Will analog foundry model work?
(11/03/2008 2:24 PM EST)
This commentary was contributed by Danny Lam, energy and semiconductor analyst at The Fairview Group Inc. (San Ramon, Calif.).
In theory, digital chips can be moved around from one manufacturing facility to another. For example, a chipset can be built at IBM, TSMC or even SMIC.
Because you can clone a ''mask set'' from the chip, the industry made that practice illegal via the Semiconductor Protection Act (SPA) in 1984. So, even though someone can steal your design and make it, selling it in any reasonable quantity on the open market is a dead end.
In the case of analog parts, the above considerations do not apply. Analog and mixed-signal parts are specific to individual production lines. Generally, they cannot be moved from one line to another without recalibrating the process from scratch.
Related Semiconductor IP
- AES GCM IP Core
- High Speed Ethernet Quad 10G to 100G PCS
- High Speed Ethernet Gen-2 Quad 100G PCS IP
- High Speed Ethernet 4/2/1-Lane 100G PCS
- High Speed Ethernet 2/4/8-Lane 200G/400G PCS
Related News
- Samsung Foundry Achieves 2X Productivity on Large-Scale Analog and Mixed-Signal IP with the Spectre FX Simulator
- SkyWater CEO Expands "Technology Foundry" Model
- Agile Analog joins Intel Foundry Services Accelerator IP Alliance Program to drive forward semiconductor design innovation
- Intel Provides Update on Internal Foundry Model
Latest News
- HPC customer engages Sondrel for high end chip design
- PCI-SIG’s Al Yanes on PCIe 7.0, HPC, and the Future of Interconnects
- Ubitium Debuts First Universal RISC-V Processor to Enable AI at No Additional Cost, as It Raises $3.7M
- Cadence Unveils Arm-Based System Chiplet
- Frontgrade Gaisler Unveils GR716B, a New Standard in Space-Grade Microcontrollers