Efabless marks chip manufacturing milestone

The platform allows start-ups and smaller companies to prototype designs and innovate without having to buy a license, he explained. It provides open-source and community models of reusable IP blocks and three evaluation boards which designers can use to assemble and customise chip designs. It also provides design tools, code and verification example and, once a design is finalised, it manages the supply chain for fabrication, assembly and testing, through vendor partners.

Efabless says it provides a capital-efficient path for new semiconductor companies and enables others to create chips that would not conventionally use them. Recent designs have been in sensor applications, IoT and industrial controllers, and security. Academic teams and universities are using the platform as part of research projects, chips for AI and medical devices are being created, confirmed Wishart.

Non-traditional chip designers make up 80% of the client base, he says, used for chips in medical device design, keyboard applications, programmable logic products. There is asic support for RFID products.

To date over 1,400 designs and 600 tapeouts have been developed, said Wishart. The platform uses 130nm technology and designs are not optimised for PPA (power, performance, area) which makes the process simple and affordable, he added.

The democratisation of access to chip design and manufacturing is driving chip design in both new industries and verticals, says Efabless; from agriculture, industrial, infrastructure, smart home appliances to quantum computing, aerospace, security, autonomous vehicles, and medical devices.

There are currently four shuttles a year producing evaluation chips for less than $10,000 each, said Wishart.

Efabless uses independent foundry, Skywater and includes Global Foundries has an investor.