A Pan-European chip infrastructure for design innovation

Proposal results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

• Establish a platform that nurtures the growth of a design ecosystem in Europe. The platform should support and stimulate design reuse, enable the exploitation of advanced technologies in different application domains, and provide a breeding ground for deep-tech startups;
• Ease of the access to training, customer support, IP, and leading-edge design tools;
• Support efficient fabrication (multi-project wafers (MPW) and small volume) of ASICs, photonics, MEMS, sensors, etc. and their integration at system level;
• Support technology offerings of research centres with lower TRL to be promoted over the platform;
• Proposal for long-term operation of the platform to support Universities and European research centres.

Semiconductors are at the centre of strong geostrategic interests, and at the core of the global technological race. A priority for Europe is to strengthen its design capacity and to lower the barriers to get access to advanced semiconductor technologies. Amongst others, this requires the nurturing and supply of people with the right digital skills, and the provision of routes to prototype and commercialisation. Not only large enterprises, but also startups and academic institutions play a key role and are crucial in the European semiconductor value chain.

Proposals need to lower the entry-barrier for academia, research institutes and very importantly for startups, and SMEs by offering affordable access to a portfolio of industrial-grade design tools, IP blocks, including open-source ones (e.g. RISC-V based), and prototyping technologies. Services offered must include initial advice, training, support, reduced entry costs, prototyping and a clear route to chip manufacture and product supply. Proposals must include a KPI on start-ups and SMEs that use the services provided by the platform.