Lowering Barriers to Entry for ASICs

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Whitepaper by TIRIAS Research , Oct. 23, 2017 – 

There has never been a better time to build your own custom application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Despite the talk of Moore's Law slowing and the cost of new chips rising, there are many opportunities to turn your sensor-driver design or your multi-chip controller into a small ASIC to lower costs and protect your intellectual property (IP). This paper will explore the different ways in which companies are building chips that reduce cost, space, power, while adding features, and protecting the designer's IP.

Why ASICs?

OEMs traditionally designed their own chip or turned to semiconductor design houses for custom SoCs (ASICs), either because they needed processors that were not available or they desired differentiation from competitors. However, only a small portion of the OEMs have the in-house capabilities to build their own ASIC. Most other companies come to market with a less than optimal design in the interest of time-to-market or due to the lack of capabilities. But if the product is successful or if costs are too high, it is always possible to consider an ASIC solution designed in-house or through a design partner.

ASICs have typically included mixed signal devices where a range of analog circuity is integrated alongside a CPU to reduced components, board area, power, etc. ASICs can also provide better IP protection (it is harder to copy a chip than a Printed Circuit Board (PCB)), add additional functionality, and create differentiation. Going forward, many Internet of Things (IoT) companies are considering custom ASICs both in the form of single-die solutions and multi-chip modules to include an increasing amount of system IP, such as processing accelerators, memory, wireless interfaces, and sensors. As a result, most major semiconductor vendors and foundries also offer custom ASIC design services to select customers.

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