In order to build semiconductors that may be produced in SkyWater Technology’s Minnesota facility, the US chip manufacturer is expanding an open source platform with Google Public Sector.
According to SkyWater, the US Department of Defense is providing US$15 million (A$21.5 million) for the platform’s development.
According to SkyWater CEO Thomas Sonderman, “one of the reasons the US government is investing in this programme is because they can then absorb the output of a lot of this development.”
Chip manufacture and design are relatively expensive processes. The first test chips that are made in fabrication facilities can cost tens of thousands of dollars, in addition to the high licencing fees associated with chip design software known as electronic design automation, or EDA.
According to Grannis, Google Public Sector, a for-profit division of Google, was established in June to enhance cooperation with governmental and educational organisations.
He said that Google will power and host the chip design platform on its cloud.
This is Google and SkyWater’s second joint initiative to develop a semiconductor design platform.
The first was a chip manufacturing platform for SkyWater’s 130 nm process. The most recent one is for chip manufacturing using a 90 nanometer technology from SkyWater.
According to Sonderman, the platform is for analog-digital mixed signal processors, which are frequently utilised in applications like smart homes.
According to him, such devices can benefit from larger transistors, like 90 nanometer ones, for less expensive fabrication.
