MST Tool Update: A Runnable MPW Handoff Practice Pack
Inspect two synthetic GDS revisions, catch stale report metadata, and prepare a reviewed handoff record with downloadable files and expected results.
- →The problem: the layout changed, but the report did not
- →What is in the update?
- →Run one complete task
- →What the result proves
MST’s MPW teaching workflow now includes a downloadable exercise that takes a reader from a small GDS file to a reviewed handoff record. The files are synthetic and carry an MIT license; the pack contains no customer layout or foundry PDK.
The problem: the layout changed, but the report did not
A report can say “pass” and still describe the wrong file. Before assessing the technical result, the team needs to establish which layout, top cell, revision and verification environment produced it. The exercise makes that administrative error visible without requiring access to a commercial design kit.
What is in the update?
- Two GDS revisions and the Python source that generates them.
- A pinned KLayout dependency and an independent inspection script.
- Expected layout metadata, file checksums, a consistent report-metadata fixture and an intentionally stale fixture.
- A handoff checklist, a first-silicon test-plan template and an offline handbook.
- A browser tool that checks report metadata against a locally selected layout file.
Run one complete task
- Download the MPW handoff practice pack and read its README.
- Run
python3 verify.pyto verify the packaged files and the intentional stale-report example. This step uses Python’s standard library. - Install the pinned dependency in an isolated environment, then run
python inspect.pyto read both layouts with KLayout and compare the metadata with the supplied expectations. - Use GDS Quick Check to inspect revision B: one top cell, two cells, three layer/datatype pairs and a 120 by 60 micrometre bounding box.
- Open Report Revision Check, select revision B and load the stale metadata. Expect two DRC identity mismatches: layout hash and revision. Load the consistent fixture and compare the outcome.
What the result proves
The exercise demonstrates file identity, basic layout inspection and report-to-layout traceability. The report metadata is fictional: neither fixture contains the result of a real DRC or LVS run. Matching metadata cannot prove that a chip is electrically correct, manufacturable or approved for an MPW slot.
Continue through the complete handoff tutorial and MPW handoff handbook. For a real project, use its authorized PDK and required decks, retain the actual reports and obtain the provider’s acceptance.
MST tool and learning-resource update · September 27, 2026. Product scope: local educational checks and handoff preparation. Commercial MPW access, packaging and test scope require separate project confirmation.
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