MOSIS FAQs: Submitting Designs to MOSIS

1.0 When is my layout due at MOSIS?

2.0 What are the purchase order requirements for submitting a design?

3.0 Will I always get on a run if I submit by the deadline?

4.0 If I miss a deadline, should I submit my design anyway?

5.0 What formats will MOSIS accept?

6.0 I forgot one of my MOSIS passwords. What should I do?

7.0 How do I submit my design to MOSIS?

7.1 How do I submit my design using a web form?

7.2 How do I submit my design by e-mail

7.3 How do I submit my design by FTP?

7.4 How do I submit my design on physical media?

8.0 Does MOSIS offer a design rule check (DRC) service?

9.0 What is a manufacturability review?

10.0 What if my project submission fails?

11.0 What can cause my design submission to fail?

12.0 Are warnings the same as errors?

13.0 Up to what time can I cancel my order?

14.0 Does MOSIS take reservations?

1.0 When is my layout due at MOSIS?

Internet (web, FTP, e-mail) submissions:
Please ensure that your layout is successfully submitted to the fabrication queue at MOSIS by Internet no later than 1 PM Pacific Time on the run closing date (see the MOSIS Fabrication Schedule

Offline submissions:
Offline submissions must be received by MOSIS two business days before the run closing date (see the MOSIS Fabrication Schedule

IP Instantiation:
Layout files for IP instantiation must be received one week before the layout is due at MOSIS.

MEP RESEARCH:
Layout must be sent to the fabrication queue within 12 months after you have received approval, using the account MOSIS specified for your project. To insure there is enough time to evaluate your project and establish the account, submit your proposal at least three (3) weeks before the scheduled run on which the chip is to be fabricated. Proposals can be submitted only after your account has been established and your faculty account liaison has received the account number and password from MOSIS.

Late Submissions:
MOSIS will include late submissions when possible up to the point where doing so delays the run. Should a run be over-booked, priority is given to on time submissions. To be considered "on time" the design layout, all packaging instructions, and a faxed copy of the purchase order (if applicable) must be received at MOSIS by the published deadline.

2.0 What are the purchase order requirements for submitting a design?

Before we can place a project on a run, we need a written indication of an official commitment of funds in the form of a purchase order or typed statement on corporate or institutional letterhead, signed by an authorized purchasing agent. This document may be submitted by fax or delivered to us directly by a courier or mail service.
Please note that in addition to the purchase order we request that you specify the details of the order through our on-line order entry system. Please login to Customer Account Management System to submit forms and parameters.

3.0 Will I always get on a run if I submit by the deadline?

It has never been necessary to exclude an on time commercial submission.

4.0 If I miss a deadline, should I submit my design anyway?

If you miss a MOSIS fabrication deadline by a few hours or even a couple of days, you might still be able to get on the run.
As soon as possible, (1) submit your design for fabrication, and (2) contact MOSIS customer support to determine the status of the run. MOSIS Customer Support can be reached at 310-448-9400.

5.0 What formats will MOSIS accept?

MOSIS accepts designs in CIF or GDSII format.
For more information, see MOSIS Layout Conventions for CIF and GDSII.

6.0 I forgot one of my MOSIS passwords. What should I do?

Account Password:
If you forget the password for your MOSIS customer account, please contact Customer Support at MOSIS Online Support Center.

Design Password:
If you forget the password for a particular design, please contact Customer Support at MOSIS Online Support Center.

7.0 How do I submit my design to MOSIS?

MOSIS accepts designs in CIF or uuencoded-GDSII format see MOSIS Layout Conventions. When designs are received by MOSIS, a Manufacturability Review is performed. This is not a DRC.
Designs may be submitted to MOSIS electronically by a web form, e-mail, FTP, or they may be delivered to MOSIS on physical media.
Every MOSIS submission (web form, e-mail, FTP, physical media) must include the CRC-CHECKSUM for your layout file, which will be compared to the value computed at MOSIS.

7.1 How do I submit my design using a web form?

MOSIS customers with access to the World Wide Web can make new project requests, submit and update projects, or ask questions of the MOSIS staff by using Project Management System. The forms are easy to use, and well documented.
Use the NEW-PROJECT Web form to first obtain a design number for your design. After you receive your design number, send the FABRICATE Web form to initiate a PROJECT-CHECK and queue your project for fabrication.
The FABRICATE web form has two sections for FTP information. If you want to send your design to the design file FTP server (recommended), fill in the section titled "To Send Your Design to MOSIS." If you want MOSIS to retrieve the file from your FTP server, fill in the section titled "To Have MOSIS Retrieve Design from You." Do not fill in both.

7.2 How do I submit my design using e-mail?

Designs sent by e-mail should be addressed to mosis@mosis.com. Instructions for sending designs by e-mail to MOSIS are in the document, "MOSIS Automated E-mail System." For more information, see:
MOSIS Online Support System

Submitting Designs to MOSIS in Fragments
List of MOSIS E-mail Templates

Use the NEW-PROJECT template to first obtain a design number for your design. After you receive your design number, send the FABRICATE template to initiate a PROJECT-CHECK and queue your project for fabrication.
NEW-PROJECT Request template is available at MOSIS Account Management System. You must login using your MOSIS account number and password.
FABRICATE Request template is available at MOSIS Project Management System. You must login using your design number and password.

