MANHASSET, N.Y. — The Finnish R&D arm of AWR, a U.S.-based EDA company, will conduct research for a European IC design project called Icestars.
The goal of Icestars (Integrated Circuit/Electromagnetic Simulation and design Technologies for Advanced Radio Systems-on-chip) is to develop low-cost wireless chips that can operate up to 100 GHz.
Taisto Tinttunen, R&D director of AWR-Aplac Corp., will lead the effort, which focuses on frequency-domain simulation methods for next-generation wireless SoCs. AWR acquired Aplac in 2005.
"By the end of the project in 2010, we aim to have accelerated the chip development process in the extremely high frequency range through use of new methods and simulation tools that will allow European chip developers to maintain a top position over the whole wireless communications spectrum," Icestars project leader Marq Kole of NXP Semiconductors said in a statement.
Icestars is being funded by the European Commission within its Seventh Research Framework Programme. The effort is led by NXP Semiconductors.
Qimonda will develop analog simulation techniques; Magwel of Belgium will focus on electromagnetic simulation.
University partners include The Mathematical Institute of the University of Cologne (Germany), Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences, the University of Wuppertal (Germany), and the University of Oulu (Finland).
The universities will concentrate on modeling, algorithmic problems and simulation issues that must be solved to produce accelerated automated testing of analog circuits with digital signal processing in the EHF realm.
AWR is based in El Segundo, Calif.
