64-bit Linux speeds IC design tool

ReShape Inc. is reporting significant speed and capacity increases for its PD Optimizer tool suite on 64-bit Opteron and Athlon
processors running Linux — even compared to faster 32-bit processors. PD Optimizer helps manage IC placement and routing runs.

ReShape is also reporting eight new benchmarks that claim PD Optimizer reduced die sizes by an average of 15 percent, reduced inter-block
interconnects by more than 25 percent, and reduced global buffer/repeaters by more than 40 percent, compared to designs done by hand.

Over a cross-section of benchmarks, ReShape’s Design Aware optimizer ran an average of 1.7 times faster under the 1.8 GHz AMD64 architecture, compared
to a Xenon 2.8 GHz 32-bit architecture, said Bob Dahlberg, vice president of business development at ReShape. Even though the AMD64 processor is
slower, it has superior caching, Dahlberg observed.