GlobalFoundries joins Google’s open source chip program and provides 180nm mature design tools – Google Google – cnBeta.COM

Over the past two years, Google has been working to make its silicon design more open-source to drive more chip-making projects. Through its initial partnership with SkyWater, the tech giant hopes to help project participants ease the cost burden of open-source chips.In late July, Google announced that its open-source silicon design toolkit with SkyWater was moving to 90nm. Now, the company has reached a 180nm process cooperation with GlobalFoundries.

(Source: Google Open Source Blog)

In a Google open source blog post published Wednesday, the company’s open source team announced that GlobalFoundries has become the latest member to join its “Open Source Chip Initiative” and provide access to 180nm chip manufacturing technology.

Google and GlobalFoundries today jointly released the Open Source Process Design Kit (PDK) for the GlobalFoundries 180nm / 180MCU technology platform.

The associated PDF documentation is available under the Apache 2.0 license, and Google will have a free Efabless silicon implementation project to create open source designs (similar to the SkyWater project).

Google/gf180mcu-pdk (Portal: GitHub)

Over the past two years, Google has made six active pushes, contributing to more than 350 unique silicon designs, around 240 of which are free to build.

Now, with the access of SkyWater 90nm and GlobalFoundries 180nm process, Google’s open source silicon design vision will usher in wider application.

Although from the perspective of the “advanced nature” of the process, the number 180nm is not very exciting, after all, the current high-end processors have generally embraced 7nm (or even below 5nm).

But Phoronix points out that in the fields of IoT, automotive, and MCU/PMIC, the mature 180nm process is still quite applicable.

GlobalFoundries expects that its 180nm process is expected to achieve a growth of more than 22 million wafers by 2026 (current annual production is only 16 million+).