Custom Silicon at Lower Cost, Reduced Development Time
Empowering a new generation of developers to create more specialized, efficient and innovative chips opens paths for smaller enterprises to take on the challenges of machine learning, IoT, artificial intelligence and automation.
The proliferation of embedded systems has reshaped industries by providing intelligence to products, thereby improving ease of use, functionality and life cycle cost. Historically, embedded systems providers could meet most customers’ requirements using standard, off-the-shelf components, providing differentiation through software. In certain cases, the embedded systems had particularly demanding performance, cost, or power requirements (or some combination of all three) and required tailored hardware in the form of customizable silicon solutions, most notably FPGAs or custom silicon such as ASICs.
We are now moving to the next generation of embedded systems, one powered by machine learning (ML). These new ML-enabled systems are expanding the applications served and the value that microelectronics provide in traditional embedded markets. Importantly, they also bring the power of embedded intelligence to a wide array of existing and new consumer markets. In this new world, the benefit of tailored hardware becomes more broadly relevant, often making the difference between products that serve a market’s needs and those that do not.
As such, enabling simple, fast and affordable customizing of chips has emerged as a critical differentiator among OEM’s, software and service providers. Once again, FPGAs are one choice. They are relatively easy to implement by non-chip experts but are not energy efficient and do not integrate the extensive analog functionality necessary for cost-sensitive or sensor driven applications. Alternatively, ASICs give engineers a wide range of options in optimizing for these parameters, but can be complex, expensive and time-consuming to develop and are often only suitable for high-volume applications.
So how can embedded system developers stay ahead in an era where custom silicon is both a key to innovation and a significant challenge? The solution may lie in a new model of custom chip development from companies such as Efabless that delivers the benefits of custom ASICs without their corresponding cost and development time issues.
STATE OF EMBEDDED
The embedded systems industry is characterized by its demand for highly specialized, power-efficient designs that can cater to diverse use cases, from consumer electronics to automotive and industrial applications. However, this demand comes with inherent challenges. Engineers working in embedded systems often face the following hurdles:
High Costs of Custom Silicon Development: Traditionally, developing custom silicon has been an expensive and resource-intensive endeavor. Even for mid-tier companies, the costs associated with chip design, fabrication, and prototyping can be prohibitive.
Lengthy Design Cycles: Chip design, especially for embedded applications, can be a long and arduous process. From initial design specifications to final fabrication, it often takes months or even years to complete a project, slowing down innovation cycles.
Limited Accessibility for Smaller Players: The chip design industry has historically been the domain of large companies with substantial financial and technological resources. This has left smaller startups and individual developers at a disadvantage, limiting their ability to bring innovative solutions to market.
Complex Supply Chain Issues: The global semiconductor shortage has amplified the challenges of timely chip development, affecting production timelines and increasing pressure on design teams to optimize and fast-track their projects.
Design Flexibility and Customization Needs: Off-the-shelf solutions often lack the flexibility required for specialized applications, leading to trade-offs in performance, power, or size. Engineers need more customization options to tailor chips for specific use cases.
NEW PARADIGM
Companies such as Efabless seek to democratize chip design by making custom silicon accessible to a broader audience. The company’s mission is to empower product designers and engineers, particularly at startups and small and medium sized enterprises (“SME’s”), to create the silicon solutions that meet their exact specifications—without the prohibitive costs and lengthy timelines typically associated with traditional semiconductor design. Along the way, this approach is becoming central to educating the next generation of workforce; thereby increasing design capacity and further broadening the innovation funnel.
At the core of Efabless’s offering is its open innovation platform, which provides a community-driven approach to chip design. Engineers can access a range of open-source and proprietary IP blocks, design tools, and collaboration opportunities, allowing them to create custom chips at a fraction of the traditional cost. The platform addresses several critical pain points faced by embedded system developers:
Cost-Effective Design: Efabless enables engineers to use open-source design assets and proprietary EDA and IP with models that reduce up-front costs through revenue sharing. This significantly lowers the cost of prototyping, testing, and small to medium design runs, making it accessible for smaller players.
Accelerated Design Cycles: With access to pre-verified IP blocks and design tools, engineers can significantly reduce the time it takes to bring a chip from concept to reality. Efabless’s platform streamlines the design process, enabling developers to prototype, iterate, and refine designs quickly.
Community Collaboration: Efabless fosters a collaborative environment where designers can share insights, IP, and design experiences. This community approach accelerates innovation and allows developers to build on existing solutions, rather than starting from scratch.
Streamlined Path to Manufacturing: Efabless offers chipIgnite, the first complete, one-stop idea-to-chip solution. It leverages a library of standardized chip harnesses, automation and bundled EDA and IP to not only greatly simplify design but also make prototyping and initial volume production by a vast community of designers scalable for foundries and for Efabless.
