IP and VIP updates; new fabs; CHIPS Act applicant requirements; Intel strategies; Keysight acquires Cliosoft

Catching up on some of the news from the last three weeks or so, let’s start with a Silicon Valley update: Tesla global engineering headquarters are moving to Palo Alto. The company is reportedly taking over the lease for the office space previously occupied by Hewlett-Packard. More news this week concern new fabs around the world and the U.S. CHIPS Act. But first, some IP and VIP updates.

IP, VIP and validation updates: Arteris, Avery, Cadence, Imperas

Arteris has launched its FlexNoC 5 physically aware network-on-chip IP, which enables SoC designers to incorporate physical constraint management across power, performance and area (PPA). According to the company, this technology enables up to 5X faster physical convergence over manual refinements with fewer iterations from the layout team. The resulting physically optimized NoC IP instance is ready for output to physical synthesis and place and route for implementation. Arteris has also formed a partnership with Risc-V IP vendor SiFive, to help speed up edge AI product development. As a result of this collaboration, SiFive has developed the 22G1 X280 Customer Reference Platform, incorporating a SiFive X280 processor IP and an Arteris Ncore cache coherent interconnect IP.

Avery Design Systems has announced a new validation suite supporting the Compute Express Link (CXL) open industry-standard interconnect. It enables system interoperability, validation and performance benchmarking of systems targeting the full range of versions of the CXL standard. According to the company, sharing the same validation suite across pre- and post-silicon enables hardware and software development teams to start system integration and validation extremely early in the project while still working with Verilog RTL simulation and emulation.

Cadence has announced the availability of thirteen new Verification IP solutions for the latest standards protocols. The new VIPs support multiple application areas and specifications, including hyperscale data center (UCIe, AMBA 5 CHI-f, DTI, latest version of DDR5 DIMM), automotive (MIPI A-PHY 1.1, CAN XL, Flash ONFI 5.1), consumer and mobile (USB4 2.0, GDDR7, MIPI SoundWire I3S, latest version of LPDDR, DFI, HDMI 2.1).

Imperas has announced a collaboration with Synopsys enabling mutual customers to use ImperasDV Risc-V verification solutions with Synopsys’ VCS simulation and Verdi debug tools. Imperas has authored an application note on the combined solution.

Cadence 2022 results

Cadence reported 2022 revenue of $3.562 billion, compared to revenue of $2.988 billion for 2021. On a GAAP basis, the company achieved operating margin of 30 percent and recognized net income of $849 million in 2022, compared to operating margin of 26 percent and net income of $696 million for 2021. For fiscal year 2023, Cadence expects total revenue in the range of $4.00 billion to $4.06 billion. On a GAAP basis, operating margin for 2023 is expected to be in the range of 30.5 percent to 32.0 percent. “Cadence delivered record results for 2022, as we exceeded our guidance yet again, achieving 19 percent revenue growth and over 40 percent non-GAAP operating margin,” said CEO Anirudh Devgan in the conference call remarks.

New fabs: TI in Utah, Microchip in Colorado, Infineon in Germany, Rapidus in Chitose

Semiconductor subsidy programs passed by governments in the U.S., Europe and Japan are stimulating the construction of new fabs around the world. Texas Instruments plans to build its next 300-millimeter semiconductor wafer fab in Lehi, Utah, next to a company’s existing site. Amounting to $11 billion, this will be the largest economic investment in Utah history. Construction of the new fab is expected to begin in the second half of 2023, with production starting in 2026. Another U.S. fab has been announced by Microchip, which plans to invest $880M to expand silicon carbide and silicon production capacity at its existing Colorado Springs manufacturing facility over the next several years. The existing fab works on 6-inch wafers, while the new one will run on 8-inch wafers. U.S. investments have also been confirmed by TSMC, which has approved the capital injection of up to $3.5 billion to wholly-owned subsidiary TSMC Arizona. As for Europe, Infineon is starting construction of its new plant for analog/mixed-signal technologies and power semiconductors in Dresden, Germany, set to begin production in 2026. The company is seeking EU Chips Act funding of around one billion euros, and plans to invest a total of approximately five billion euros in the fab – the largest single investment in Infineon’s history. And Japan’s state-backed Rapidus has selected the city of Chitose, on the Hokkaido island, as the construction site for its new state-of-the-art semiconductor factory. The company aims to launch a prototype line in 2025 and a mass production line in the late 2020s. Chitose already hosts a Sumco wafer fab and automotive sensor maker Denso Hokkaido.

U.S. CHIPS Act updates: new staff, requirements for applicants

The U.S. Department of Commerce has detailed a set of priorities that will guide the CHIPS for America program. Among them, the Department will evaluate applications based on the extent of the applicant’s commitments to refrain from stock buybacks; it will also require recipients of more than $150 million in direct funding to share with the U.S. government a portion of any cash flows or returns that exceed the applicant’s projections above an established threshold, and to submit plans to provide workers with access to child care.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has also announced fifteen new staff joining the CHIPS for America team. Among them, Mike O’Brien – named Senior Relationship Director – was recently the vice president of aerospace and government at Synopsys and has also worked for Cadence. Also from the industry is Dan Kim – named Chief Economist and Director of Strategic Planning and Industry Analysis – who was director of economic strategy for Qualcomm and, most recently, vice president and chief economist for SK Hynix.

Intel strategies questioned

Intel board of directors has recently reduced the quarterly dividend to $0.125 per share (or $0.50 annually) on the company’s common stock. Financial analysts quoted by EETimes believe this choice was politically motivated, since Intel’s recent decision to cut headcount – while maintaining the dividend – would have been inappropriate for a company expected to benefit from government aid via the U.S. CHIPS Act. Intel’s expense cuts and workforce reduction have also been questioned by microprocessor analyst Linley Gwennap (TechInsights), who warns about the risk of causing further delays in product development. According to Gwennap, customers switch to AMD because Intel products are often inferior, late to market, or both. For example, the new Xeon processor code-named Sapphire Rapids reached production more than a year behind schedule, by which time AMD had introduced a next-generation competitor. Intel “would be better served – Gwennap maintains – “by shutting down at least one of its three programs that aim to build new businesses in markets where it has little share today: AI processors, GPU chips, and foundry services.”

Acquisitions

Keysight has acquired Cliosoft, a specialist in hardware design data and IP management software tools. The two companies are long-standing collaborators as Cliosoft SOS, a data management platform, already integrates with Keysight’s Advanced Design System (ADS) solution.

California-headquartered autotech company indie Semiconductor has acquired Silicon Radar, a German-based specialist in system-on-chips for automotive radar applications. Some of the new solutions stemming from the acquisition will focus on 120 GHz (in-cabin sensing) and 140 GHz (external sensing) high frequencies radars, allowing the use of antenna-on-chip techniques – thus enabling the creation of ‘radar on a chip’ products. A few weeks earlier, indie Semiconductor had entered a definitive agreement to purchase GEO Semiconductor, a specialist in video processors for automotive cameras.

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