How will semiconductor design change in the future?

Latest update time：2021-09-07 04:59

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Source: Translated from the website "newelectronics", thank you.

Fabs are already operating at full capacity, and semiconductors can be found in more products and systems, powering everything from personal devices to self-driving cars. Despite the impact of the pandemic on the global economy, IDC said demand for semiconductors remains strong due to the growth of cloud computing and devices that support remote work and learning.

Its own research confirms this. According to IDC's Semiconductor Application Forecast (SAF), global semiconductor revenue increased to $442 billion in 2020, up 5.4% from 2019. IDC now predicts that by 2021, the semiconductor market will reach $476 billion, which means a 7.7% year-on-year growth rate.

There are also some clear trends within the industry. For example, PWC predicts that the AI-related semiconductor market will reach $30 billion by 2022, equivalent to an AGR of nearly 50%. At the same time, there is still a lot of room for traditional system-on-chip (SoC). Memory chips are expected to continue to have the largest market share by 2022, while chips will dominate the market for decades to come.

New technologies and new players

Other factors shaping the future of semiconductors also come from technology directions, such as the emerging focus on open source hardware. As this trend develops, it will change the way organizations think about design and will encourage a more collaborative and partnership-based approach to development.

The Internet of Things is driving massive demand for more cost-effective semiconductors. Likewise, 5G enables the bandwidth to finally support a widespread interconnected infrastructure, such as for transportation, incorporating inputs from multiple API-connected sources. To achieve the required scale, standards-based, reusable and shareable IP will be key to meeting design requirements, but in a way that supports distribution and collaboration while also meeting safety and security requirements. Open source may be the key to achieving that scale.

The nature of industry participants is also changing, such as the introduction of vertically integrated systems and non-traditional semiconductor companies who may prefer to create their own devices and platforms to achieve greater control. A good example of this is Apple's M1, a processor designed specifically for Macs that furthers their commitment to building key functions in-house. This adds another interesting aspect to the industry, increasing competition and sources of innovation.

Remote collaboration

As a result of the trend’s necessity, semiconductor design teams have had to embrace remote collaboration on an unprecedented scale. Of course, this was already happening to some extent, but in many cases, the pandemic has made it a necessity for survival.

In these virtual environments, as IP sharing grows in scale, issues in the workflow process become impossible to ignore. Solving issues around collaboration and security becomes a priority, and once organizations achieve this, they will have experience that can be used to improve processes, whether they are working in a design office or remotely, regardless of location.

Regardless, the fast-moving nature of the semiconductor market presents designers with some age-old challenges: keeping pace with change and complexity, controlling costs, ensuring projects are on schedule and meet requirements, and then delivering on time. Many semiconductor product launches fail to meet their original release dates. Contributing factors may include: difficulties in collaboration between remote and dispersed teams, company acquisitions leading to design silos, an inability to address management issues of exploding design data sizes, or problems keeping up with growing complex design environments.

IP Reuse and Oversharing

IP reuse has long been considered as a solution to accommodate the massive scale of development, avoid unnecessary reinvention of the wheel, shorten time to market, and significantly reduce costs. The various assets that can be reused include source code and binaries for software, as well as hardware IP such as arm processor cores.

The theory is sound, but successfully managing IP reuse is another story. Many organizations have multiple systems (including shared drives and source control) to store and track all of these files, but this makes it difficult to manage them (let alone reuse them). Fortunately, a variety of tools and techniques are available to help designers overcome these obstacles, but these tools and techniques must include strong structure and controls for reuse. Sharing IP is a path to faster development, but it can also introduce management and security risks. Traceability of IP and metadata (who has access to what, where, and how these assets are used) is critical to the success of a project.

There needs to be a balance between sharing and over-sharing, which is why combining traceability, visibility, and access control is critical to modern semiconductor design. Manual traceability is, of course, widely adopted, but to handle large and complex projects, more and more organizations are using tools that automate large parts of the process from requirements to design and verification. This makes it easier to track what IP was used, where and when, avoiding costly design re-spins. Changes in requirements can be surfaced and communicated earlier and more clearly. Traceability also supports better remote collaboration.

Additionally, creating a “single source of truth” or data management platform can unite all software and hardware components in a project. Even small files become easier to find and reuse, and there may be millions of files in an enterprise, not just large, complex designs. A single source of truth is often based on using a version control system that provides real-time and historical visibility about all assets while allowing users to continue using their preferred tools and systems.

A single source of truth is also critical for identifying hardware and software configuration issues across systems that are otherwise obscured by the complexity of the system. This, in turn, makes collaboration between remote teams, both internally and externally, much easier.

Overcoming IP leaks

With comprehensive traceability and visibility, it becomes more feasible to identify and prevent IP leakage, a long-standing and costly problem in the semiconductor industry. Some of the root causes include fragmented collaborators, insufficient control over who can view and download IP, and users inadvertently exporting IP to unauthorized sources. As the semiconductor market becomes increasingly global, mitigating IP leakage is critical.

Semiconductor design is undergoing unprecedented change. However, the events of the past year provide us with a blueprint for how to navigate the changes needed in collaboration and culture. The good news is that there are tools that provide the traceability needed to facilitate large-scale IP reuse, while also providing the security and communication layers for effective collaboration.

Semiconductor design will look different in the future, but the changes brought about by the global pandemic will help drive the development of major technological innovations.

*Disclaimer: This article is originally written by the author. The content of the article is the author's personal opinion. Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it only to convey a different point of view. It does not mean that Semiconductor Industry Observer agrees or supports this point of view. If you have any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.

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