7.3 How do I submit my design by FTP?

You can submit a design to MOSIS by FTP if your host implements the Internet's TCP/IP protocol by using the FABRICATE web form, or one of the E-mail FABRICATE templates.
Additional information is contained in the Design File FTP Server FAQ, including instructions for proxy servers and sites located behind firewalls.

7.4 How do I submit my design on physical media?

If you wish to send your design to MOSIS by US Mail, commercial shipper, or courier;

  • E-mail information about your project to mosis@mosis.com using the One Step Submission procedure. Leave off all the LAYOUT parameters, and for SPECIAL-HANDLING write "Design will be sent to MOSIS on physical media."
  • When you ship your design to MOSIS, include a copy of the One Step Submission message.
  • Ship your design soon enough to be received at the following address at least two business days before the scheduled date of your target run see MOSIS Fabrication Schedule.
    MOSIS
    Attn: Run closers
    4676 Admiralty Way
    7th Floor
    Marina del Rey CA 90292-6695

8.0 Does MOSIS offer a design rule check (DRC) service?

MOSIS does not offer DRC services.

9.0 What is a Manufacturability Review?

When designs are received by MOSIS, a manufacturability review is performed. The manufacturability review examines design syntax and layer names, but does not check for design rule violations. The manufacturability review also computes the size of the project (the Minimum Bounding Box, or MBB), counts the pads, then checks actual values with declared values. MOSIS does not offer DRC services.
After manufacturability review, MOSIS will send a message with the status of your project, as:

  • QUEUED FOR FAB,
  • AWAITING FUNDING, or
  • FAILED

If your submission generates a message of QUEUED FOR FAB, then you have passed the manufacturability review.
If your submission generates a message of AWAITING FUNDING, your design passed the manufacturability review but cannot be queued for fabrication due to a funding issue. Please contact MOSIS Customer Support.

10.0 What if my project submission fails?

If your submission fails, you will receive a message (or messages) telling you what problems were found. MOSIS calls these manufacturability review failures. If the error(s) turn out to be in the parameter values you declared, and not in the layout file itself (e.g., you specified the wrong technology), you can fix the error(s) by sending an UPDATE request correcting those parameters. You need not resubmit the layout. A new manufacturability review will be performed with the updated parameters and the existing layout file.

11.0 What can cause my design submission to fail?

Some of the more common possible reasons for failures are:

  • Violation of the MOSIS layout conventions for GDSII or CIF.
  • Illegal file syntax.
  • Reference to a layer name that is not known for a given technology (CIF only).
  • Inclusion of any layer-less layout.
  • Undefined symbol or structure reference.
  • Gross mismatch of the declared and measured layout size (bounding box). The declared size must be close to the project size specified in the submission request; i.e., within 10 percent or 100 microns in each dimension, whichever is greater.
  • Lack of a call to a top CIF cell.
  • Declared top-structure is not defined (GDS only).
  • Incorrect pad count. MOSIS will always count the pads. An error is issued if fewer pads are found than you declared and you are requesting packaged parts. Otherwise, if our pad count disagrees with your declared pad count, MOSIS issues a warning, but uses your declared count.

Sometimes errors cascade, causing further errors to be generated. If you receive a large number of errors, the first one listed is most likely the true culprit.

12.0 Are warnings the same as errors?

In addition to the errors cited above, manufacturability review may also issue one or more warnings. Warnings, by themselves, do not cause a manufacturability review failure, but they may represent a real problem that you need to address. Some sample warnings are:

  • Missing known layers (e.g., no n_well). Note that MOSIS is not checking how you use a layer -- just on its presence or absence.
  • Unknown layers (GDS only; in CIF files, unknown layer messages are errors not warnings).

Additional warnings are explained in the Project Warnings and Messages FAQ.

13.0 Up to what time can I cancel my order?

If the design has not entered the fabrication queue, you can cancel your order at anytime. Once a design is in the fabrication queue, you must send a CANCEL-PROJECT request web form to cancel your order. You can do this up up until 1 PM PT (Pacific time) on the run-closing date posted to the MOSIS fabrication schedule. MOSIS can sometimes allow a late cancelation, but after the 1 PM PT run-closing deadline it is at MOSIS's discretion.
You must successfully use the CANCEL-PROJECT web form posted or receive written acknowledgment from MOSIS that the submission has been successfully cancelled. A cancelation can not be verified by phone.

14.0 Does MOSIS take reservations?

MOSIS does not take reservations for space on multi-project wafer runs. Instead, priority is given to on-time submissions should a run be over booked.
MOSIS has never had to involuntarily exclude an on-time commercial submission from an over booked run.
You can inform MOSIS of your preferred run date by filling out the Run-Date-Requested field in the New-Project, Update, or Fabricate Request. MOSIS uses this data for planning purposes only and does not treat this as a reservsation of space on a particular run.

Related Resources

Fabrication Schedule

Customer Support

MOSIS Products