Design rules are maintained and released by a
semiconductor foundry for its customers (layout designers of integrated circuits) to follow. Restrictive design rules (RDRs) curtail some of the "freedom" layout designers have traditionally had with regular design rules in less advanced process technologies. To achieve and maintain an acceptable
return on investment
Return on investment (ROI) or return on costs (ROC) is the ratio between net income (over a period) and investment (costs resulting from an investment of some resources at a point in time). A high ROI means the investment's gains compare favorab ...
for its customers and by extension for itself, a foundry may be compelled, for technological reasons, to adopt RDRs to better ensure the completed layout design of an
integrated circuit
An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...
is manufacturable with a desired yield in more advanced process technologies.
External links
Gartner's Smith calls for 'restrictive design rules' at 32-nm()
Semiconductor device fabrication
{{Tech-stub