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  3. top-notch computer to run Assura

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top-notch computer to run Assura

RRibeiro
RRibeiro over 14 years ago
Hello all, from a while I'm having problem with Assura running times, crashing, etc, etc, etc .... and I'm seeking some advice in building a good computer to reduce all this issues. ( from memory, CPU, graphic card, swap memory, etc,etc,etc ) Just to have an idea of the layout size 25612um x 32612um .... Thanks for your help Kind Regards
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  • Quek
    Quek over 14 years ago

    Hi RRibeiro

    For a chip of that size, I think perhaps it might be good to have a machine with the following configuration:

    ram >= 40G
    cpu >= 12
    speed >= 2.9GHz

    You might also want to consider upgrading to the latest version of Assura (412USR2_HF2)

    Best regards
    Quek

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  • StefanSL
    StefanSL over 14 years ago

     Hi RRibeiro,

    at first, it would be helpful to have some more informations about the complexity of your design,
    what technology node are you dealing with, 2um or 32nm?
    What about hierarchy, do you have large arrays repeating the same structure?

    And, the chipsize you are mentioning is very, very large,  about 800mm2, this is more than
    twice the size of a current AMD cpu; the size comes close to the limits of a whole stepping field;

    is your design a power-device or an image-sensor or do you just work on a whole
    reticle-assembly consisting of more than one chip??

    kind regards

    Stefan

     

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  • RRibeiro
    RRibeiro over 14 years ago
    Hi Stefan, My design is a image-sensor and the technology node is 0.18um. As image-sensor my hierarchy is a structure repeated to have large arrays. Thanks Kind Regards, Ricardo
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  • Zach
    Zach over 14 years ago

    RRibeiro, I frequently use Assura on reticle sized layouts.  I have some questions:

    1) What are the exact error messages that you are getting?

    2) What version of Assura are you running and have you checked to see if it is compatible with your rule deck?

    3) Have you tried using the avParameter "?diskList"   ?

    4) Have you checked to see if your 0.18u fab can build wafers consisting of reticle steps of that size (25.6mm x 32.6mm) ?

     Regards, Zach

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  • RRibeiro
    RRibeiro over 14 years ago
    1) What are the exact error messages that you are getting? Something like *WARNING* aveng exit with bad status *WARNING* killed ***** aveng fork terminated abnormally ****** *WARNING* Assura execution terminated 2) What version of Assura are you running and have you checked to see if it is compatible with your rule deck? Assura 4.1 3) Have you tried using the avParameter "?diskList" ? Yep ... 10 directories with 2GB each 4) Have you checked to see if your 0.18u fab can build wafers consisting of reticle steps of that size (25.6mm x 32.6mm) ? Yes, but this is not the problem
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  • StefanSL
    StefanSL over 14 years ago

     Hi Zach, RRibeiro,

    concerning the size of the design, it seems as if it's size is defined just to fit into the field size of
    a DUV-scanner. Besides of that, some fabs do quite strange things to expose chips that are
    much larger than the field of their litho-equipment, keyword "stitching" for large area sensors.

    Back to your hardware-requirements and optimization:

    What are your current environment and settings?

    On a design like your's, using hierarchical features of assura should strongly improve
    performance.
    I assume you don't need the absolute highend, do you have access to other machines
    just for evaluation purposes before buying the wrong configuration?

    What about a quad- or hex-core @ around 3GHz, 12..16GB RAM?

    kind regards

    Stefan

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