• About Us
  • Contact us
  • Editorial Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Saturday, June 10, 2023
SUBSCRIBE
London Daily Post
  • Home
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
London Daily Post
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT

EDA software will become the next battle front in US-China chip war

Editorial Board by Editorial Board
August 18, 2022
in Tech News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0


EDA software is a small but powerful part of the semiconductor supply chain and is primarily controlled by three Western companies. This gives the United States a powerful point of leverage, similar to the way it sought to restrict access to lithography machines, another crucial tool for chipmaking, last month. So how did the industry become so US-centric, and why can’t China develop its own alternative software?

What is EDA?

Electronic design automation (also known as electronic computer-aided design or ECAD) is the specialized software used in chip manufacturing. It’s like the CAD software that architects use, except it’s more sophisticated, dealing with billions of tiny transistors on an integrated circuit.

screenshot of KiCad software for circuit board design and prototyping
Screenshot of KiCad, a free EDA software.

JON NEAL/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

There is no dominant software program that represents the best in the industry. Instead, a number of software modules are often used throughout the entire design flow: logic design, debugging, component placement, cable routing, time and power optimization, verification, and more. . Because today’s chips are so complex, each step requires a different software tool.

How important is EDA to chip manufacturing?

Although the global EDA market was valued at only around $10 billion by 2021, making it a tiny fraction of the $595 billion semiconductor market, it is of unique importance to the entire supply chain of supply

The semiconductor ecosystem today can be seen as a triangle, says Mike Demler, a consultant with more than 40 years in the chip design and EDA industry. In one corner are foundries, or chip manufacturers like TSMC; in another corner are intellectual property companies like ARM, which manufacture and sell reusable design units or mockups; and in the third corner are the EDA tools. All three together ensure that the supply chain moves smoothly.

From the name, it might seem like EDA tools are only important for chip design companies, but they are also used by chipmakers to verify that a design is feasible before production. There is no way a foundry can make a single chip as a prototype; it has to invest in months of time and production, and every time hundreds of chips are made on the same semiconductor base. It would be a huge waste if it came across design flaws. Therefore, manufacturers rely on a special type of EDA tool to do their own validation.

Who are the leading companies in the EDA sector?

There are only a few companies that sell software for every step of the chip manufacturing process, and they have dominated this market for decades. The top three companies—Cadence (American), Synopsys (American) and Mentor Graphics (American but acquired by German company Siemens in 2017)—control about 70% of the global EDA market. Their dominance is so strong that many EDA startups specialize in a niche use and then sell to one of these three companies, further cementing the oligopoly.

What is the US government doing to restrict EDA exports to China?

The outsized influence of US companies in the EDA industry makes it easy for the US government to restrict China’s access. In its latest announcement, it pledged to add certain EDA tools to its list of banned technologies. The US will coordinate with 41 other countries, including Germany, to implement these restrictions.



Source link

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Related Posts

Tech News

The Download: a promising new fuel, and why our phones struggle with wildfires

June 9, 2023

New York-based startup Amogy believes the key to solving this problem lies in harnessing ammonia, one of the world's most...

Tech News

Apple’s headset challenges, and what AI can learn from nuclear safety

June 6, 2023

The "one more thing" announced by Apple at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this year was the industry's worst-kept secret....

Tech News

AI films, and the threat of microplastics

June 2, 2023

The Frost nails its strange and disconcerting atmosphere in its opening shots. Huge frozen mountains, a makeshift camp of military-style...

Tech News

Meet the longevity obsessives, and how China’s regulating AI

May 31, 2023

—Jessica Hamzelou Earlier this month, I traveled to Montenegro for a meeting of longevity enthusiasts, people interested in extending human...

Next Post
Cluttered Iphone

Tired of Seeing a Cluttered iPhone? Here's How to Organize it

POPULAR

Entertainment

Elliot Page Recalls ‘Inception’ Cast ‘Full Of Cis Men’ Making Him So Anxious He Got Shingles

June 9, 2023
Finance News

A new bull market in stocks? Thank the VIX, says Fundstrat’s Tom Lee

June 9, 2023
World News

Ukraine presses counteroffensive as flood evacuations continue in south

June 9, 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Editorial Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 London Daily Post. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports