The Electronic System Design (ESD) industry continues to post strong revenue numbers and project a positive future for the close to 55,000 people employed in our ecosystem. Just consider, the ESD industry reported the highest year-over-year increase in more than 10 years with quarterly revenue reaching a record $3,748.7 million. In fact, revenue increased 17.5% from $3,191.4 million in Q2 2021 to $3,748.7 million in Q2 2022 and the four-quarter moving average, which compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four, rose 15.3%. All product categories and geographic regions recorded growth in the quarter.

These numbers were stated by us –– the ESD Alliance, a SEMI Technology Community –– in our latest Electronic Design Market Data (EDMD) report. As for companies tracked by the EDMD, they employed 54,408 people globally in Q2 2022, an 8.9% increase over the Q2 2021 headcount of 49,964 and up 6% compared to Q1 2022. (more…)

I’m pleased to welcome Axiomise of London and Silicon Assurance from Gainesville, Florida, to the ESD Alliance of SEMI. It’s great to see small and emerging companies like Axiomise and Silicon Assurance in our design ecosystem to help ensure its vibrancy and innovation.

Follow me as I offer thumbnail sketches of both.

Getting to Know Axiomise

www.axiomise.com (PRNewsfoto/Axiomise Ltd.)

Verification is an increasingly critical part of system design and Axiomise plays a significant role as a leading provider of cutting-edge formal verification training and services along with specialized verification solutions for RISC-V. It was founded by CEO Dr. Ashish Darbari about five years ago and since then, Axiomise engineers trained more than 200 verification engineers and offered countless solutions to semiconductor companies worldwide.

Ashish himself is an impressive figure as a noted formal verification practitioner of more than 20 years who continues to regularly use the entire toolbox of formal technologies, including theorem proving, model checking and equivalence checking. He also boasts 47 formal verification patents.

When asked why Axiomise joined the ESD Alliance and SEMI, Ashish was quick to answer: “It’s important for companies of our size to be part of the thriving electronic system design community. The networking and educational events and technical programs offer us a platform to reinforce the value of formal verification in semiconductor design in the global electronics industry.”

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In so many ways, Mark Templeton was a giant in the semiconductor industry. At the time of his death in 2016, Mark was a prominent and highly respected Silicon Valley venture capitalist who leveraged his engineering background to foster scientific advancement.

That’s why it’s fitting that he was inducted posthumously this week into the Phil Kaufman Hall of Fame, co-sponsored by the ESD Alliance of SEMI and the IEEE CEDA. The honor recognizes Mark’s significant and innovative contributions to the electronic system design industry. 

Mark leaves a legacy of technical and business innovation and that creativity endures after his untimely death. As a director and board member of numerous technology companies, he was instrumental in driving semiconductor IP market growth by spearheading technical innovations and developing new business models. For example, Mark co-founded Artisan Components Physical IP in 1991, where he served as president and CEO. Under his leadership, Artisan Components quickly set the industry standard for implementing complex SoC designs.

“Often overlooked is Mark’s genius,” remarks Lucio Lanza, managing director of Lanza techVentures, who nominated Mark for the recognition. “He created a new and innovative business model for silicon IP, moving away from upfront fees to a success-based approach.” In fact, Artisan was the first company to offer free custom IP blocks for semiconductor design and was compensated once the design was completed, a model that has promoted design community growth. Tens of thousands of chip designs using custom IP blocks have since been implemented, spanning 15 different process technologies and 18 foundries. Artisan went public in 1997 and was acquired by Arm in 2004. From 2004 to 2006, Mark was president and Chief Strategy Office of Arm North America and also served on the Arm Holdings board of directors.

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It gives me great pleasure to announce Dr.Giovanni (Nanni) De Micheli is the recipient of the 2022 Phil Kaufman Award for Distinguished Contributions to Electronic System Design presented annually by the ESD Alliance of SEMI and IEEE CEDA.

Nanni, Professor and Director of the Institute of Electrical Engineering and the Integrated Systems Centre at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, is being honored for his extensive contributions to EDA. His research in EDA tools and methodologies has advanced the academic field and made an impact on industry designs through their use in commercial EDA tools and design methodologies.

According to his nominators, Nanni created multiple technologies and inspired his students and researchers at universities as well as engineers in industry. His work has expanded the fields of high-level synthesis, logic synthesis, and networks on chips for more than 30 years.

“Professor De Micheli, or Nanni to many of us, who’ve been driving our industry forward for decades, stands as a relentless advocate for our field,” remarks Aart de Geus, Chairman and CEO of Synopsys and a member of the ESD Alliance Governing Council. “I am not alone when I express my appreciation to Nanni for advancing the field, but most important, for continuing to add findings that keep our profession fresh and exciting!”

The award ceremony and dinner will be held in early 2023. We hope you will join the ESD Alliance, its Governing Council and IEEE CEDA in honoring Nanni at the award dinner. Registration information will be available soon.

The news release offers a full look at Nanni’s contributions to our industry.

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The ESD Alliance and its Governing Council mourns the death of Phil Moorby, 2005 Phil Kaufman Kaufman Award recipient for his efforts in the development of the Verilog language and its associated family of simulators.

Summer’s almost over, school’s back in session and it’s time to look forward. It’s an even better time to join the ESD Alliance, a SEMI Technology Community. The reasons for joining are numerous.

Much of the ESD Alliance member value is derived from the various technical- and business-focused committees. With committee membership consisting of subject matter experts in our member companies, these groups address key areas of common concern for our industry. 

One such area is the quarterly SEMI Electronic Design Market Data (EDMD) report, a resource that is part of the Market Information initiative. Public and private EDA, semiconductor IP and services companies provide detailed revenue data in confidence to an independent auditing firm. The aggregated data is reported by detailed product categories and geographic regions on a quarterly basis. Each report includes tables and graphs with current and recent revenue and employment trends by quarter, allowing companies to review trends affecting their specific product segments.

The increasingly important Risk Management initiative includes SEMI’s Washington, D.C. policy and advocacy office, representing all member companies with a unified voice on export licensing and compliance issues. We also help to train future government leaders in the semiconductor design ecosystem to enable more educated future decisions affecting the industry.

The License Management and Anti-Piracy Committee reviews third-party licensing management software used by member companies for issues, updates and best practices. A significant ongoing effort is the SEMI Server Certification Protocol (SSCP), a years-long joint development effort led by the ESD Alliance with committee members Cadence, Siemens EDA and Synopsys (see my previous blog post for details). The SSCP addresses software piracy by providing a means to assure that licenses are issued only by authorized servers, reducing software piracy and benefitting both software vendors and customers.
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