Siemens Calibre 3DThermal software

Siemens Digital Industries Software has introduced Calibre 3DThermal, innovative software for thermal analysis, verification and debugging in 3D integrated circuits (3D-ICs). Calibre 3DThermal enables chip designers to model, visualise and mitigate thermal effects in their designs from early-stage chip and package-inward exploration through to design signoff by incorporating elements of Siemens’ Calibre verification software and Calibre 3DSTACK software along with the company’s Simcenter Flotherm software solver engine. Calibre 3DThermal provides the outputs necessary for thermal impacts to be considered in electrical simulations. Moreover, the software can both consume as input boundary conditions as well as provide output to Simcenter Flotherm — enabling true IC to system thermal modelling from IC to package to board to system level.

The software was developed to address challenges of 3D-IC architectures where controlling heat dissipation is a key requirement. It offers fast and comprehensive approaches to identifying and addressing complex thermal issues. The software also provides the flexibility to start initial feasibility analysis with minimal inputs and can later perform more detailed analyses considering metallisation details and their impact on thermal considerations as more detailed information becomes available. This enables designers to refine their analysis and apply fixes such as floor-planning changes and adding stacked vias or TSVs to avoid thermal hotspots and/or dissipate heat more effectively. This iterative process continues until the final assembly is complete, thereby reducing the risk of performance, reliability and manufacturing issues at final tape-out.

Like all Calibre products, Calibre 3DThermal is designed to integrate with a range of design tools from both third parties, as well as with Siemens’ software including the newly announced Innovator3D IC software. In all design flows, Calibre 3DThermal captures and analyses thermal data across the entire design lifecycle.