[FSiC2026] Open EDA · Open Silicon · Sovereign by Design

FSiC2026

Free Silicon Conference 2026

Open EDA · Open Silicon · Sovereign by Design

What is FSiC? The annual gathering of the free and open-source silicon community building open EDA tools, open PDKs, and free hardware. Three days of talks and tutorials about designing chips with software you can read, share, and modify.

Who should come? Chip designers, EDA developers, researchers, students, and anyone curious about building silicon without proprietary lock-in. All experience levels welcome.

When? 6–8 July 2026

Where? University of Ljubljana, 

Faculty of Electrical Engineering

Tržaška cesta 25

SI-1000 Ljubljana

Registration closes 22 June: https://pretix.eu/FSiC/2026/

FSiC2026 Program: https://wiki.f-si.org/index.php/FSiC2026

[VACASK] device-level transient noise analysis

VACASK, a free and open-source analog circuit simulator, now does device-level transient noise analysis. As far as I know, this is a first among FOSS circuit simulators. Ngspice has had source-based transient noise for a while, but the user has to wire noise sources into the circuit by hand. In VACASK, every resistor, diode, and transistor contributes its own white (thermal and shot) and flicker (1/f) noise automatically during the transient run, the way Spectre and other commercial RF simulators do it.

Why it matters: this lets you actually see how noise shapes the behavior of oscillators, PLLs, mixers, and sampling circuits in the time domain, not just as an abstract spectral quantity.

Quick demo on an LC oscillator at fosc=245kHz:

Top: power spectral density of the output

Middle: single-sideband phase noise (SSB PSD)

Bottom: phase jitter accumulating over time

Having this in a FOSS tool opens the door for students, hobbyists, and researchers to run the same analyses that were previously gated behind five and six-figure licenses.

Árpád Bűrmen, the lead VACASK developer, would love to hear from anyone working on analog/RF simulation. 

What would you put it through first?

https://codeberg.org/arpadbuermen/VACASK

#OpenSource #AnalogDesign #CircuitSimulation #RFDesign #EDA

[OpenSUSI] Kicks off Five-Year Plan

Industry-Academia Collaboration Project Launches for Real Chip Manufacturing 

Using NDA-Free PDK - Tokai Rika, Kyushu University, AIST Solutions, 

OpenSUSI Kicks Off Five-Year Plan for FY2026

Tokai Rika Co., Ltd., Kyushu University, AIST Solutions Co., Ltd., and OpenSUSI have announced a joint project on a five-year plan to develop semiconductor human resources and verify their implementation through industry-academia collaboration to actually manufacture chips using PDK (Process Design Kit) that does not rely on NDAs (non-disclosure agreements). The 2026 launch ceremony was held. The biggest feature of this project is that it allows students to experience a series of processes from design to chip manufacturing under an open design environment using NDA-free PDKs #OpenPDKs

Positioning and future development in FY2026 as the first year that this project will be fully developed over a five-year span. Based on an open design and manufacturing environment utilizing NDA-free PDK #OpenPDK, we will continue and develop the following initiatives:

• Continuation and advancement of hands-on semiconductor human resource development
• Providing opportunities for actual chip manufacturing and verification using NDA-free PDK
• Building a practical and highly reproducible education and implementation model through industry-academia integration
• In exchange for the cost support for this program, we will embed the company's logo on the prototype chip to spread awareness of semiconductor design human resource development as a social contribution activity

(From left) Junichi Okamura, Representative Director of OpenSUSI, 

Haruichi Kanaya, Professor of Kyushu University, 

Taketoshi Sakurai, Executive Officer of Tokai Rika, 

and Seiji Osaka, President and CEO of AIST Solutions

If you are interested or interested in this matter, please contact us at:

OpenSUSI Secretariat <secretary@opensusi.org>

 

