As our industry moves towards the commercialization of 2.5 and 3D Integration, also known as complex packaging integration (CPI), we see some critical inflection points materializing in the EDA marketplace. Existing tools have worked well for us up to this point, but now the design considerations have changed dramatically. If we are to continue to see the same kind of predictability and high probability of design success that we have relied on, the EDA industry needs to kick it up a notch with new tools and methodologies to address these needs.
E-System Design, Inc. introduced a new EDA tool to the industry in May 2014 named “Sphinx 3D Path Finder” (3DPF). 3DPF opens up a new market segment in EDA for Front End Planning or “Path Finding” of CPI systems and was awarded the “3D InCites Award for Best New EDA Tool in 2014”. In addition, we presented a joint white paper with Qualcomm at the Design Automation Conference in June and have numerous high profile customer engagements underway.
Why has 3DPF been so well received?
When you move into the world of CPI, you will quickly discover that there are hundreds if not thousands of options available to you. There’s a lack of proven implementation guidelines available, suppliers provide stand-alone via models but they are inadequate for capturing the performance effects in CPI designs, and existing EDA tools cannot handle the larger complexities required to accurately capture the proximity and skin effects in CPI systems.
3DPF uses a unique patented methodology that was co-invented by our founder and CTO, Madhavan Swaminathan, and exclusively licensed from the Georgia Institute of Technology. This methodology allows us to represent vertical interconnects as a single element not requiring complex meshing without losing accuracy. 3DPF therefore accurately simulates much larger complexities than existing tools and significantly improves simulation times providing visibility into CPI design performance that is unmatched.
Secondly, 3DPF’s graphic user interface (GUI) was developed to provide an equally unrivaled environment that allows users to look at the various technologies available to them very early in the process when the cost of change is at its lowest, so they can determine how to best partition their systems and which technology options are the most viable. Our customers rave about the ease of use. It’s sort of like having a box of Lego™ blocks, where you can design anything you want to consider in your CPI system, save it as a block and simulate it. You can then add additional blocks to build your CPI system, and easily change any of the blocks if needed and run the simulations again.
2014 was a very rewarding year for E-System Design, Inc.
Sphinx 3D Path Finder V3.0 was the culmination of over 2 years of product development and working closely with our teaching customers to bring our product to the marketplace. Our product addresses the need for front end planning for new CPI design in a way that is revolutionary and unparalleled in the market today. We’re just getting started!
We are very excited about what 2015 holds for E-System Design, Inc. because we believe we are uniquely positioned to “change the game” on how CPI analysis is performed. In 2015, E-System Design will release V4.0 which turns Sphinx 3D Path Finder into a Path Finder platform. As the marketplace continues to adopt CPI, there are a number of challenges that need to be addressed. 3DPF will broaden into a platform of analysis engines with a common GUI to address those needs and provide a comprehensive path finding analysis platform for CPI systems.
We are adding additional resources to help grow our development organization and provide support for our customers. We are working with partners in the EDA industry to broaden our reach in the marketplace, and we are creating an entirely new segment in the EDA industry…Path Finding tools for CPI architectural development and design. For more information on E-System Design, Inc., our products and our future plans, please go to our website, and stay connected for our new product announcements in 2015!
