We’re in the process of forming a working group on system scaling and welcome your input as a member of the chip design or semiconductor manufacturing ecosystems to help us set the direction. Join us for an open forum, “More than Moore –– Enabling the Power of System Scaling,” Tuesday, May 17, from 6 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the ESD Alliance/SEMI Global Headquarters in San Jose, Calif.

The host for the evening will be Herb Reiter of eda 2 asic Consulting who will lead a discussion on what it will take to propel system scaling solutions into the mainstream for semiconductor design and manufacturing. The goal of the meeting is to help the ESD Alliance identify priorities in both the manufacturing and design areas that will help unlock the potential of system scaling.

System scaling offers an alternative path to pursuing Moore’s Law by moving the integration focus from the transistor to the integration of heterogeneous pre-fabricated and proven devices, including die-level IP, into an advanced IC package. As Herb points out, there are various system scaling technologies already in use today, such as interposer-based designs using die-level IP blocks, but they have not crossed into the mainstream.  Although new sub-10nm process technologies continue to drive Moore’s Law, development costs at these advanced nodes are beyond the reach of much of the conventional market.

Here’s where the ESD Alliance comes in. As an industry organization, we can facilitate interaction between modeling, design, analysis/verification, manufacturing and test in order to unlock the potential of these new integration solutions. We see the formation of the System-Scaling Working Group as a way to bring manufacturing and automation together to enable efficient and cost-effective use of advanced packaging technologies. The Alliance will be able to focus on expanding automation coverage and modeling, helping the industry leverage Moore’s Law in a new and powerful way. Most important, we see opportunities for our members to grow their businesses in automation, modeling and manufacturing.
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It’s been only a few short weeks since we launched the Electronic System Design (ESD) Alliance and we haven’t stopped there.

The party March 30 was a huge success, with more than 100 members of the design ecosystem community helping us celebrate our new name and expanded mission. The pictures show the support and enthusiasm better than I can in words. The slideshow can be found at: http://bit.ly/1SQnfF6

For a look at why we made the sweeping changes, check out the March 31 news release found at: http://bit.ly/1Sg4NrV

Next up, we announced last week that well-known visionary, leader and technology investor Lucio Lanza, managing director of Lanza techVentures, has been appointed to the Board of Directors. We are especially pleased that he accepted the board’s invitation because he has tremendous insights and an astute understanding of the market. Fittingly, Lucio was the recipient of the Phil Kaufman Award for Distinguished Contributions to EDA in 2014 for his substantial impact on EDA through his strategic and financial assistance to innovative EDA companies. Welcome, Lucio! The news release with details can be found at: http://bit.ly/1YyfU0Z
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