[DATE2026] Open Source Related Talks

DATE 2026 Verona, Italy

Open Source Related Talks

Monday, 20 April - Wednesday, 22 April 2026

<https://date26.date-conference.com/programme>

Label	Title	Authors
TS02.8	ML-DSA-OSH: An Efficient, Open-Source Hardware Implementation of ML-DSA	Quinten Norga; Suparna Kundu; Ingrid Verbauwhede
LK03	Democratizing Silicon: The Rise of Open-Source EDA and Europe’s Strategic Roadmap	Luca Benini
TS10.1	PICOSNN: Partially Incoherent Configurable Optical Computing Architecture for SNN Acceleration	Bowen Duan; Zhenhua Zhu; Zhengyang Duan; Huazhong Yang; Yuan Xie; Yu Wang
TS16.1	Non-Volatile Spintronic Flip-Flops with Checkpoint Preservation Supported in RISC-V Platform	Jiongzhe Su; Mingtao Chen; Zhanpeng Qiu; Bo Liu; Hao Cai
LBR01.4	Float Fight - Verifying Floating-Point Behavior In Risc-V Simulators	Katharina Ruep, Manfred Schlaegl and Daniel Grosse
LBR01.7	Hybrid Virtual Platform + FPGA Co-Emulation Framework	Lorenzo Ruotolo; Giovanni Pollo; Mohamed Amine Hamdi; Matteo Risso; Yukai Chen; Enrico Macii; Massimo Poncino; Sara Vinco; Alessio Burrello; Daniele Jahier Pagliari
TS20.1	Fault-Tolerance Mapping of Spiking Neural Networks to RRAM-Based Neuromorphic Hardware	Yuqing Xiong; Chao Xiao; Zhijie Yang; Lei Wang; Mengying Zhao
TS21.4	Substrate: A Statically Typed Framework for Designing Highly Configurable Analog and Mixed-Signal Circuit Generators	Rahul Kumar; Rohan Kumar; Borivoje Nikolic
SD03	Open-Source Hardware Landscape
SD03.1	Open Silicon Fabrication – Made in Europe	Gerhard Kahmen, IHP GmbH, DE
SD03.2	From Schematic To Silicon: Mixed Signal Ic Design In Open Source Flows	Harald Pretl, JKU Linz, AT
SD03.3	Bringing Software Design Thinking To Chip Design	Tomi Rantakari, ChipFlow, GB

Aalto Microelectronics Fair

Aalto Microelectronics Fair

March 20, 2026, 9.00-15.30

Aalto Yliopisto, Kandidaattikeskus, H304, Otakaari 1, 02150 Espoo

Time	Session
8:30–9:00	Morning coffee
9:00–9:15	Opening Aleksi Korsman
	Keynotes
9:15–10:00	Keynote 1: “OpenPDK - Global Scholar Platform”, Wladek Grabinski, Open PDK Initiative
10:05–10:50	Keynote 2: “Open Source Design Tools in SME IC Design Companies”, Ari Paasio, Kovilta
	Research overviews
11:00–11:15	Research overview: Kari Stadius
11:15–11:30	Research overview: Prof. Marko Kosunen
11:30–11:45	Research overview: Prof. Kwantae Kim
11:45–12:45	Lunch (and posters)
12:45–13:15	Student talk: “Five years of RISC‑V processor design at Aalto”, Aleksi Korsman
13:15–13:45	Student talk: “Beyond Neural Networks: Overcoming the Symbolic Bottleneck via Approximate Logarithm Acceleration”, Lingyun Yao
	Posters
13:45–14:00	Poster intro
14:00–15:00	Posters with coffee and snacks
15:00–15:30	Feedback and closing

Should you have any questions, please email Marko Kosunen

[mos-ak] [OpenPDK] IHP Analog Academy

IHP Analog Academy

https://lnkd.in/eQnNX4ug

We, IHP Analog Academy, are excited to present this deep dive into analog, RF, and mixed-signal IC design, powered by open-source FOSS CAD/EDA tools and the IHP Open PDK.

