Thanks Gym -
~m
--- Original Message ---
On Friday, August 12th, 2022 at 11:12 PM, jim bell wrote:
> https://www.hpcwire.com/2022/08/11/google-program-to-free-chips-boosts-university-semiconductor-design/
>
> August 11, 2022
>
> A Google-led program to design and manufacture chips for free is becoming
> popular among researchers and computer enthusiasts.
>
> The search giant’s [open silicon
> program](https://developers.google.com/silicon) is providing the tools for
> anyone to design chips, which then get manufactured. Google foots the entire
> bill, from a chip’s conception to delivery of the final product in a user’s
> hand.
>
> Google’s Open MPW program includes an open-source design toolkit from a
> company called EFabless, which also manages the program.
>
> Enthusiasts and researchers have to submit their chip design, which then gets
> manufactured in the factories of SkyWater on the 130nm process. The
> submission deadline for the latest [Open MPW
> program](https://efabless.com/open_shuttle_program) is September 12.
>
> Open MPW’s popularity can be measured by the number of projects using
> Efabless’ EDA tools. Chips from about 240 open-source silicon projects via
> Efabless’ tools will be manufactured in Skywater’s factories, Mike Wishart,
> CEO of Efabless.
>
> “The total projects posted on our site are like 570. That has gone extremely
> well. It’s diverse, from 25 countries,” Wishart said.
>
> Efabless had about 160 tapeouts in 2021, and had no tapeouts in 2020.
>
> Efabless provides a simple design EDA tool to make chips, which is mostly
> about dragging and dropping the core elements inside a chip. An open-source
> PDK (process design kit) prepares the chip for fabrication in factories.
>
> The Open MPW program added recent partners, including the U.S. Department of
> Defense, which last month poured $15 million into the project to get
> open-source chips made on SkyWater’s 90nm process. GlobalFoundries also
> joined the alliance and will also manufacture chips on the 180nm node.
>
> The manufacturing technology provided through the project is very old, but it
> is cost-effective. Intel, Apple and others make expensive chips on the more
> advanced processes such as 5nm, which uses cutting-edge technology and
> provides the fastest computing in devices.
>
> Open MPW is popular in academia and research, and for those experimenting or
> testing chips and need small batches, Wishart said.
>
> “Our incentive is to make it simple for more and more people and grow a
> community around those executing designs… [on] nodes that are more accessible
> to them and therefore lower costs,” Wishart said.
>
> Typically, chips can be expensive to manufacture, and factories are open to
> corporations. But Open MPW makes factories available to researchers and
> students.
>
> “There was an unmet need in academia, that was overwhelming and not
> appreciated because they didn’t know what they could get,” Wishart said.
>
> The open-source toolkits cover the full concept of chip development, from
> conceptualization to delivery of parts. Some universities may have deals with
> chip factories, but students at the undergraduate, master’s and PhD programs
> still have poor awareness of chip fabrication.