Basic IC Design Training for Faculties from Different SUCs in Visayas and Mindanao

Article by Dhondee Mugot

This year, the electronics is the top export in terms of commodity group in the Philippines. Wherein, one of the biggest contributors to manufacturing sectors is the semiconductors. However, according to Dr. Dan Lachica, President of Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI), electronic components like ICs and wafers make up the majority of what we acquire, accounting for 80% overall import expenses. Through integrated circuit (IC) and system design, the government, business partners, academia collaborate to increase the competitiveness of the Philippines electronics and semiconductor industry.

To make this possible, Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology Microelectronics laboratory of Department of Electrical Engineering and Technology in coordination with MSU-IIT Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension (OVCRE) organized the “Basic IC Design Training” sponsored by Synopsys, Advanced Computing Solutions (ACS), CAMP Incorporated. The top EDA company in the world, Synopsys offers products for advanced silicon chip design, verification, and the development of the processes and models needed to produce such devices. In the Philippines, Synopsys is distributed by Advanced Computing Solutions. They are a provider of cloud solutions and ICT equipment from most manufacturers and brands and a platinum member of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement Systems (PhilGEPS). CAMP Incorporated was established with the goal of helping organizations and businesses increase their capacity in the field of microelectronics through hiring, training, and other related services. They are presently actively involved in software development projects with our expanding clientele and are also working in the programming field.

The Basic IC design training was spearheaded by the one and only the director of microelectronics laboratory of MSU-IIT, Dr. Jefferson A. Hora, PECE. The entire set of materials, including instructional videos, online laboratory activities, and soft-bound copies of the workshop laboratory manual, are available to all students. 

The Basic IC design training was participated by different faculties from different schools from Visayas and Mindanao. The participating schools are, from Visayas, Biliran Province State University, Bohol Island State University- Main Campus, Cebu Institute of Technology- University, Cebu Technological University-Main Campus, Central Philippine University, University of Cebu-Main Campus, University of Cebu-Banilad, University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue. And from Mindanao, Caraga State University-Main Campus, Caraga State University- Cabadbaran City, Cor Jesu College, Inc., Mindanao State University-Main Campus, Notre Dame of Marbel University, Universidad de Zamboanga, and Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan. The main purpose of this training is to tap all school, universities, and colleges in Visayas and Mindanao to engage in Microelectronics and to collaborate with MSU-IIT in the building of microelectronics program in their school or universities. This basic IC design training also aims to fills the gap of lacking IC designers in the Philippines.

In the 2nd day of the training, it was held 15th of October 2022. Morning session was full of lectures. Dr. Gene Fe Palecia continued her discussion about lecture 2: MOS Transistor. Dr. Palencia talked about Bulk-Si MOSFET, qualitative theory of NMOS transistor, drain current, body effect , PMOS common source output characteristics,and non ideal effects. Lecture 3: MOS DC Characteristics was discussed by Associate Prof. Allenn C. Prof.Lowaton where he taught about the DC analysis,load line of the common source resistive load, effects of drain resistor, transistor operating regions-dc curve and showed some of simulation results. Training session were continued in the afternoon wherein the faculty trainees performed laboratory 2: MOS DC characterization part 2, laboratory 3: MOS Signal Signal Characterization and laboratory 4: CMOS Inverter DC Analysis. 7 breakout rooms have been created to cater all the faculty trainees.The faculty trainees were assisted by 2nd year Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) Major in Microelectronics students.

Halfway to the training, 3 rd Saturday of the training was held last 22nd of October 2022. The whole was filled with discussions as the director of microelectronics laboratory, Dr. Hora, discussed lecture 4: CMOS Inverter: Transient, Response and Power and lecture 5: CMOS Fabrication Process. The faculty trainees were encouraged to raise questions after eact lecture, this is also done since day 1 of the training to make sure that the participants understood the lectures. Afternoon session was dedicated to laboratory 5: CMOS Inverter: Transient Response and laboratory 6: layout tool familiarization. Still, faculty trainees were assisted by 2nd year MSEE Major in Microelectronics students.