This hands-on course is designed for engineers, researchers, and students eager to gain practical experience with the SG13G2 process at the 130nm technology node. Originally hosted on-site at IHP in Frankfurt (Oder), participants spent five intensive days exploring everything from fundamental analog simulation to advanced RF, 3D EM modeling, and mixed-signal integration. And now we're excited to release it to the open-source community!

The course covers:

- Bandgap reference design and simulation using the gm/Id methodology

- RF design of a 50 GHz Medium Power Amplifier with EM simulation

- Mixed-signal integration and verification of an 8-bit SAR ADC

Each module emphasizes a real-world design flow using tools like:

ngspice, Xyce, KLayout, OpenEMS, QUCS, and Python for data analysis.

Over time, we will expand the repository with:

- More modules

- Updated toolchain support

- Improvements to existing flows

Explore the IHP Open PDK:

- Open PDK GitHub Repository https://github.com/IHP-GmbH/IHP-Open-PDK 

- Interactive Help via ChatGPT https://chat.openai.com

Note: This is not an introductory IC design course. A basic understanding of electronics and microelectronics is assumed. We're proud to contribute this initiative to the community to help lower the barrier to IC design using open-source tools. We encourage contributions via GitHub Issues or Pull Requests! Your feedback and contributions, are welcome!

Lead Author: Phillip Ferreira Baade-Pedersen

Co-Author: Christian Wittke

The Development of this course is funded by the public German project FMD-QNC (16ME083) from BMFTR (Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space / Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt): https://www.elektronikforschung.de/projekte/fmd-qnc

#opensource #analog #mixedsignal #rf #design

[paper] FOSS support for CM with Verilog-A

Bűrmen, Árpád, Tadej Tuma, Iztok Fajfar, Janez Puhan, Žiga Rojec, Matevž Kunaver

and Sašo Tomažič

Free software support for compact modelling with Verilog-A

Informacije MIDEM 54, no. 4 (October 9, 2024)

<https://ojs.midem-drustvo.si/index.php/InfMIDEM/article/view/1999>

Abstract: Verilog-A is the analog subset of Verilog-AMS - a hardware description language for analog and mixed-signal systems. Verilog-A is commonly used for the distribution of compact models of semiconductor devices. For such models to be usable a Verilog-A compiler is required. The compiler converts the model equations into a form that can be used by the simulator. Such compilers have been supplied with commercial simulators for many years now. Free software alternatives are much more scarce and limited in the features they offer. The paper gives an overview of Verilog-A, Free software Verilog-A compilers, and Free software/Open source simulators that can simulate compact models defined in Verilog-A. Advantages and disadvantages of individual compilers and simulators are highlighted.

Tab: Comparison of Free software simulators

Asterisk denotes a feature under development as of Sep. 2024

Acknowledgements: This research was funded in part by the Slovenian Research Agency within the research program ICT4QoL—Information and Communications Technologies for Quality of Life, grant number P2-0246.

[FOSSEE] Better Education

FOSSEE (Free/Libre and Open Source Software for Education) project promotes the use of free open source software (FOSS) tools in academia and research. The FOSSEE project is part of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India. 

Below is the list of projects which are promoted by FOSSEE.

