chip is not intended for commercialization, as we developed it to demonstrate the capability and mastery of such advanced technology." Prof. Pajkanović stressed.

The details of that development are in the following references:

[1] A. Pajkanovic, “On the Application of Free CAD Software to Electronic Circuit Curricula”, 3rd IcETRAN2016, Zlatibor, Serbia, 2016
[2] A. Pajkanovic and Z. Ivanovic, “A Report on Recent Development in Application of Free CAD Software to IC Curricula,” 5th IcETRAN2018, Palic, Serbia, 2018.
[3] A. Pajkanovic, “Introducing Chisel to IC Design Curriculum at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Banja Luka”, 8th RISCV Workshop, Barcelona, Spain, 2018
[4] A. Pajkanovic, “CMOS IC Design from Schematic Level to Silicon within IC Curricula Using Free CAD Software”, INDEL2020, Banja Luka, B&H, 2020.
[5] A. Pajkanovic, “Free/Open Source EDA Tools Application in Digital IC Design Curricula”, 8th IcETRAN2021, Stanisici, B&H, 2021.
[7] A. Pajkanovic, "Free IC Design in Education", PSSOH 2021

[read more...]



 

Aug 14, 2023

[11k online viewers] 7th Sino MOS-AK/Nanjing

Arbeitskreis Modellierung von Systemen und Parameterextraktion
Modeling of Systems and Parameter Extraction Working Group
7th Sino MOS-AK Workshop in Nanjing (CN)
August 11-13, 2023 (online/onsite)
Recent, consecutive, 7th Sino MOS-AK/Nanjing Workshop discussing the Compact/SPICE modeling and its Verilog-A Standardization reached 11k online viewers. The MOS-AK participants and online attendees have followed one day SiC-related device modeling training on August 11 featured presentations by experts currently working at Robert Bosch GmbH and then two days workshop with 24 R&D Compact/SPICE modeling presentations:




Aug 2, 2023

[video] Interviews from FSiC, Paris, 2023


Interviews from the Free Silicon Conference, Paris, 2023

The 2023 Free Silicon Conference (FSiC) took place in Paris (Sorbonne Université, 4 Place Jussieu, Paris) on July 10 - 12 2023 (Monday to Wednesday). The conference brought together experts and enthusiasts who want to build a complete Free and Open Source CAD ecosystem for designing analog and digital integrated circuits. The conference covered the full spectrum of the design process, from system architecture, to layout and verification.

Interviews with selected Free Silicon Conference Participation by Matt Venn are available online:

00:00 FSiC 2023 Intro, Matt Venn
00:23 Luca Alloatti, FSiC Organizing Committee
01:59 Thomas Benz, ETH Zurich
06:05 Jørgen Kragh Jakobsen, IC Works - Open Source Chip Design
08:57 Thomas Parry, SPHERICAL
11:05 Rene Scholz, IHP Microelectronics
14:06 Dan Fritchman, UC Berkeley
18:41 Harald Pretl, Johannes Kepler University Linz

All the conference proceedings (slide presentations and prerecorded talks) are also available at the FSiC website.


Jul 31, 2023

FOSS Circuit Simulators

AN OPEN-SOURCE, FREE CIRCUIT SIMULATOR
by: Bryan Cockfield on July 30, 2023

The original circuit simulation software, called the Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis, or SPICE as it is more commonly known, was originally developed at the University of Califorina Berkeley in the 1970s with an open-source license. That’s the reason for the vast versions of SPICE available now decades after the original was released, not all of which are as open or free as we might like [1].

Fig: The Quite Universal Circuit Simulator includes a GUI based on the Qt toolkit and handles ad and ac analysis, S-parameters, harmonic balance analysis, noise analysis, and so forth. 

We’ve [2] listed all the simulators we found - the good, the bad, and the ugly - that actually did perform circuit simulation in some fashion. They are provided alphabetically, along with the most notable benefits and drawbacks we uncovered.


