Press
Wilsonville, March 13, 2018

TowerJazz launches initial silicon photonics design kit
based on the Mentor Calibre nmPlatform
Mentor®, a Siemens business, today announced that TowerJazz has released its initial
silicon photonics design kit based on the industry-leading Calibre® nmPlatform. The
initial release includes design kits for the Calibre nmDRC™ and Calibre nmLVS™ tools.
With Calibre nmPlatform support, customers targeting TowerJazz’s PH18 Silicon
Photonics process can now have the same high level of confidence in producing
physically correct silicon photonics devices as they have always had with producing
physically correct complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices using thetrusted Calibre nmDRC Platform. TowerJazz’s PH18 Silicon Photonics process andleading design platform target optical networking and data center interconnect
applications.

Silicon photonics is enabling companies to bring fiber optics directly onto integrated
circuits (ICs), allowing wired communications infrastructure to reach speed-of-light levelsof system performance. However, silicon photonic devices have curved features ratherthan the Manhattan grid (north south east west linear) features found in traditional CMOS
processes. Trying to apply traditional design rule checking (DRC) used for CMOS tosilicon photonic layouts would yield numerous false positive errors that design teams
would have to spend weeks tracking down.

To address this issue, TowerJazz leveraged the Calibre eqDRC equation-based DRC
functionality, which allows one to write checks using an equation. The result? A
streamlined silicon photonics DRC process, so design teams can get designs to market
faster in this emerging, yet highly competitive, market.

8005 S.W. Boeckman Road · Wilsonville, OR 97070-7777 · 503-685-7000 · www.mentor.com

TowerJazz launches initial silicon photonics design kit based on the Mentor CalibrenmPlatform
page 2The TowerJazz Calibre nmLVS design kit initially supports the electronic components ofphotonic design, and there are plans to add the optical components in future releases.
“As TowerJazz moves into a broad market silicon photonics offering, it is critical that ourcustomers be able to sign off with the same tools they use for all of TowerJazz’s foundryofferings,” said Ori Galzur, vice president of VLSI Design Center and Design
Enablement, TowerJazz. “As such, our Silicon Photonics design platform verificationengine is based on Mentor’s Calibre nmPlatform”

In addition to providing the initial design kit elements needed for today’s silicon photonics
designs, Mentor has been working with other companies to provide a complete design
flow via its OpenDoor Program. This will bring greater degrees of automation to thesilicon photonics development process, resulting in faster release of designs toTowerJazz and faster time to market for customers’ silicon photonic innovations.
“Mentor is pleased to be able to extend our mutual offering with TowerJazz into the newand emerging silicon photonics market,” said Michael Buehler-Garcia, senior director of
Calibre Design Solutions marketing. “With silicon photonics being a modular solution thatentails multiple chips created from different processes, it is critical that design teams beable to use a single physical verification solution.”

For more information, about the TowerJazz-Mentor offering, please visit
http://www.towerjazz.com/process-design-kits.html.

For more information, about the Mentor OpenDoor Program, please visit
https://www.mentor.com/company/partner_programs/opendoor/.
Contact for journalists
Mike Santarini
Phone: (510) 354-7322; E-mail Mike_Santarini@mentor.com

8005 S.W. Boeckman Road · Wilsonville, OR 97070-7777 · 503-685-7000 · www.mentor.com

TowerJazz launches initial silicon photonics design kit based on the Mentor Calibre
nmPlatform
page 3

Mentor Graphics Corporation, a Siemens business, is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design
solutions, providing products, consulting services, and award-winning support for the world’s most successfulelectronic, semiconductor, and systems companies. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman
Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. Web site: http://www.mentor.com.

Mentor Graphics, Mentor, and Calibre are registered trademarks and Calibre nmDRC and Calibre nmLVS aretrademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks ortrademarks of their respective owner.

8005 S.W. Boeckman Road · Wilsonville, OR 97070-7777 · 503-685-7000 · www.mentor.com