Matthias:UnsortedThroughsOnFOSSForEDA

FOSS & business

Most projects are sponsored by

• EDA vendors
• Google
• Chip manufacturers

They are not really "free":

• Closed communities (Si2)
• Non-permissive licenses (e.g. MIT)

What do you get with those?

• Bad taste:
  • You're not steering, just surfing
  • You don't know their agenda: example Si2 -> market Cadence platform, Google(!?)
• Benefits:
  • Establishes de-facto standards (e.g. RISC-V)
  • Creates some momentum -> third party support (e.g. compilers, architecture platform)
  • Prevents diversification -> focus on one solution if the sponsor is big enough

Real FOSS:

• Can provide the benefits when properly steered (which is hard)
• Everyone can engage or fork to regain the "steering wheel"

Free PDK's

FreePDK45 or similar

• Not entirely free
• Quality difficult to assess

Real Free PDKs

• For small-scale production
• To harvest the contributions from open source community
  • e.g. Open source libraries, DRC, LVS, RCX ...
• To establish a market for components and/or open source community
  • Open source building blocks (see below)
• To foster evolution of standards in terms of tech platforms
  • Manufacturing flexibility
  • Specialization of manufacturers in terms of quantify/small scale production, quality, conformance, add-on features, integration, packaging options, temperature range, power options or NV memory options ...
  • Expect a "land slide" effect as soon as one manufacturer starts opening their PDK
  • Fosters design skill deployment / expert development / human resources market

Beside "real free PDK": establish a "state of the art PDK" for a certain node

• "benchmark design" which allows assessment of compliance
• "xxx compatible" quality label for a process?
• As a marketing helper

Advantage over FPGA implementations?

• Power
• Performance
• Analogue designs possible

On the other hand:

• no benefit from high-integrated IP blocks (as for FPAs)

Free building blocks (as compared to "Intellectual property")

• eFabless component market is a good idea
• Like: memories, analog building blocks, pads, logic cells or device concepts, sensors, ...
• Provide a new concept or an implementation of a known concept of a specific platform
  • Multiple levels of implementation: abstract - logical - physical
• For example standard cell: abstract (logic model), logical (transisor netlist, design parameters, scaling rules, testbench, constraints, parameter tables, measurement specifications), physical (layout, timing model ...)
• Foster a generalization approach
  • E.g. have to be adaptable to different technologies
• Need an open PDK to enter the physical level or even logical level for a proof of concept
• Closed PDKs make prohibit open development on physical or even logical level
  • For example: SRAM development
• Patent issues:
  • Less risk with free building blocks? -> Risk assessment possible, generates "prior art"
• Export control:
  • Need an option to withdraw building blocks or mark them as "dangerous"?
  • Is this a path how "open source" might become dangerous???

Activity proposals

• Compatibility assessment design (self-testing/benchmarking vs. Modelling)
  • There is a connection to PDK development efforts!!!
• "first principles" PDK possible?
  • Start with published information -> possible to derive a basic PDK which is "good enough"?