• Scilab 
  free/libre and open source software for numerical computation developed by Scilab Enterprises, France. Scilab also includes Xcos which is an open source alternative to Simulink.
• Python 
  general-purpose, high-level, remarkably powerful dynamic programming language that is used in a wide variety of application domains. It supports multiple programming paradigms.
• eSim 
  (formerly known as Oscad/FreeEDA) is an EDA tool for circuit design, simulation, analysis and PCB design. It is developed by the FOSSEE team at IIT Bombay 
• Osdag 
  free/libre and open-source software which allows the user to design steel structures using a graphical user interface. The GUI also provides 3D visualization of the designed component and images
• DWSIM 
  free/libre and open source CAPE-OPEN compliant chemical process simulator. Helps understand the behavior of Chemical Systems by using rigorous thermodynamic and unit operations models.
• OpenFOAM 
  free/libre and open source CFD toolbox useful to solve anything from complex fluid flows involving chemical reactions, turbulence and heat transfer, to solid dynamics and electromagnetics.
• OpenModelica 
  free/libre and open source environment based on the Modelica modelling language for modelling, simulating, optimising and analysing complex dynamic systems.
• OpenPLC 
  free/libre and open source Programmable Logic Controller creating opportunities for people to study its concepts, explore new technologies and share the resources.
• FLOSS-Arduino
  control of Arduino using Free/Libre Open-Source Software. The interface helps the user to perform embedded systems experiments on the Arduino Uno board.
• SBHS
  (Single Board Heater System) is a lab-in-a-box setup useful for teaching and learning control systems.
• R 
  programing language and environment for statistical computing and graphics.
• QGIS
  (Quantum GIS) is a free and open-source desktop Geographic Information System (GIS) application.
• FOCAL 
  an initiative by FOSSEE to promote Open Source Software in computer graphics.
• SOUL
  (Science OpensoUrce Software for Teaching Learning) is a collection of ICT software that can be used as teaching/learning tools by the community of educators and the learners to teach/ learn the basic as well as the advanced concepts in science subjects

SSCS April Technical Webinar

SSCS April Technical Webinar

Getting Started with Open Source Silicon, Presented By: Matthew Venn

Abstract: In this presentation, Matt Venn will share his experience of getting started with chip design using the free and open source tools. Going from zero to 20 chips in 3 years, there are plenty of successes and failures to share. Matt will then move on to sharing the best resources, inspirational example projects, and showcase some of his own tools. The presentation will finish with a demonstration showing just how easy and cheap it is to get your own chip manufactured today.

Biography: Matt Venn is a science & technology communicator and electronic engineer. He has been involved with open source silicon for the last 3 years and has sent 20 chips for manufacture. He has helped over 600 people learn the tools, with 300 people taking part in manufacturable designs:

• https://zerotoasiccourse.com/
• https://tinytapeout.com

Date: 2024-04-19 Time: 11 AM ET

Location Webinar - Online

Contact Aeisha VanBuskirk – a.vanbuskirk@ieee.org

Register Here

[paper] Open-source design of integrated circuits

Patrick Fath, Manuel Moser, Georg Zachl. Harald Pret

Open-source design of integrated circuits

Elektrotech. Inftech. (2024)

DOI: 10.1007/s00502-023-01195-5

* Institute for Integrated Circuits, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria

Abstract: This paper presents the design of a self-clocked 12-bit non-binary fully differential SAR-ADC using the SKY130 open-source PDK. The entire mixed-signal circuit design and layout were created with free and open-source software. The ADC reaches a sample rate of up to 1.44MS/s at 1.8V supply while consuming 703μW of power on a small 0.175mm area. A configurable decimation filter can increase the ADC resolution up to 16 bits while using an oversampling factor of 256. A 9‑bit thermometer-coded and 3‑bit binary-coded DAC matrix using a 448 aF waffle-capacitor results in a total capacitance of 1.83pF per input. Realizations of configurable analog functions using the form factor of SKY130 high-density standard cells allow the parametrization of an analog circuit in a hardware description language and hardening of the macro in an intentionally digital workflow.

FIG: Block diagram of the proposed open-source design flow,

including the essential tools and used/generated files

Acknowledgements: The authors thank Johannes Kepler University for funding the open-access publication, Google and SkyWater Technologies for igniting this recent wave of open-source IC design, and the large crowd of enthusiasts spending their time on developing and maintaining an extensive array of exciting open-source EDA projects. Open access funding provided by Johannes Kepler University, Linz.

