U2U - User 2 User conference - Santa Clara, CA

Delivering 10X Design Improvments

Time and time again, escalating complexity has threatened to derail the IC industry from the extraordinary innovation and 35% annual reduction in transistor pricing it has enjoyed the past 40+ years. Fortunately, in each and every instance, creative engineers and companies have seen this as a challenge and opportunity to innovate. As a result, the electronic design automation industry has repeatedly delivered order of magnitude improvements in every aspect of the IC design cycle for over three decades. Today, the exponential rise in complexity has quickened its pace as the industry moves toward adoption of 28 nm and below. Dr. Wally Rhines will discuss how in the next five years, 10X improvements in design methodologies are needed in four principal areas: high-level system design, verification, embedded software development, and back-end physical design and test. He will provide a roadmap for the next wave of changes needed to successfully negotiate rising complexity, highlighting where they will most likely occur.

The Virtual IDM Evolution:  Redefining the Foundry Model

The semiconductor industry is at a crossroads, as chip design continues to increase in complexity and more companies offload the cost of manufacturing in favor of a fabless business model. A new approach is needed to successfully bring today's integrated circuits to market, one that goes beyond the pre-packaged solutions foundries have typically offered to customers. This presentation will explore the challenges of bringing complex designs to market and outline a new way to deliver foundry design enablement. The approach, which GLOBALFOUNDRIES refers to as its "Virtual IDM" model, is designed to give foundry customers the intimacy of an Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM) through deep collaboration and a flexible approach to providing design solutions. The new model is built upon concurrent design/process co-optimization and a continuous feedback loop between foundry technology and the design infrastructure provided to customers. This is supported by a robust partner ecosystem of leading providers in the EDA, IP and design services areas, allowing GLOBALFOUNDRIES to provide a modular solution tailored to meet a customer's specific needs-accelerating time-to-market while reducing design and manufacturing risks.