Rules of Engagement for MOSIS Academic Users

MOSIS for the Academic Community

MOSIS provides convenient, low-cost access to advanced semiconductor
fabrication for first-silicon and small-volume custom production for
users in aerospace, communications, transportation, defense, and other
industries. An additional part of our business comes from design and
research groups at academic institutions. The guide below outlines, from
the standpoint of a new academic user, the procedural flow for obtaining
integrated circuits from MOSIS.

MOSIS support for VLSI education began in 1985 with support from the
National Science Foundation (NSF) and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research
Products Agency), which lasted until 1998. Since then the MOSIS
Education Program (MEP) has operated without external funding, but with
important contributions from Cadence, Mentor, AMI Semiconductor, IBM,
and Toppan Photomasks.

We would very much like to hear from you now, if you have any
suggestions or comments about our service and ways to improve and expand
it in ways that would make MOSIS more useful to you. Please send your
ideas to support@mosis.com.


*   *    *     *


1. _Fabrication process and design tools._ First find a process with the
    features needed for your design
    (http://www.mosis.com/products/fab/vendors/), and make sure that all
    required design tool support will be available
    (http://www.mosis.com/design/design.html).


2. _Customer account._ Because MOSIS guarantees confidentiality and the
   protection of customer and vendor intellectual property (IP) in all
   transactions, all users must establish, at no charge, a customer
account
   with MOSIS (http://www.mosis.com/orders/customer_accounts/).

Academic users may open three different types of MOSIS customer account.
Many university projects are fabricated through MOSIS as normal
commercial transactions under a _commercial account_
(http://www.mosis.com/orders/customer_accounts/commercial_account.html),
with payment through a purchase order from the institution.

Two other types of account, for classroom instruction and unsponsored
research, are supported under the MOSIS Education Program (MEP). The MEP
web page (http://www.mosis.com/products/mep/) explains the purpose and
qualifications for these accounts. Instructions for opening an
Instructional account are at
http://www.mosis.com/products/mep/mep-instructional-account.html,
and the application process for a Research account is described at
http://www.mosis.com/products/mep/mep-research-account.html. Other
useful information is at http://www.mosis.com/Faqs/faq-education.html.

Note that a MOSIS customer agreement
(http://www.mosis.com/forms/mosis_forms/mosis-customer-agreement.pdf), a
signed legal document, is required for all MOSIS customer accounts.


3. _Pricing and payment authorization._ Request a price quotation
   (http://www.mosis.com/prices.html) and ensure that payment
arrangements
   (http://www.mosis.com/orders/purchase_orders/) are understood by the
   design team and the institutional purchasing officer. Organizations
   outside the United States should also review
http://www.mosis.com/export/.


4. _Design kit and process documentation._ Foundry documents are
   distributed by MOSIS. Necessary forms and agreements are at
   http://www.mosis.com/forms/vendor_forms/.


5. _Project submission (http://www.mosis.com/support/submit/)._ The
   first step in the submission of a design to MOSIS is a New Project
   Request (http://www.mosis.com/support/submit/how_new-proj.html).
   Detailed information can be found at
   https://www.mosis.com/Webforms/new_project_doc.html) and at
   http://www.mosis.com/support/faqs/faq_submit_design.html.


6. _Packaging._ MOSIS delivers packaged or unpackaged parts. Package
   information is specified in the project request and can be modified
at
   later steps in the submission process. Detailed information is
available
   at http://www.mosis.com/products/assembly/.


7. _Pre-fabrication processing._ MOSIS performs a manufacturability
   review on each design to ensure that the layout is compatible with
the
   vendor process technology. A full design rule check may be requested.
   For charges and details see http://www.mosis.com/products/drc/.


8. _Tracking._ After a MOSIS design number has been assigned to the
   project, the status of the submission and subsequent fabrication,
   assembly, and shipping steps can be obtained at any time with a
project
   status request (https://www.mosis.com/Webforms/project_status.html).


Questions and comments are always welcome at support@mosis.com.