[paper] OTA using the Open Sky130 PDK

Carolina Vieira Souza, Edmar Philipe Ribeiro

and Estêvao Coelho Teixeira

Design of a Linear Transconductance OTA using the Open Sky130 Process Design Kit

Sociedade Brasileira De Microeletrônica

(2023) sbmicro.org.br
doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10646550

Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil

Abstract: This paper describes the design, layout and simulation of a linear transconductance Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA) using the SkyWater 130nm open Process Design Kit (PDK). By using a known source degeneration technique, it is possible to either decrease and linearize the transconductance of the OTA for a wider range of input voltages, making it proper for use on Gm-C filters. Only open source tools, suited for the Sky130 PDK, were used in this design, showing the applicability to analog designs.

Fig: Linear OTA Structure: (a) Complete circuit, with source degeneration resistors;
(b) Alternative source degeneration triode MOSFETs; and its GDSII layout, with identification of some relevant parts: (A) differential pair; (B) source-degeneration resistors; (C) biasing transistors.

Acknowledgment: This work is result from a scientific initiation project covered by the VI VIC 2022/2023 Program, by PROPP/UFJF.

ISHI-kai January 2024 event

2024年1月イベント「オープンソースPDK団体」勉強会国内外のオ
ープンソースPDKやEDAの状況について、キーマンに語っていただきます

With the recent rise in the semiconductor industry, the movement of open source PDK and EDA in Japan and overseas has become active. Therefore, in this study session, key people will talk about the status of open source PDK and EDA in Japan and overseas.

Schedule

Friday, January 26, 2024, 18:00-21:00 (Reception: 18:30)

Venue (onsite)

Google Shibuya Office
3-21-3 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Shibuya Stream Google reception meeting

Online Broadcast: 

Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/ksa-tjaw-ges

Participation Fee

free

Timetable

Time	Speaker	Title	Lecture Outline
Until 18:30	ISHI-kai	reception	The entrance to the facility closes at this time, so if you are participating locally, please come by this time as much as possible.
18:00 ～ 18:30	ISHI-kai	Chat time	-
18:30 ~ 19:15 (Lecture: 30min, Q&A: 15min)	Takeshi Hamamoto Minimal Fab Propulsion Organization Device Engineer	minimal Fab open PDK	1) What is a minimal fab 2) openPDK 3) Design Contest at Semicon 2023
19:15 ~ 20:00 (Lecture: 30min., Q&A: 15min.)	Junichi Okamura IEEE Senior Member	OpenPDK and the World	-
20:00 ~ 20:45 (Lecture: 30min., Q&A: 15min.)	@noritsuna	About the upcoming open source PDK shuttle	(To be released at a later date)
21:00	ISHI-kai	closing

What is ISHI-kai?

The association was named ISHI-kai (Inter-linked Society on Homemade IC Kai). The name was conceived from the Society Community (Association) that handles open (democratized) ISHI = stone = Silicon = semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) and connects various fields.

OpenMPW (Open Multi Project Wafer), which appeared as a forerunner, is a shuttle program created by Google investing in Efabless, and includes the tools necessary for making semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) (EDA/PDK) to ISHI manufacturing in IC fabs). This is exactly the "openness of semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) and EDA/PDK" of the open source movement (democratization of software) that started with GNU!

Therefore, this association was established as a user society community (association) that focuses not only on experts in semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) in the past, but also on those who see the potential of the open source movement of semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) in the future and those who want to create new semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC).

We/ISHI-kai will continue to work toward a world where semiconductors (ASIC/LSI/IC) and EDA/PDK can be used by everyone, just as OSs, compilers, libraries, apps, electronic boards, 3D CAD and 3D printers that we/ISHI-kaire only available to experts can now be used by everyone as open source software, open hardware, open modeling, etc.

As for the future activity plan, we/ISHI-kai have a policy of revolutionizing the semiconductor (ASIC/LSI/IC) field by involving people from other fields, and we/ISHI-kai will hold events such as hands-on seminars for ultra-beginners for other fields and in-depth study sessions for experts, form a team to challenge the OpenMPW shuttle and Chipathon from around the world, and Maker we/ISHI-kai would like to participate in events such as Faire, so thank you.