2nd to the last Saturday of the training, 4th Saturday of the training was held last 29th of October 2022.Dr. Hora taught about lecture 6: Design Rule, Analog Layout and Layout Considerations and lecture 7: Digital/Standard Cell Layout. Lecture 6 was all about layout rule convention, special geometries used in physical design rules, definition of layout geometrical terminology, list o mostly used layout rules and guidelines, layout rules with useful and common layout techniques, setting layer and objects selectability and visibility and TSMC 0.18um Salicide 1P6M; common minima rules.While lecture 7 was all about stick diagram,logic gate layout and standard cell library. Faculty trainees performed the laboratory 7: CMOS inverter layout the whole afternoon and were assisted by 2nd year MSEE Major in Microelectronics students.

The last day of the basic IC design training was held last 5th of November 2022. The whole morning, the faculty trainees were busy finishing their CMOS inverter layout so that they can do their last activity which is the Laboratory 8: CMOS Inverter Post-Layout verification. The purpose of the said last laboratory activity is to execute the post-simulation of the inverter design. The step includes the setup and run of the Layout Parasitic Extraction, measuring the propagation delays, rise time and fall time of the gate. They will also comparing the pre- simulation and post -simulation results. 

In the afternoon session, the trainees were only given only 1 hour and 30 minutes to finish laboratory 8. At exactly 3:00 pm, culmination program will commence. The culmination program was formally started. The culmination program was also attended by our events, ACS and CAMP, Inc. After the welcome address of Assoc. Prof. Kevin Maglinte, the president of ACS, Engr. Genesis Orozco, gave a message to all the trainees. Following the message from the President of ACS, CAMP Incorporated ‘s President, Engr. Christian Roque gave his message by thanking all the trainees in participating the training and introduced their company to the participating trainees from different SUCs across Visayas and Mindanao. Awarding ceremonies followed messages from the event partners. Certificate of Participation was given to all trainees who joined the training at least 3 Saturdays and 5 laboratories completed.

After the giving of certificates of participation, Certificate of Completion were given to all trainees who are perfect in attendance for the whole duration of the basic IC design training and finished all the 8 laboratories in time. Automatically, all the recipients of certificate of completion were also given the certificate of perfect attendance. Below are the lists of recipients who received the certificate of completion and perfect attendance.

Special awards were given to some of the trainees, the Extra Mile, Front Runner and Stand Out awards.

Extra Mile award is given to the trainee for his/her superior dedication by going above and beyond through contribution and promotion of the BASIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (IC) DESIGN TRAINING. It was awarded to Engr. Jayrol Sumaylo of Notre Dame of Marbel University.

Stand Out award are given to the trainees for their perseverance and enthusiasm by accomplishing extra laboratory activity during the BASIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (IC) DESIGN TRAINING. The recipients are Engr. Edgardo Ricardo Sajonia Jr. and Joshua Orillaneda from Caraga State University and Stephine Hubert Campos from University of Cebu-Banilad.

Front Runner award is given to the trainee for his/her outstanding performance and quality outputs during the laboratory activities during the BASIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (IC) DESIGN TRAINING. Below is the picture of the certificate of the award and it was given to Engr. Edgardo Ricardo Sajonia Jr. of Caraga State University.

After the awarding ceremonies, all the recipients of the special awards gave a testimonial. They talked about their experiences during the training, and they expressed their gratitude towards the organizing team head by Dr. Jefferson A. Hora for and to the event partners, Synopsys, ACS and CAMP, Inc. for giving them the opportunity to do IC layout and introduced microelectronics to them.Dr. Jefferson A Hora promoted microelectronics to all the trainees after the awardingceremony. He encouraged them, especially those who doesn’t have master’s degree yet, topursue microelectronics and to have a collaboration for future studies. Through collaboration,MSU-IIT Microelectronics Laboratory may assist them to build their program in their respectiveschool or universities. Dr. Hora also gave them a Memorandum of Understanding for the saidcollaboration.

The entire basic IC design training, which lasted for 5 Saturdays and involved exchangingknowledge and sharing expertise, came to a successful and profitable conclusion. Majority ofthe trainees expressed their pleasure and appreciation for attending the program and theiranticipation of such trainings in the years to come. Considering this, the MSU-IITMicroelectronics Laboratory will continue to work harder to advance microelectronics and raiseknowledge of IC design in Mindanao for the benefit of the nation with the assistance of the government and industry partners.

Relevant Links:

Full Narrative Report

Approved Special Order