Microsoft, GLOBALFOUNDRIES Join Si2 OpenAccess Coalition

Growing Membership Shows Ongoing Vertical Integration in IC Design

Austin, Texas—Microsoft Corporation and GLOBALFOUNDRIES have joined Silicon Integration Initiative’s OpenAccess Coalition, a diverse group of international semiconductor companies that support the OpenAccess design database application programming interface.

OpenAccess, which was introduced in 2002, is the most widely used IC design database and is currently supported by its 43 members, representing semiconductors manufacturers and foundries, fabless companies, EDA software providers and systems houses. The OpenAccess database provides EDA software tools with immediate design flow interoperability, saving members time and money.

John Ellis, Si2 president and CEO, said that the recent addition of Microsoft—and Google last year—illustrates the continuing trend of IC design vertical integration. He cited a recent Si2 industry survey which showed “that more than 80 percent of end users develop specialized, internal design tools. OpenAccess allows these home-grown tools to fit into the company’s own, optimized design flow, integrating the best-in-class EDA tools without sacrificing interoperability or performance.

“These end-users are often most interested in the OpenAccess scripting-language interface, which gives engineers direct access into their OA-based design through, for example, the Python programming language,” Ellis said. “This makes their design directly accessible from the console, or rapidly prototyped scripts. Python is well-known and widely adopted by programmers, and has many libraries and tools available, including popular AI development toolkits. The new code release supports these and provides a path toward developing machine-learning-based EDA tools which can make use of the OA database for training.”

Si2 recently introduced OpenAccess Data Model 6, the first major code revision since 2014. DM6 features oaPartitions, a new addition which allows multiprocessing capability to be applied simultaneously to smaller, partitioned regions in large chip designs. Early-stage performance benchmarking by Dr. Rhett Davis from N.C. State University, which was presented at the recent Design Automation Conference, showed under certain circumstances a more than 10x processing speed improvement over the prior version of OpenAccess. DM6 provides a path to higher-efficiency design. Its multiprocessing capability enables cloud-centric design flows for EDA tools which are based on the OpenAccess database.

Si2 Welcomes New Members: Mythic and Thrace Systems

Si2 welcomes its newest members

OpenAccess Coalition — Mythic
www.mythic-ai.com

 

 

OpenStandards Coalition — Thrace Systems
www.thracesystems.com

Si2 Welcomes NVMEngines

Si2 welcomes its newest member: NVMEngines.

NVMEngines will provide non-volatile memory semiconductor IP with initial focus on STT-MRAM technology. For more information visit http://www.nvmengines.com/

MediaTek Joins Si2 OpenAccess Coalition

Si2 welcomes MediaTek Inc. as the newest member of the OpenAccess Coalition. The OpenAccess Database is the world’s most widely used, open reference database for IC design, with a supporting standard API.  It was developed to create authentic interoperability between EDA companies and semiconductor designers and manufacturers. Its adoption has improved design flow efficiency across the industry.

MediaTek (TWSE: 2454) is a global fabless semiconductor company that enables 1.5 billion connected devices a year. They are a market leader in developing innovative systems-on-chip (SoC) for mobile device, home entertainment, connectivity and IoT products.

OpenPDK Membership Agreement

OpenPDK Membership requires the following documents:

 

OPEN PDK COALITION MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT  – form and signature required.
OpenPDK Coalition Operating Rules  –  Review and understanding required

 

Si2 Low Power Membership Agreement

The Si2 LOW POWER COALITION  requires the following membership agreements:

First:  LOW POWER COALITION MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT 01/2008

Second:  Low Power Coalition Operating Rules

OpenAccess Membership Documents

OpenAccess Membership Required Documents

First: For access to current OpenAccess and oaScript (and other extensions) source code, the member must join the OpenAccess Coalition.

OpenAccess  Membership agreement:   OAC_Generic_Membership_Agreement.pdf  

Second:   Use of OpenAccess requires the OpenAccess–Internal Use and Distribution License V 4.0 Oct. 1, 2004. 

Third:   Use of Si2 OpenAccess Scripting Interface requires the ESG (Extensions Steering Group) OpenAccess ESG License v2.0 (January 31, 2013)

 

 

Si2 Bylaws 27-Feb-2015

Si2 ByLaws 27-Feb-2015

Si2 ByLaws should be read by all Si2 members and potential members.

Si2 Antitrust Guidelines V1.0

Si2 Antitrust Guidelines  Ver1.0

The Si2 Antitrust Guidelines are a fundamental part of our operation process. All Si2 members must agree to abide by these guidelines. This document is generally built into or referenced by each membership agreement or procedures document.

Si2 Antitrust Guidelines

Welcome to our New Members

The Si2 staff and board of directors welcome our newest members:

Si2 OpenAccess Member

INVECAS
Santa Clara, Calif.

Chengdu Higon Integrated Circuit Design Co., Ltd.
China

Intento Design
Paris

DXCorr Design, Inc.
Sunnyvale, Calif.

Si2 Base Member

Savarti Company Limited
Milpitas, Calif.