Precautions

As events move online, we/ISHI-kai ask participants to act in accordance with the spirit of the Code of Conduct. If you have any problems, please contact the organizer. If it is judged that there is no improvement in the request even if there is no abuse such as vandalism or malicious intent, we/ISHI-kai may respond on a case-by-case basis. 

https://www.contributor-covenant.org/ja/version/2/0/code_of_conduct/

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the kindness of Google for providing a real/onsite venue.

[webinar] Open Source Silicon Landscape

Unveiling the Open Source Silicon Landscape: 

a cutting-edge approach for the European semiconductor industry

5 December 2023

Who should attend and why:

• Policymakers at the regional, national, and European level who want to strengthen their respective semiconductor ecosystem while collaborating and contributing to the Union’s industry as a whole
• Research and academia representatives who are interested in deepening their knowledge or discovering the potential of the Open Source Silicon landscape
• SMEs in the semiconductor industry who aim to expand and innovate their business by using a cutting-edge approach
• Start-ups that are eager to elevate their business to the next level by embracing vanguard strategies
• Citizen scientists and the general public who would like to have a better understanding of the new horizons in the semiconductor landscape
• Experts active in industrial development who are interested in integrating potential new approaches

Registration:

The event is free of charge, but registration is mandatory. Registrants will receive the link to access the event by email.

Agenda:

11:00 - 11:05	Welcome
11:05 - 11:10	Introducing Open Source Silicon
11:10 - 11:20	BACKGROUND Open source silicon between software and hardware Background
11:20 - 11:40	POLICY BRIEF PRESENTATION Open source silicon’s position in the semiconductor value chain
11:40 - 12:35	PANEL Key opportunities and threats relevant to open source silicon strategies
12:35 - 12:45	Q&A and conclusions

The first IC designed in B&H has been fabricated

On 18 May 2023, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, presented the first integrated chip of semiconductor technology, which represents the most sophisticated technological process.

FIG: IC oscillates as per design specification and pre/post-layout simulation

Faculty of Electrical Engineering has become one of the higher education institutions where one of the most important engineering disciplines of today and the future is studied according to the best world programmes, with the direct application of industrial standards in teaching, thus preparing the next generation of engineers to be the flywheel of economic revival through innovation.

It took students and professors at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering five years to develop the first integrated chip. Student Vanja Žerić is one of the innovators of this idea, and he states that the knowledge gained was a prerequisite to start the production.

"We are talking about two chips, one of which is a stabilizer or a voltage regulator that has the ability to stabilize the voltage from 1.8 to 3.3 volts. The second was an oscillator that is essential for a chip like this.'', Vanja said.

Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Aleksandar Pajkanović, PhD, who teaches several courses in the field of chip development at the Department of Electronics, pointed out that the CMOS technological process is the most sophisticated technology that exists in the world, and that it is commercially available, and that they have mastered it and demonstrated it through the implementation of the chip.

"It is particularly important to point out that this technology is significant as a military and industrial strategic resource as well as in higher education, and the most important thing is that we are now among world universities that study this field. It is usual for the implementation of chips to be done in doctoral studies, but with great efforts we managed to do it with third-year students. This chip is not intended for commercialization, as we developed it to demonstrate the capability and mastery of such advanced technology." Prof. Pajkanović stressed.

The details of that development are in the following references:

[1] A. Pajkanovic, “On the Application of Free CAD Software to Electronic Circuit Curricula”, 3rd IcETRAN2016, Zlatibor, Serbia, 2016

[2] A. Pajkanovic and Z. Ivanovic, “A Report on Recent Development in Application of Free CAD Software to IC Curricula,” 5th IcETRAN2018, Palic, Serbia, 2018.

[3] A. Pajkanovic, “Introducing Chisel to IC Design Curriculum at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Banja Luka”, 8th RISCV Workshop, Barcelona, Spain, 2018

[4] A. Pajkanovic, “CMOS IC Design from Schematic Level to Silicon within IC Curricula Using Free CAD Software”, INDEL2020, Banja Luka, B&H, 2020.

