This part of the laboratory, incepted in year 2010, is focused to facilitate students and researchers to design and model VLSI/ULSI devices, circuits and systems. The “Design Suite” is equipped with state of the art, trade-off commercial design tools such as Silvaco TCAD, Cadence (Analog/Custom/digital IC design bundle), Soft MEMS (Mems Pro), Mentor Graphics HEP (IC Nanometer design; Design, Verification & Test; PCB Expedition; Embedded SW Development), IBM SRIM/TRIM and SUSPRE, COMSOL etc. The Design Suite is unique in a sense that it caters the concept of an ‘Electronic Design House’, where such facilities are available under one roof. Some of these tools are available in few universities in Pakistan here and there; but perhaps the concept of “one-window design suite” is pioneered in International Islamic University, Islamabad. The Design Suite is particularly focusing on the design applications related to micro and nano-scale physical processes, next generation devices, circuits and systems (including MEMS) from process to circuit to package level. This is a mega facility aimed to train our future electronic engineers for global electronic design industry as well as address research problems in line with International Technology Roadmap of Semiconductors (ITRS). The laboratory is established with the keen “Fab-less” approach.

Advanced Electronics Design Suite provides research leadership in electronic design automation by making available leading-edge university research results and tools for the design and test of advanced electronic circuits and systems. Device Modeling and Simulation explores scaling and process development of advanced electronic and photonic devices. These tools cover device transport and performance as well as process modules. These predictive tools help to provide physical insights into new devices, new physical phenomena arising from nano-size geometry, new materials and interfaces.

The strategy of the design suite is multi-tier:

• Reduce cost and time-to-market through improving productivity and assuring design correctness; enable high level/high value design;
• Take full advantage of technology advances through linkages to Technology; manufacturing files;
• Anticipate future CMOS and post-CMOS CAD challenges;
• In the circuit design space, the emphasis is on advances for robust high-performance low-power digital logic and memory, analog, RF, and mixed-signal designs;
• In the integrated system design space, the emphasis is on advances that enable robust and power efficient designs for both high performance and embedded systems comprised of silicon and software for diverse applications.

The areas of interest, aiming at evolutionary and revolutionary technologies, include the design, process technology, modeling, characterization, and reliability of semiconductor devices.