2022 Blog: This article was originally written during my time at Imagination Technologies.
The future of the semiconductor industry is being shaped by three key technology trends. Firstly, there’s a significant shift towards open-source methodologies, which are streamlining the development process and fostering innovation. Secondly, the demand for cost-effective AI, compute, and HMI silicon is skyrocketing, driven by the growth of smart applications in industrial and IoT markets. Thirdly, high-speed connectivity to the edge is rapidly expanding, presenting new opportunities for hardware solutions.
However, addressing these opportunities comes with challenges, particularly in terms of time-to-market and cost efficiency. Enter Open Access, a pioneering business model introduced by Jim Wallace at Imagination. Open Access leverages the power of open source to provide a low-cost and low-risk path to silicon design, with no upfront license fees.
By eliminating upfront costs and offering comprehensive support, Open Access democratises SoC design, making it accessible to start-ups and scale-ups.
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