The electronic system design ecosystem got welcome news this week from the most recent SEMI Market Statistics Service (MSS) from the ESD Alliance. Our market segment revenue rose 12.6% in Q2 2020 to $2,783.9 million, compared to $2,472.1 million in Q2 2019, with most categories logging double-digit increases. The four-quarter moving average, which compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four quarters, grew by 6.7%.

One particularly interesting statistic is the 5% increase in headcount or 46,579 employees in Q2 2020 over 44,372 employees Q2 2019. The number was up by 1.4% compared to Q1 2020.

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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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When we last checked in with Methodics in May, Jim Hogan was interviewing its CEO Simon Butler for an ESD-Alliance hosted virtual webcast describing its trajectory and success creating a new market segment called IP Lifecycle Management (IPLM).

Plenty has changed for Methodics in those three months –– notably, it is now part of Perforce. From what I heard during a recent call with Jim, Simon and Michael Munsey, Methodics’ vice president of marketing, business development and strategy, it’s already making its mark within Perforce as a valuable and strategic resource. Methodics’ technology, they explained, is foundational to Perforce’s strategy to move into the IPLM space.
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Here’s some welcome news for our industry: SEMI, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor, a Siemens Business, and Synopsys are embarking on a joint development effort for a new industry standard protocol to be used with software license management systems to prevent software piracy.

The ESD Alliance is playing a key role. Our License Management/Anti-Piracy (LMA) Committee, which includes Cadence, Mentor and Synopsys as members, will provide program management and the framework for the partnership.

The ongoing problem of software piracy makes the Server Certification Protocol a vital and much-needed program. It’s also a reminder of the ESD Alliance’s fundamental ability to bring together leading companies to solve industry problems and reinforces the importance of the design ecosystem as a key element of SEMI’s mission to represent the entire semiconductor electronic product chain.

“Software piracy is a growing challenge and threatens to stifle innovation for EDA companies and customers alike,” says Nimish Modi, senior vice president of market and business development at Cadence. “We are glad to collaborate with the industry on defining this new standard to help further the efforts towards a comprehensive anti-piracy strategy.”

Under terms of the agreement, the partners will work to develop the SEMI Server Certification Protocol to address software piracy, an issue that affects both software vendors and their users. The protocol will outline a standard mechanism defining how every installation of a server can be uniquely identified, putting a substantial barrier in place against piracy.

“New technologies and solutions have enabled other segments of the software industry to combat piracy,” comments Arun Venkatachar, vice president of Synopsys central engineering. “It is time for EDA to be on par with the rest of the industry. This collaborative effort from both vendors and customers is critical for an effective anti-piracy strategy.”
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Looking into August, set aside Thursday, August 20, from 10-11am PDT for our next webinar that we’re co-hosting with McKinsey & Company.

“The Impact of Future Mobility Disruptions on the Semiconductor Design Ecosystem” will outline design and silicon IP opportunities driven by the rapid growth and disruptions in global automotive markets and supply chains.

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I’m taking a timeout from SEMICON West to offer some good news on the results from our most recent Market Statistics Service (MSS) announced last week.

Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry revenue increased 3.5% in Q1 2020 to $2,698 million, compared to $2,606.4 million in Q1 2019. The four-quarter moving average that compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four quarters increased by 5.2%.

Before I go further, I’ll grab a brief intermission to talk about the MSS (the full report available to ESD Alliance members) to those who aren’t familiar with it. For more than 20 years, MSS has reported EDA, IP and services industry revenue data quarterly with public and private companies contributing to the report. Data is reported quarterly after a quarter closes in confidence to an independent auditing firm.

MSS report revenue data is aggregated and segmented by product categories and regions with many subcategories of detail provided. Every report includes tables with current year-to-date revenue along with the three previous years by quarter, allowing companies to review trends affecting their specific product segments. The report also lists total employment of the tracked companies.

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SEMICON West may be virtual this year, nonetheless, attendees will still have much of the same experience. A wide range of keynotes, fireside chats and executive panels are scheduled from Monday through Thursday, July 20-July 23.