OPEN-SOURCE POWER
The growing relevance of open-source software in embedded development has extended into the hardware domain, and Efabless is at the forefront of this movement. By embracing open-source IP and tools, Efabless empowers engineers to create custom chips without the constraints of proprietary ecosystems.
For embedded system developers, open-source IP offers several advantages starting with lower costs. Open-source IP blocks are often available at little to no cost, drastically reducing the expenses associated with chip development. Additionally, open-source designs enable faster iteration, as they are community-driven and continuously improved. This allows engineers to leverage community feedback and updates to accelerate and enhance their own designs.
Open-source IP also offers full transparency into the design, enabling engineers to understand every aspect of the chip’s functionality. Over time, this increases the quality and reliability of chips as well as the diversity of applications that they serve.
At Efabless, designers can access both proprietary IP and, soon, EDA tools, allowing them to find the ideal balance between open-source and proprietary solutions to meet cost, simplicity, and quality requirements as shown in Figure 1. Proprietary solutions come with innovative business models, enabled by the Efabless platform, where upfront design costs are significantly reduced in exchange for higher royalties. Additionally, service and support are provided through the Efabless platform and its community, easing the burden on our enablement partners.
The Efabless design process involves five key steps: Design, Integrate, Submit, Fabricate, and Test, offering a streamlined workflow for custom chip creation. (Photo: Efabless)
CHIP CREATION OPPORTUNITIES
As the demand for embedded systems continues to grow, new opportunities are emerging for developers willing to explore custom silicon design. The Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), and autonomous applications are driving unprecedented demand for specialized chips that can perform complex tasks at high performance levels while consuming minimal power.
IoT Devices: The proliferation of IoT devices is one of the most exciting trends in embedded systems. These devices require ultra-low power consumption and highly specialized functionality, making custom silicon an ideal solution. Efabless’s platform allows IoT developers to create tailored chips that meet the specific needs of their applications.
AI and ML at the Edge: AI and ML are no longer confined to data centers. Edge computing requires chips that can perform AI tasks locally, in real-time, without relying on the cloud. For embedded engineers, this presents an opportunity to design highly specialized silicon optimized for edge AI use cases.
Autonomous Systems: Autonomous vehicles, drones, and industrial robots are just a few examples of systems that demand high-performance, reliable embedded designs. These systems benefit from custom chips that can handle real-time decision-making, processing vast amounts of data from multiple sources in milliseconds.
CUSTOM SILICON PROCESS
Figure 2 shows, there are four basic steps involved in designing a custom chip with Efabless.
- First, the company provides access to chipIgnite, which gives users a pre-configured platform.
- Next, customers create their unique chip design, tailoring the specifications to meet their specific needs.
- The third step is the integration of the customer’s design with the Caravel harness and the fabrication of the resulting physical chips.
- Finally, once the fabrication is complete, customers receive the devices along with an evaluation board, enabling them to assess the performance and functionality of their custom chips.
Embedded Developers can design custom silicon using a four-step process from Efabless. (Photo: Efabless)
This comprehensive process empowers users to innovate quickly and efficiently and then convert their ideas into silicon effectively.
While the benefits of custom silicon are clear, challenges remain. Developing custom chips this way still requires some degree of specialized knowledge. However, as tools and the capability of the platform continues to evolve, and with increased collaboration within the community, the learning curve is rapidly flattening. In fact, the majority of projects completed on Efabless today (Figure 3) are by non-chip experts.
An Efabless chip shown on an evaluation board presents lower cost and development time issues than previous custom silicon options. (Photo: Efabless)
FUTURE OF EMBEDDED
The future of embedded system design is bright, with custom silicon playing an increasingly important role. As more engineers adopt platforms such as those provided by companies like Efabless, the barriers to entry for chip design will continue to fall. That will lead to more innovation, faster development cycles, and tailored solutions that push the boundaries of what embedded systems can do.
Efabless is transforming the chip creation landscape, offering embedded engineers a different path to custom silicon design. By lowering costs, accelerating development, and embracing the power of open-source collaboration, the platform is empowering a new generation of developers to create chips that are more specialized, efficient, and innovative than ever before. For engineers navigating the complex world of embedded systems, Efabless provides the tools and community needed to thrive in the ever-evolving chip creation space. In a world where embedded systems are becoming more central to technology, the future belongs to those who can harness the power of custom silicon.
RESOURCES
Efabless | www.efabless.com
PUBLISHED IN CIRCUIT CELLAR MAGAZINE • DECEMBER 2024 #413 – Get a PDF of the issue
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Michael Wishart is the CEO and co-founder of Efabless Corporation and serves as a venture partner at Tyche Partners, a venture capital firm. With over 30 years of experience advising the technology industry, he has held key roles at firms such as Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. He holds a B.S. in mathematics from St. Lawrence University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
