PDKs and technology

What a process design kit is, the processes this lab builds for, and the files that describe it.

• What a PDK containsThe files a factory provides so that design tools can target its process.
• Supported processesThe four processes you can build for, what each is for, and which can become a real chip.
• SKY130 and its standard cellsThe manufacturing process the lab builds for: what it is, what it offers and what it does not.
• Process cornersWhy a chip is checked under several conditions, and what "slow" and "fast" mean.
• Liberty, LEF, GDS and technology filesThe file formats that carry a design and a process through the flow, and what each one holds.
• Design rulesThe limits a factory places on shapes, why they exist, and how they are checked.
• Licensing and accessWhy you can use this process freely, and what that does and does not cover.
• Qualification envelopePer process, the largest design the lab has built clean (with its build id), the tool versions and limits, the class of each rule deck, and the claims the lab does not make.