As integrated circuit (IC) designs have grown in complexity, scale and speed requirements, design rule checking (DRC) has evolved from a routine step into a critical pillar of successful tapeouts.

The complexity of DRC rules increases with shrinking geometries. It is not that the laws of physics change with shrinking IC feature size; they are just more strictly enforced. At one time, there was ...

Process design kits (PDKs) play an essential in ensuring that silicon technology can proceed from one generation to the next in a manner that design tools can keep up with. No such infrastructure has ...