April 10, 2001 – Mountain View, CA – United Microelectronics Corp., Synopsys, Inc., and Virtual Silicon are collaborating in an effort to give their customers a new alternative for getting their designs to tape out, and therefore final production, more quickly.

UMC’s customers can now use Synopsys’ Physical Synthesis, a methodology for solving timing closure challenges, with physical IP from Virtual Silicon targeted towards UMC process technologies. The UMC 0.13-micron libraries with Synopsys’ Physical Compiler views will be available from Virtual Silicon in 2Q01. The 0.18-micron and 0.15-micron libraries will also be ready for download from Virtual Silicon’s website in the same time frame.

In related news, Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas (SMA), a US-based division of Sharp Corporation, Osaka, Japan, will use UMC’s Silicon Shuttle program to create microcontrollers (MCUs) and systems-on-chips (SOCs) at Sharp’s North American Design Center, Camas, Washington.

The SMA is manufacturing a new class of 16- and 32-bit MCUs/SOCs that will be used in next-generation PDAs, Internet appliances, smart phones and home automation based on UMC’s 0.18-micron process. Sharp chose UMC because of its 0.18-micron production and its Silicon Shuttle program that enables users to run design prototypes in silicon with minimal overhead and risk, the company said.

The decision to operate a design center in North America is a notable departure for Sharp, which previously designed all products in Japan.