The world’s largest semiconductor foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., has introduced a new platform for designing system-on-chips (SoCs) in the cloud.
The Open Innovation Platform Virtual Design Environment (OIP VDE) would allow semiconductor companies that are customers with TSMC to develop complete SoC design environments in the cloud.
The platform’s first implementations of digital RTL-to-GDSII and custom schematic capture-to-GDSII flows will happen through partnerships with Amazon Web Services, Cadence, Microsoft Azure and Synopsys.
TSMC said both digital and custom design flows have been validated in the cloud, along with OIP collateral such as process technology files, PDKs, foundation IP and reference flows. Cadence and Synopsys will act as the aggregators in helping customers setting up VDE and with support in order to ensure low barriers to entry.
Microsoft and Cadence worked with SiFive to tape out the first full SoC design in the OIP VDE platform. This SoC was a 64-bit multi-core RISC-V CPU, called the Freedom Unleashed 540, capable of running RISC-V Linux distribution and applications via TSMC OIP VDE.
Arm is collaborating in the platform as well with TSMC partners able to design-in-the-cloud with Arm’s latest processors and across all TSMC nodes through 7 nm.
“The cloud is pervasive and will fundamentally influence silicon design. TSMC is the first foundry to collaborate with design ecosystem partners and cloud providers to enable designs in the cloud,” said Cliff Hou, vice president of Technology Development at TSMC.
