SMIC Standardizes on Synopsys' StarRC for Signoff Parasitic Extraction

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC"; NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 981), one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world and the largest and most advanced foundry in mainland China, and Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) today jointly announced that SMIC has adopted Synopsys' StarRC^™ product as the standard solution for signoff parasitic extraction for its 28-nanometer (nm) process technology. This standardization is a result of a growing collaboration between SMIC and Synopsys to provide best-in-class solutions to mutual customers to meet their increasing needs for accuracy, performance and efficiency at advanced nodes. The StarRC solution delivered silicon-accurate extraction and productivity validated by SMIC for its 28-nm process. The qualified StarRC technology files are available as the default in SMIC's 28-nm process design kits (PDKs) for both digital and custom designs.

The StarRC product, an integral part of the Synopsys Galaxy^™ Design Platform signoff solution, is the market leader and industry gold standard for gate-level and transistor-level parasitic extraction. It achieves superior performance and efficiency with its ultra-scalable multi-core architecture, simultaneous multi-corner (SMC) extraction and fast ECO capabilities, while maintaining industry-standard golden accuracy. The StarRC product provides extraction capabilities across a wide range of applications, from 100+ million instance digital system-on-chip (SoC) designs to custom memory, IP, standard cell and analog designs. Integration with Synopsys IC Compiler^™ II place and route and PrimeTime^® static timing analysis allows designers to achieve even faster ECO design closure, while reducing disk space and processor core resources. In custom design environments, designers can cross-probe between parasitic and schematic views, annotate schematics with parasitics and perform visual debug. Significantly faster simulation runtimes and reduced disk space resources are realized through highly optimized extraction tuned for performance. The result of the collaboration between SMIC and Synopsys delivers qualified StarRC technology files in SMIC's 28-nm PDK that enable mutual customers to use a silicon-accurate and efficient extraction solution for their designs targeting SMIC's 28-nm node.

"Continuing to build on the momentum of our 28-nm process technology, a favorite node for semiconductor companies, is a priority for us, and the availability of qualified design tools is critical to support our expanding global customer base," said Anderson Huang, senior director of technology development at SMIC. "The partnership with Synopsys represents an enduring commitment to providing customers with the high-quality technologies and standards for use with our world-class manufacturing process. The deployment of StarRC in our 28-nm PDKs bolsters the resources available to our mutual customers through StarRC's proven silicon accuracy and comprehensive capabilities for both digital and custom designs, allowing them to develop advanced designs with increased confidence and productivity."

"Meeting customers' increasing needs to address complexity and accelerate design and analysis cycles are critical to propel them to silicon success at advanced process technologies," said Bijan Kiani, vice president of marketing for the Design Group at Synopsys. "SMIC's standardization on StarRC for parasitic extraction for its 28-nm process technology highlights the strong trust in our industry-leading technology to deliver on these important requirements and supports the innovations being driven by our mutual customers."

About SMIC

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC"; NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 981) is one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world and the largest and most advanced foundry in mainland China. SMIC provides integrated circuit (IC) foundry and technology services on process nodes from 0.35 micron to 28 nanometer. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, SMIC has an international manufacturing and service base. In China, SMIC has a 300mm wafer fabrication facility (fab) and a 200mm mega-fab in Shanghai; a 300mm mega-fab and a majority-owned 300mm fab for advanced nodes in Beijing; 200mm fabs in Tianjin and Shenzhen; and a majority-owned joint-venture 300mm bumping facility in Jiangyin; additionally, in Italy SMIC has a majority-owned 200mm fab. SMIC also has marketing and customer service offices in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Taiwan, and a representative office in Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.smics.com.

Safe Harbor Statements

(Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995)

This document contains, in addition to historical information, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on SMIC's current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events. SMIC uses words like "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "project" and similar expressions to identify forward looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of SMIC's senior management and involve significant risks, both known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors that may cause SMIC's actual performance, financial condition or results of operations to be materially different from those suggested by the forward-looking statements including, among others, risks associated with cyclicality and market conditions in the semiconductor industry, intense competition, timely wafer acceptance by SMIC's customers, timely introduction of new technologies, SMIC's ability to ramp new products into volume, supply and demand for semiconductor foundry services, industry overcapacity, shortages in equipment, components and raw materials, availability of manufacturing capacity, financial stability in end markets and intensive intellectual property litigation in high tech industry.

In addition to the information contained in this document, you should also consider the information contained in our other filings with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on April 25, 2016, especially in the "Risk Factors" section and such other documents that we may file with the SEC or SEHK from time to time, including on Form 6-K. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on our future results, performance or achievements. In light of these risks, uncertainties, assumptions and factors, the forward-looking events discussed in this document may not occur. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date stated or, if no date is stated, as of the date of this document.

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) is the Silicon to Software^™ partner for innovative companies developing the electronic products and software applications we rely on every day. As the world's 15th largest software company, Synopsys has a long history of being a global leader in electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor IP, and is also a leader in software quality and security testing with its Coverity^® solutions. Whether you're a system-on-chip (SoC) designer creating advanced semiconductors, or a software developer writing applications that require the highest quality and security, Synopsys has the solutions needed to deliver innovative, high-quality, secure products. Learn more at www.synopsys.com.

SMIC Media Contact

Terry Ding
+86-21-3861-0000 x16812
[email protected]

Synopsys Media Contact

Carole Murchison
Synopsys, Inc.
+1-650-584-4632
[email protected]

SOURCE SMIC

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