Hi Tim,
On Wed, Jan 2, 2019 at 2:15 PM Tim Edwards tim@opencircuitdesign.com wrote:
Hello Christoph a.k.a. Tatzelbrumm:
Setting up lines of communication <mumble mumble> and refreshing memories <Hasler [Pronouns: she, her], Diorio, Minch>(remember those, Mr. Potbox?) <SONOS> in order to get involved and productive.
I have not been in contact with Jen Hasler since the early 2000s, but I have been in touch with one of her associates previously at Georgia Tech, Brian "Degs" Degnan, who was involved in the first customer taped-out design from efabless (currently in fab). Chris Diorio, I have not heard from since the late 1990s. Brad Minch still occasionally exchanges emails with me about various EDA tool issues.
I was just thinking about some non-standard analog structures one might try out on the Pearl River process (speaking of, I had some AFGAs on AMS CXE or some such and tested/fried them when visiting newly established assistant professor PAUL Hasler at Georgia Tech in 2000).
If it's possible to design an ADC in the Libre-Silicon process, then maybe it's time to start discussing onboarding the process on the efabless design platform.
First things first: What are appropriate test structures (like, transistor, resistor, and capacitor arrays) that allow us to characterize devices AND device matching in a way to allow meaningful analog/mixed signal design? I would assume that you already have put quite a bit of thought into this, if and when a really open silicon process ever became available (like, now, with these crazy guys here). I'm not sure yet (and open to whatever suggestions I could get from People Skilled In The Art) what ADC topologies would be suitable to try out.
IIRC, efabless has venture capital, so what are the strings (i.e., exclusive representation rights or some such) attached to importing designs and PDKs into your infrastructure?
For now, I just established mumble communication with Hagen and Leviathan, and next I'm planning to dig into the gds, and how to use the magic et al. tool suite. I'll pester you with questions about your tools to the extent you'll let me.
TTYL soon Christoph
---Tim+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | R. Timothy Edwards (Tim) | email: tim@opencircuitdesign.com | | Open Circuit Design | web: http://opencircuitdesign.com | | 19601 Jerusalem Road | phone: (240) 489-3255 | | Poolesville, MD 20837 | cell: (408) 828-8212 | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+