REF:
[1] An Open-Source, Free Circuit Simulator by Bryan Cockfield on July 30, 2023
[2] Best free analog circuit simulators by Lee Teschler on January 26, 2022

Jun 9, 2023

[Workshop] Open Source PDKs and EDA


RIHGA Royal Hotel Kyoto, Horikawa Shiokoji, Shimogyo ku, Kyoto 600 8237, Japan.
Date & Time: 5:30pm.-7:15pm on June 11 (Sun), 2023

Since its launch in 2020, the Open MPW shuttle program has received over 500 project submissions spanning 9 shuttles. This workshop will explore various topics related to designers' experiences, including measured results, foundry perspectives, and governmental expectations.

Organizers: 
  • Makoto Ikeda (The University of Tokyo)
  • Mehdi Saligane (University of Michigan)
Program:
  1. Design experience: “The Journey of Two Novice LSI Enthusiasts: Tape-Out of CPU+RAM in Just One Month”, Kazuhide Uchiyama, University of Electro-Communications and Yuki Azuma, University of Tsukuba
  2. From Zero to 1000 Open Source Custom Designs in Two Years, Mohamed Kassem, Co-founder and CTO, Efabless
  3. The SKY130 Open Source PDK: Building an Open Source Innovation Ecosystem, Steve Kosier, Skywater technology
  4. Open Source Chip Design on GF180MCU – A foundry perspective, Karthik Chandrasekaran, Global Foundries
  5. Japan Foundries' Perspectives on Silicon design democratization, Shiro Hara, Minimal Fab & AIST
  6. Google's perspective on Open source PDKs, Open source EDA tools, and OpenMPW shuttle program, Johan Euphrosine and Tim Ansell, Google
  7. The Nanofabrication Accelerator Project, Matthew Daniels, NIST
  8. Japanese government perspective on Silicon design democratization, Yohei Ogino, The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry METI
VLSI Symposium Workshop1 "Open Source PDKs and EDA" Audience


May 11, 2023

OpenPDK Networking Workshop


OpenPDK, OpenTooling and Open Source Design
An Initiative to Push Development
Date:
Networking Workshop FMD-QNC on 27-28 June 2023
Location:
IHP; Im Technologiepark 25; 15236 Frankfurt (Oder)
Contact:
Sergei Andreev; Phone: +49 335 5625 523
Free Registration: 




The workshop is organised by IHP and FMD (Research Fab Microelectronics Germany) within the framework of the FMD-QNC Project.

Within the project FMD-QNC analog circuit design with open source software shall be enabled. For this purpose, both the open source design tools and a process design kit of the semiconductor technology used must support the entire design flow with sufficient quality. IHP provides its 130 nm BiCMOS technology SG13G2 for open source design. This technology is particularly suited for high frequency and mixed signal design applications. While basic tool support already exists for digital circuit design, it is still very rudimentary for analog designs and especially for high frequency designs. A considerable effort has to be put into the development of the design tools as well as into the creation of the technology specific Process Design Kit (PDK).

The 2-day workshop is intended to promote exchange and networking between tool developers, the PDK developers at IHP and designers. Tool developers are to present the capabilities of the tools as well as planned enhancements. Designers are to present ideas that can be used for training chip designers. Requirements for open source design tools for digital design, mixed signal design, and high frequency design are to be highlighted.

Discussions will identify and prioritize gaps for a complete design flow in the open source tools and PDK. The workshop will thus help to concrete the planning for the Open Design Platform and to create a roadmap for future work.

Presentation

Presenter/Institution

Timeline

Day 1

Welcome by coordinator FMD-QNC

Dr. Andreas Bruning
Research Fab Microelectronics Germany

9:00-9:10

Introduction FMD-QNC project status and IHP OpenPDK Roadmap

Dr. Rene Scholz
IHP

9:10-9:30

Status OpenPDK and OpenTooling for SG13G2 BiCMOS technology

Sergei Andreev
IHP

9:30-10:00

An Ultra-Low-Power High-Density Wireless Biomedical Sensing System

 

Prof. Harald Pretl
Johannes Kepler University Linz

10:00-10:30

Teaching digital design by using open-source EDA tools

Prof. Steffen Reith
Rhein Main University of Applied Sciences

10:30-11:00

Coffee break

11:00-11:40

CMOS Rail-to-Rail Operational Amplifier for HPGe Radiation Detector

Prof. Herman Jalli Ng
Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences

11:40-12:10

Design-flow approaches for mmWave and sub-THz integrated transceiver circuits for radar and communication

Sasha Breun
FAU Erlangen

 

