Requirements (Customer and Application Engineer) – Duration (1-2 weeks)

• Capture customer requirements
• Fill-in Customer Requirements Checklist
• Write IC Specification document

Quote (Sales Department) – Duration (1-2 days)

• Analyze NRE
• Evaluate unit price
• Estimate effort and schedule
• Provide quote

Architecture & Partitioning (Team Engineer) – Duration (2 weeks)

• Analyze IC requirements and functionality
• Determine IC Architecture
• Update IC Specification document
• Preliminary Block Specification documents

IC Modeling (Customer and Team Engineer) – Duration (2-6 weeks)

• Behavioral models of internal blocks
• Simulation of blocks behavioral models
• Updated Block Specification documents
• Integration into IC behavioral model
• Simulation of IC behavioral model
• Updated IC Specification document

Block Design (Team Engineer) – Duration (4-6 weeks each)

• Determine internal block architecture
• Detail Block Specification document
• Implement and validate block schematic
• Block transistor level schematic capture
• Design of test interface and schematic capture
• Simulation
• Layout
• DRC and LVS
• Back annotation/parasitic extraction
• Post Layout Simulation
• Update Block Specification document

IC Verification (Team Engineer) – Duration (2-8 weeks)

• Elaborate IC verification plan
• Run IC behavioral simulations
• Identify and fix issues
• Re-run IC behavioral simulations
• Update IC verification plan

Chip Assembly (Team Engineer) – Duration (4-12 weeks)

• Integrate core
• Define I/O strategy and integrate with core
• Post Layout Simulation of whole chip
• Tape-out

Silicon Validation (Customer and Team Engineer) – Duration (4-8 weeks)

• Elaborate IC test plan
• Bring-up preparation
• Bring-up tests
• Update IC test plan