SEMI, celebrating its 50th anniversary, sponsors SEMICON West as part of its mission to connect, collaborate and innovate. And, lest you think SEMICON West is strictly for manufacturing, let me set the record straight. A recent look at attendee demographics noted that 25% of registrants are interested in design and IP.

Aart de Geus

We –– the ESD Alliance –– are a SEMI Technology Community representing members in the electronic system and semiconductor design ecosystem and we’ll be there. Aart de Geus, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Synopsys and a member of our governing council, will give a keynote Thursday from 8am until 8:30am.

Of note, IBM executive John Kelly III will kick off the conference by highlighting the vital importance of AI in a sustainable future. Other keynoters are Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

Other high-powered speakers are:

• Bill Davidow, high-tech industry executive, venture investor and author, who will describe “The Autonomous Revolution: Reclaiming the Lives We’ve Sold to Machines.”
• Gayle Jennings O’Bryne, The WOCstar Fund (Women of Color) co-founder and general partner, and Bob Pearson, chairman of The Next Practices Group and author, will examine “How Technology, Innovation and Smart Investing is a Pathway Forward in Times of Racial and Economic Injustice.”
• Ivy Ross, Google hardware vice president of design, and Dr. Josh Makower, NEA Healthcare general partner and lead for its MedTech/Healthtech practice, will discuss “Where the Inspiration for Google’s Hardware Design Comes From.”
• Abby Snay, deputy secretary for the future of work, California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, and Dave Toole, CEO, The Gig Economy Group, will offer a look at “How Tech Talent Will Manage the New Norm.”
• Gary Bolles, chair for The Future of Work, Singularity University, will lead a panel on disruptive global workplace changes in “The Great Work Reset.”

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Ted Miracco and everyone at Cylynt (pronounced sī-lənt) could be considered real-life Marvel Comics crimefighters as they battle software piracy around the globe.

I recently spoke to Ted who is CEO of this ESD Alliance member company. We discussed the recent name change from SmartFlow Compliance Solutions to Cylynt, its success as an anti-piracy and cybersecurity crime stopper and move to become a software-as-a-service (SaaS) market intelligence platform.

Ted Miracco, CEO of Cylynt

Is there a market for anti-piracy software?

My answer is a definitive yes. The market opportunity for this type of software is huge. The BSA Software Alliance found that nearly 40% of all software installations worldwide are being used illegally. Software companies are losing more than $46 billion of potential revenue a year.

Many companies use license managers to protect their software IP. License managers are good at providing a check-in and check-out mechanism for companies that want to pay for software and they are well served. Large enterprise-wide users can deploy a license manager on a server with a number of licenses and provide access to those licenses with various software monetization strategies.

License managers generally do not prevent software piracy, and they are also susceptible to commercial overuse or over-deployment. For example, a multinational company could be using a “North America only” license that follows the sun 24/7. Another common instance of over-deployment occurs by rehosting a license, while continuing to use the software on the old computer. Outright piracy can occur when a rogue employee installs a counterfeit license, or a bogus website or corrupt reseller sells counterfeit software as the genuine product. All legitimate companies need to know if this type of software was installed on their networks, as it is not only illegal, but also can come loaded with trojans and malware that can expose the company to IP theft and ransomware.

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One of the newest members to the ESD Alliance and SEMI community is D2S, a supplier of GPU-accelerated solutions for semiconductor manufacturing. I’m particularly pleased to welcome D2S since the ESD Alliance’s goal this year is to better connect design and manufacturing, something D2S can help us accomplish.

Aki Fujimura is a founder and CEO of D2S and a well-known and long-time member of the electronic design automation industry going all the way back to Tangent Systems in 1984. Tangent was acquired by Cadence Design Systems in 1989 and that’s where Aki and I start our conversation.

Bob: It’s been 31 years since Cadence acquired Tangent, a company you were a co-founder of along with Steve Teig, Terry Smith, Mark Flomenhoft, and Randy Smith, who died unexpectedly earlier this year. What impact did Tangent have on the industry and on you personally?

Aki: Yeah, I miss Randy. Steve Teig and I got to work with a team of talented and dedicated engineers at Tangent to bring to market the first commercial place and route (P&R) software using “over the cell” routing designed to handle multi-layered process technology for ASICs and SOCs.

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