12:10-12:40

Lunch break 

12:40-13:40

TBD

Dr. Frank K. Gurkaynak
ETH Zurich

13:40-14:10

TBD

Joachim Hebeler
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

14:10-14:40

Coffee break

14:40-15:10

 TBD

Prof.  Dietmar Kissinger
Ulm University

15:10-15:40

LibMan - an easy way to manage your open source design flow

Dr. Anton Datsuk
IHP

15:40-16:10

Get together (Barbecue)

 

17:00-…

Day 2

ngspice - status and future developments

Prof. Holger Vogt

9:00-9:20

DMT - Python Toolkit for Device Modeling

Mario Krattenmacher
SemiMod

9:20-9:40

OpenVAF - Next Generation Verilog-A Compiler with ngspice integration

Mario Krattenmacher
SemiMod

9:40-10:00

Coffee break

10:00-10:40

Best practices for implementing and optimizing KLayout DRC and LVS decks

Matthias Köfferlein


10:40-11:00

Generating DRC and LVS Runsets for KLayout

Dr. Andreas Krinke
TU Dresden

11:00-11:20

OpenEMS in open source EDA

Jan Taro Svejda
University of Duisburg-Essen

11:20-11:40

Lunch break

11:40-12:40

Panel discussion on the roadmap – open source tools for IC design

Topics:

  • Digital design flow
  • Analog design flow
  • Challenges in RF design

Dr. Norbert Herfurth
IHP

Panelists: TBD

12:40-14:10

Apr 6, 2023

[Deadline] #TinyTapeout 3

Are you a #teacher and interested in microelectronics?
Visit https://tinytapeout.com/

#TinyTapeout and #SiliWiz are online tools you can use to learn how ASICs are designed, made and how they work. You can even get your designs affordably manufactured!

Matt Venn has some free slots for #TinyTapeout 3 for you and your students - just send him a DM to get started!

Deadline is 24th April! Apply today at https://tinytapeout.com/

Mar 22, 2023

[analog-wg] Video of March 21 AWG Meeting

The Analog Workgroup (AWG) was formed by the CHIPS Alliance TSC to explore collaborations in open source Analog/Mixed-Signal design and verification. It focuses on sharing best practices, ideas, tooling (analog automation), and other challenge areas in the design space. The workgroup is composed of both industry and university members.

The AWG Video Meeting on March 21, 2023 included two presentations:
  • Ken Kundert "Why Fund OpenVAF"
  • Pascal Kuthe "OpenVAF: An innovative open-source Verilog-A Compiler"

Please note the following line of topics for the Analog Workgroup
  • 4th April: Update from Tim Edwards: Magic and PEX extraction
  • 18th April: Update from Sadayuki Yoshitomi: Ecosystem of compact model development 
  • 2nd May (tentative): Update from C. Enz,EPFL:  test structures measurements

Feb 26, 2023

[paper] Framework for FPGA Emulation of IC Designs

S. Herbst, G. Rutsch, W. Ecker and M. Horowitz
An Open-Source Framework for FPGA Emulation of Analog/Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuit Designs
in IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems
vol. 41, no. 7, pp. 2223-2236, July 2022
DOI: 10.1109/TCAD.2021.3102516

Abstract: This article presents an open-source framework for emulating mixed-signal chip designs on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). It includes a Python-based synthesizable model generator for mixed-signal blocks (msdsl), a fixed-point and floating-point synthesizable SystemVerilog library for representing real numbers (svreal), and a Python-based tool that generates emulator control infrastructure and automates the FPGA build process (anasymod). The framework includes features for efficiently modeling analog dynamics, nonlinearity, and noise, often making use of compile-time caching to reduce the required computational resources of the FPGA. We demonstrate the framework’s generality by discussing three applications: 1) a high-speed link receiver (DragonPHY); 2) a firmware-controlled flyback converter; and 3) an NFC-powered chip. Our framework makes it easy to emulate these systems, while providing runtimes 2–3 orders of magnitude faster than CPU simulations with real-number functional models. FOSS framework, depicted in Fig. 1, consists of three tools: 1) msdsl ; 2) svreal; and 3) anasymod. All three tools released as open source can be installed either from GitHub or by using the Python package manager (pip).


