On February 7, Intel Foundry Services (IFS) announced the introduction of Accelerator, a complete ecosystem alliance aimed at assisting foundry clients in bringing their silicon solutions from concept to execution efficiently. The IFS Accelerator leverages the best capabilities available in the industry to help advance customer innovation on Intel's foundry manufacturing platform through close collaboration with a group of industry-leading companies across electronic design automation (EDA), intellectual property (IP), and design services.
"A vibrant semiconductor design ecosystem is critical to the success of our foundry. We are pleased to launch our ecosystem alliance program with leading design companies that will play a vital role in accelerating our foundry customers’ success."
—Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger
IFS launched the initial phase of Accelerator in September 2021 to assist automotive chip designers in transitioning to more modern process technologies by providing proprietary and industry-standard intellectual property. There are now 17 founding partner companies in the IFS Accelerator, which strengthens the ecosystem alliance by getting full support from electrical design automation and service providers and a wide range of IP assets from several partners.
The IFS Accelerator provides customers with a comprehensive suite of tools,including the following:
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The most powerful and proven EDA solutions suit Intel's technological and manufacturing power. They cover the whole silicon development process, from the idea to high-volume silicon production.
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A broad, silicon-verified, and Intel process-specific IP portfolio, comprising standard cell libraries, embedded memory, general-purpose I/Os, analog IP, and interface IP.
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Partners in design services let clients focus on developing distinctive product concepts by delegating implementation duties to highly educated designers knowledgeable about Intel technology.
These three attributes form the backbone of the client relationship with a foundry manufacturing partner. Electronic design automation (EDA) vendors create tools to aid in the specification, planning, design, verification, implementation, and testing of electronic systems. As a result, customers can work together with EDA partners to help chip designers meet their performance, power, and area (PPA) goals while speeding up the time to market.
"Foundry customers need access to design services, IP, and tools and flows to enable their next-generation products at different stages, With the goal of accelerating customer innovation, the IFS Accelerator ecosystem alliance program brings together the brightest minds and the broadest capabilities to deliver a seamless interface with Intel’s process and packaging technologies. We are entering a new era of openness in technology, and Intel is wholeheartedly embracing the idea that innovation thrives in an open and collaborative environment."
-Randhir Thakur, president of Intel Foundry Services
As system-on-chip (SoC) architecture has become more complicated, designing devices using integrated and reusable circuit IP blocks have become a key trend. IFS collaborates with IP partners to ensure that designers have high-quality IP that meets their stringent requirements design and project timeline criteria. As a result, the IFS Accelerator IP portfolio includes important IP blocks for today's SoCs, all made for IFS.
Developing the next generation of semiconductor goods demands highly competent engineers and resources, even more so when dealing with cutting-edge process technology. Partnering with IFS Accelerator design service providers gives customers additional support when bringing their ideas to life, with specialties ranging from analog and digital-physical designs to low-level system software. In addition, silicon professionals from alliance partners may support customers at many phases, including design, verification, implementation, and emulation.
Utilizing the potential of this ecosystem has never been more critical than it is now, as semiconductor demand continues to increase across industries and applications. IFS is making its technological platforms available to these partners to accelerate the pace of innovation. In Thakur's essay, "Innovation Starts Here: Partnering to Power the Foundry Ecosystem," he discusses Intel's new openness in more depth.