As a reminder, VSDOpen2020, the free, online conference showcasing practical aspects of designing digital and analog IP using freely available resources, is a little more than a week away. It will be held Saturday, October 10, from 8am to 2 pm IST (India Standard Time) which in PDT (Pacific Daylight Time) is 7:30pm Friday, October 9, to 1:30am Saturday, October 10. If you can’t join live, the sessions will be recorded and available a week later at a small fee. The ESD Alliance and the SEMI Foundation are collaborating with its organizer VLSI System Design to promote it.

Now in its third year, it’s a compendium of knowledge with semiconductor IP designed by students, educational tracks and research demonstrations to five IP designer track sessions. Attendees also can expect networking opportunities where designers, researchers, tool developers and students can mingle in a virtual setting. Additionally, three minimally priced lab-based open-source workshops using a cloud platform will be held during the three days leading up to the event. All other registration for VSDOpen2020 is complimentary. Check out the full program for more information about specific sessions.

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Plenty of intriguing email lands in my inbox about webinars, webcasts and other sundry industry events. While all are tempting, there are not enough days in a month to explore them all. Most are passed by and forgotten about.

That changed several months ago with an interesting email from VLSI System Design, a company based in Bangalore, India, that specializes in training students in chip design. During discussions with the founders, I learned about a virtual conference they were producing in October. This caught my attention and held it, so much so that the ESD Alliance, the SEMI Foundation and SEMI are collaborating with its organizers.

The event I’m referring to is VSDOpen2020, a free, online event Saturday, October 10. It starts at 8am IST (India Standard Time) or 7:30pm PDT and runs until 2pm IST or 1:30am PDT. While that may be inconvenient for those of us in the US, sessions will be recorded and available a week later at a small fee.

VSDOpen2020’s theme is the practical aspects of designing analog IP using freely available resources. Considered the pioneer of the semiconductor industry’s online conferences, VSDOpen2020 is a one-day virtual online event, featuring three keynote speakers:

• Jan Rabaey, the Donald O. Pederson Distinguished Professorship at the University of California at Berkeley, will offer a look at “Computation in the Post-Moore Era: Reflecting on the Role of Open Source”
• Naveed Sherwani, chairman, CEO and president of SiFive, will describe “RISC-V and open source hardware –– A golden opportunity for the India semiconductor industry”
• Michael Wishart, Co-Founder and CEO of Efabless, will address “Applying Community Models to ICs: Why and How”

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