FIG: Overview of FOSS AMS emulation framework. Analog models are described in Python and compiled into synthesizable SystemVerilog using msdsl, leveraging svreal to implement real-number operations. anasymod then wraps emulator control infrastructure around the DUT and automates EDA tools to produce an FPGA bitstream.






Feb 23, 2023

[C4P] FSiC 2023


The 2023 Free Silicon Conference (FSiC)
will take place in Paris (Sorbonne)
on July 10-12, 2023 (Monday to Wednesday)

This event will build on top of the past FSiC2019 and FSiC2022 editions. The conference will connect experts and enthusiasts who want to build a complete Free and Open Source CAD ecosystem for designing analog and digital integrated circuits. The conference will cover the full spectrum of the design process, from system architecture, to layout and verification. After the daily talks, the discussion will continue until late in an informal and relaxed atmosphere.

Participation to the conference is free of charge, but the attendance must be reserved per email at fsic2023 'at' f-si.org. Details will be announced on this page and over the mastodon channel. The slides and the video recordings of the talks will be published on our website.

Discussion topics of the 2023 Free Silicon Conference (FSiC) 
  • High-level design
  • Hardware security
  • On-going FOSS silicon projects
  • Memories
  • Foundries and free PDKs
  • Transistor Compact/SPICE/Verlog-A modeling
  • Place-and-route tools
  • Parasitic extraction
  • Design rule checking
  • Schematic editors
  • Photonics
  • Sustainability
Submission: For proposing a talk, please submit a title and a short summary at
fsic2023 'at' f-si.org.

FSiC Organizing Committee

Jan 24, 2023

Mixed Signal SoC design Marathon using eSim & SKY130

Marathon Date : 23 Sept. - 8 Oct. 2022

The following submissions are adjudged as Outstanding, Excellent, Very good and Good by the FOSSEE and the VSD teams.

List of Outstanding Circuits:

# Participant Circuit InstituteGitHub 
1 Milad Vafaieenezhad Window Comparator Along with MOD-16 Counter for Counting Based Data Line Selection Operation Shahed University View Repo
2 Krunal Badlani Crack Sensing Circuit Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad View Repo
3 Karuppusamy V Flash Type ADC Bannari Amman Institute of Technology View Repo
4 Inderjit Singh Dhanjal 32-bit SRAM implementation in eSim using Skywater 130nm CMOS technology K. J. Somaiya College of Engineering View Repo
5 Tanay Das Design of a Class D Audio Amplifier IC Using Sliding Mode Control and Negative Feedback Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology View Repo
6 Jayanth Nedunuri Implementation of 4 bit Two Step Flash ADC Jyothishmathi institute of Technology and Science View Repo
7 Aishwarya Balkrishna Patil Design and Implementation of Automatic Security Monitoring System Kolhapur Institute of Technology’s College of Engineering, Kolhapur View Repo
8 Swagatika Meher 3-bit CMOS based TIQ comparator Flash ADC Odisha University of Technology and Research, Bhubaneswar, Odisha View Repo
9 Surya V 3-bit Flash ADC using ROM-based Encoder National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli View Repo
10 Sanket M Mantrashetti Design of 8x8 SRAM based on 6T SRAM cell R. V. College of Engineering View Repo
11 Avishek Choudhary 10-bit C2C DAC Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology View Repo
12 Nalinkumar S Implementation of Quadruple - Window Comparator Along with Prioritized MOD-16 Counter for Data Line Multiplexing Operation Madras Institute of Technology Campus, Anna University View Repo
13 Rubankumar D Astable Multivibrator Along with MOD-16 Counter for Counting Based Data Line Selection Operation Madras Institute of Technology Campus, Anna University View Repo
14 Vanshika Tanwar Implementation of 3 Bit Flash ADC performed in eSim Dronacharya Group Of Institutions, Greater Noida View Repo
15 Ravi Prakash Vishwakarma 8 Bit Counter/Ramp Type ADC Madan Mohan Malaviya University Of Technology View Repo
16 E Balakrishna Implementation of 4 Bit Flash ADC mixed signal circuit using 130nm performed in eSim Dronacharya Group of Institution, Greater Noida View Repo

Contact eSim-fossee:
For more information about the marathon, write to us at contact-esim[at]fossee[dot]in