Most foundries provide GPIO libraries for free. These libraries contain power/ground cells, analog I/Os, digital I/Os. However, for some applications the general purpose library introduces limitations. Sofics developed solutions to extend the GPIO libraries. This page compares the solutions available from Sofics with those available from the foundry.

Available ESD clamps

Sofics	Foundry	Power clamp options
		Core + I/O domains
		Special domains (e.g. 5V)

Sofics	Foundry	Local clamp options for I/Os
		Dual diode (+ power clamp)
		Semi local protection
		Full local protection
		Secondary protection
		Full Local + Secondary protection
		Thin oxide protection

Coverage of supply and I/O options

Sofics analog I/O and ESD protection solutions extend the foundry libraries. Both for power clamp protection and for I/Os Sofics ESD protection provides additional solutions.

Sofics	Foundry	Power clamp options
		General supplies
		Low power / low leakage options
		Interdomain interfaces

While general purpose analog I/Os are suitable for most interfaces, high-speed communication (Wired, wireless or optical) needs a special solution. The traditional ESD concepts introduce a lot of parasitic capacitance. Sofics has created ESD protection with low-parasitic capacitance to enable higher datarates.

Sofics	Foundry	Local clamp options for I/Os
		Standard I/O – GPIO
		Overvoltage tolerant
		Undervoltage tolerant
		I/O circuit with core transistors
		Low leakage ESD protection
		High Speed / RF solution
		Higher voltage ratings

Process coverage for Sofics solutions at TSMC

	FinFET: 5nm, 6nm, 7nm, 12nm, 16nm
	CMOS: 22nm, 28nm, 40nm, 55nm, 65nm, 90nm, …
	BCD/LDMOS/HV: 55nm, 130nm, 180nm

Process coverage for Sofics solutions at other foundries

	Samsung FinFET: 4nm, 5nm, 8nm
	UMC: 28nm, 65nm, 180nm BCD
	GF: 22FDX, 55nm
	SMIC: 40nm, 90nm
	Tower Semi: 130nm, 180nm BCD, 350nm
	And many more options

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Fabless companies using Sofics IP can enable higher performance, higher robustness and reduce design time and cost.

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About Sofics

Sofics is a foundry independent semiconductor IP provider that has supported 100+ companies worldwide with customized/specialty Analog I/Os and on-chip ESD protection. The technology has been characterized on most CMOS processes, as well as on SiGe, SOI, BCD and advanced FinFET nodes like 16nm, 12nm, 7nm, 6nm and 5nm.

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