OpenAccess
Interoperability

In addition to speed and ergonomics related enhancements, SoC GDS 5.6 reads the OpenAccess emerging industry standard format, more specifically the layout related data usually streamed out to GDSII files.

> Key Features Compatibility across tools and flows built around OpenAccess Dynamic selection between incompatible 2.0, 2.1 and future OpenAccess releases Direct Access to Cadence Design Framework OpenAccess compliant databases Direct interfacing to OpenAccess compliant tools with no database conversions No need for cumbersome stream out to GDSII

> What are the benefits? OpenAccess is a community effort to provide true interoperability, not just data exchange, among IC design tools through an open standard data API and reference database supporting that API for IC design. The API and reference implementation provide a high performance, high capacity electronic design database with architecture designed for easy integration and fast application development to: Provide tight integration and incremental design flows using design tools and data from multiple sources, Ease integration of internally developed tools with those from EDA suppliers, Provide more cost effective technology transfer of university research into the design flow, Simplify technology sharing for collaborative development between business partners for design tools and design data. Today's design environments are a complicated mix of design tools containing proprietary applications and associated databases, and with incompatible file formats and syntaxes. IC CAD engineers spend an inordinate amount of time integrating them with thousands of lines of translator code. The resulting flows are fragile and error-prone. As well, they are inefficient and result in longer IC design cycle times. > Engineered for industry-wide interoperability, the OpenAccess database support provided by SoC GDS allows users to construct flows incorporating design tools from multiple sources to best suit their needs.