Innoda releases EDA hardware cloud white paper, sharing practical experience in cloud migration

(Chengdu, China, August 2, 2022) Innoda (Chengdu) Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. released the "Cloud Acceleration - EDA Simulation Accelerator Cloud Platform White Paper" online. Representatives from Chengdu Integrated Circuit Industry Association, Fosun Investment, Cadence China and Eaton Corporation attended the online press conference and delivered speeches.

With the popularity of cloud services and the increasing acceptance of cloud platforms, more and more chip manufacturers are gradually focusing on the cloud, hoping to use the computing power and flexibility of the cloud to reduce chip design costs and speed up product launches. Especially in the field of design verification that requires a large amount of computing resources, such a large resource pool is generally provided by specialized hardware. The "Cloud Acceleration" white paper analyzes the problems faced by manufacturers when using local data centers to solve computing resources, and thus proposes a solution of placing hardware in the cloud, which completely changes the verification process of traditional complex chip design and opens up the channel between design requirements and hardware resources.

Dr. Qi Wang, founder of Innova, said at the press conference: "Whether it is a small or medium-sized enterprise or a chip manufacturer that has already reached a certain scale, they all face the problem of accelerating product launch and rationally utilizing computing resources. The problem we want to solve is to allow these companies to focus more on chip design and R&D that reflects their core competitiveness, without having to worry about how to use and maintain the tools needed in the chip design process, thereby unleashing their innovation potential."

EDA hardware faces multiple challenges on its way to the cloud. The white paper "Acceleration on the Cloud" summarizes four major barriers, namely technical barriers, data security barriers, business model barriers and cost barriers. Taking technical barriers as an example, EDA hardware accelerators can be called supercomputers among IC design tools. They require very professional technical support not only in the construction of the computer room, but also in the process of use. Innoda has overcome these barriers one by one through practical practice and pioneering innovation with its partners.

Gu Zhonglin, Sales Director of Eaton Greater China, said: "Due to the particularity of the EDA accelerator system, there are extremely high customization requirements for the computer room infrastructure. After communicating with Innotech, Eaton quickly provided a computer room design solution with dual UPS power supply and ultra-high power cooling, and completed the construction of the computer room in a short time."

The white paper "Acceleration on the Cloud" uses specific practices to explain how to overcome these challenges as well as the problems and solutions encountered in building a leading domestic cloud platform based on heterogeneous computing. This model has reference value for exploring future cloud models and the construction of heterogeneous cloud platforms.

In 2021, Innoda established the first EDA hardware verification cloud platform in China exclusively authorized by Cadence. The cloud platform reached full load shortly after it went online and was unanimously recognized by users. In the first half of 2022, due to the impact of the epidemic, the sustainability of the business of many companies was challenged. However, given the special properties of the EDA hardware cloud, the impact on Innoda's hardware cloud customers was limited. According to statistics, the average utilization rate of EDA hardware cloud during the epidemic remained above 80%, and in some periods it even exceeded the utilization rate before the epidemic, thus ensuring that the development work of the R&D team can continue to advance rapidly.

I believe that with the advent of the post-epidemic era and the increasing industry recognition of cloud platforms, Innova's EDA hardware cloud platform will empower the innovation and development of more chip companies.