Core service

Recover verifiable hierarchical schematics from physical silicon

Decapsulation, layer-by-layer removal, SEM imaging and hierarchical schematic recovery — all in our own lab. What you receive is not a stack of images, but data you can trace and cross-reference against the layout.

Why customers commission circuit analysis

Over eighteen years, the reasons almost always fall into three.

Architecture decisions need evidence

In analog IC design, the wrong architecture is the most expensive mistake there is. Rather than cycling between simulation and tape-out, look first at how a chip that survived in the market actually solved the problem.

The window to reach market

IC circuits are complex, and architecture and process are usually the hardest and riskiest part of development. Getting stuck there wastes engineering time and can cost you an entire product cycle.

Knowing what competitors actually built

A datasheet states the result, not the method. Which architecture a rival chose, how many metal layers, which process node — those answers only come from the physical die, and they inform both roadmap and pricing decisions.

Eight steps to commission a custom analysis

Each step is confirmed before the next begins, so scope never drifts halfway through.

I

Evaluation

Establish what the die allows and how much of it you need.

  1. 01

    Sample and datasheet

    Send at least one sample so we can evaluate the project. A datasheet, if you have one, makes the evaluation more accurate.

  2. 02

    Evaluation report

    We produce an evaluation report covering die size, process node, metal and poly layer counts, and a top-layer photograph.

  3. 03

    Define the scope

    Mark up the top-layer photograph directly to show which regions you want imaged at high resolution or analysed.

II

Commissioning

Price, lead time and deliverables, all in writing.

  1. 04

    Letter of authorisation (LOA)

    A quotation built from your requirements: itemised pricing, engineering scope, deliverables list, lead time, payment terms and copyright notice.

  2. 05

    Purchase confirmation

    Issue a formal purchase order, or simply sign the LOA and settle the initial payment.

  3. 06

    Engineering confirmation

    Once the PO or signed LOA arrives, we confirm the exact completion date and the final deliverables list.

III

Execution and delivery

Once it reaches the lab, progress is visible in the Portal.

  1. 07

    Lab work and analysis

    Decapsulation, delayering, layer-by-layer imaging, netlist extraction and hierarchical schematic assembly — all in house.

  2. 08

    Delivery and support

    BrigenOne project, schematic files and PDF report. Follow-up questions answered within 24 hours.

Scope can be a single critical block or the whole die. If you are unsure how much you need, start with the evaluation report — that is exactly what it is for.

Deliverables

One analysis in three forms: BrigenOne to trace and query, Cadence files you can edit or export as a netlist, and a PDF that opens anywhere. All three are built from the same data, so any one can be used to verify the other two.

BrigenOne project

Our own circuit viewer: bidirectional cross-indexing between layout and circuit elements, cells and nets; multi-layer high-resolution die imagery; on-screen measurement. No installation required.

Cadence-compatible schematics

Schematic files compatible with Cadence Composer. Edit them in Cadence, or convert to a netlist for simulation. (Simulation is not part of this service.)

Hierarchical PDF report

The circuit laid out by hierarchy as a PDF, readable on any platform, with die photo, device summary and architecture list.

Flattened schematics are partitioned along the physical layout — by guard ring — with the correspondence marked in both the layout and the schematic, and inter-block nets connected and correctly named. This is what makes a report readable, and it is what customers comment on most.

Analysis can be limited to the blocks that matter

Scope is your decision, and cost follows scope.

Some customers only need to understand one critical block — the protection circuit in a power IC, or the sampling front end of an ADC. Analysing the full die would be wasted effort.

Others need only high-resolution layer-by-layer die imagery, or device identification and net annotation without full schematic recovery. Both are available on their own.

Marking the region directly on the top-layer photograph from the evaluation report is the clearest way to communicate scope — we quote against exactly what you circle.

Memory arrays and auto-placed-and-routed (APR) digital blocks are outside the scope of analysis. And on a partial scope, nets crossing the boundary are not traced beyond it — the schematic shows signals entering and leaving, but where they go outside the region is not part of that engagement. If a signal’s source or destination matters to you, include it in the region you outline.

Top-layer die photograph with the Switch, Power Selector and Control blocks outlined in red as the scope of analysis
Scope marked on the die: the Switch, Power Selector and Control blocks outlined in red are what gets analysed — the rest is left alone.

Quality control

The value of a circuit analysis report is its accuracy. One wrong net can cost a customer days.

  1. 01

    Double extraction

    Netlist extraction is performed twice and the two results compared line by line. Where necessary the die is imaged again against a different background and extracted separately — the same misreading rarely survives two independent passes.

  2. 02

    Two-level review

    A quality team of senior engineers reviews each low-level block as it is completed, followed by a full review once every block is done. One pass at block level, one at project level.

  3. 03

    Error guide

    A low-level circuit error guide, written collaboratively by senior engineers, catalogues common faults and their fixes as part of the company knowledge base. New engineers do not have to rediscover the same traps.

  4. 04

    Issue tracking

    An internal issue-tracking process ties every error to a named engineer and a named project, so faults can be traced, counted, and fed back into the error guide.

Questions after delivery are answered within 24 hours.

Three engineers reviewing a schematic at a whiteboard

Start with an evaluation

Ship us a sample, or just send the part number. The evaluation report tells you the scale of the die, the scope worth analysing, and the cost and schedule — and its fee is credited against the full analysis.