[5] A. Pajkanovic, “Free/Open Source EDA Tools Application in Digital IC Design Curricula”, 8th IcETRAN2021, Stanisici, B&H, 2021.

[6] A. Pajkanovic, “Open Source CMOS General Purpose Operational Amplifier", MIEL 2021

[7] A. Pajkanovic, "Free IC Design in Education", PSSOH 2021

[read more...]

 

[11k online viewers] 7th Sino MOS-AK/Nanjing

Arbeitskreis Modellierung von Systemen und Parameterextraktion

Modeling of Systems and Parameter Extraction Working Group

7th Sino MOS-AK Workshop in Nanjing (CN)

August 11-13, 2023 (online/onsite)

Recent, consecutive, 7th Sino MOS-AK/Nanjing Workshop discussing the Compact/SPICE modeling and its Verilog-A Standardization reached 11k online viewers. The MOS-AK participants and online attendees have followed one day SiC-related device modeling training on August 11 featured presentations by experts currently working at Robert Bosch GmbH and then two days workshop with 24 R&D Compact/SPICE modeling presentations:

[video] Interviews from FSiC, Paris, 2023

Interviews from the Free Silicon Conference, Paris, 2023

The 2023 Free Silicon Conference (FSiC) took place in Paris (Sorbonne Université, 4 Place Jussieu, Paris) on July 10 - 12 2023 (Monday to Wednesday). The conference brought together experts and enthusiasts who want to build a complete Free and Open Source CAD ecosystem for designing analog and digital integrated circuits. The conference covered the full spectrum of the design process, from system architecture, to layout and verification.

Interviews with selected Free Silicon Conference Participation by Matt Venn are available online:

00:00 FSiC 2023 Intro, Matt Venn

00:23 Luca Alloatti, FSiC Organizing Committee

01:59 Thomas Benz, ETH Zurich

06:05 Jørgen Kragh Jakobsen, IC Works - Open Source Chip Design

08:57 Thomas Parry, SPHERICAL

11:05 Rene Scholz, IHP Microelectronics

14:06 Dan Fritchman, UC Berkeley
18:41 Harald Pretl, Johannes Kepler University Linz

All the conference proceedings (slide presentations and prerecorded talks) are also available at the FSiC website.

FOSS Circuit Simulators

AN OPEN-SOURCE, FREE CIRCUIT SIMULATOR

by: Bryan Cockfield on July 30, 2023

The original circuit simulation software, called the Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis, or SPICE as it is more commonly known, was originally developed at the University of Califorina Berkeley in the 1970s with an open-source license. That’s the reason for the vast versions of SPICE available now decades after the original was released, not all of which are as open or free as we might like [1].

Fig: The Quite Universal Circuit Simulator includes a GUI based on the Qt toolkit and handles ad and ac analysis, S-parameters, harmonic balance analysis, noise analysis, and so forth. 

We’ve [2] listed all the simulators we found - the good, the bad, and the ugly - that actually did perform circuit simulation in some fashion. They are provided alphabetically, along with the most notable benefits and drawbacks we uncovered.

REF:
[1] An Open-Source, Free Circuit Simulator by Bryan Cockfield on July 30, 2023
[2] Best free analog circuit simulators by Lee Teschler on January 26, 2022

[Workshop] Open Source PDKs and EDA

 Workshop 1: Open Source PDKs and EDAs, 

Community Experiences toward Democratization of Chip Design

RIHGA Royal Hotel Kyoto, Horikawa Shiokoji, Shimogyo ku, Kyoto 600 8237, Japan.

Date & Time: 5:30pm.-7:15pm on June 11 (Sun), 2023

Since its launch in 2020, the Open MPW shuttle program has received over 500 project submissions spanning 9 shuttles. This workshop will explore various topics related to designers' experiences, including measured results, foundry perspectives, and governmental expectations.

Organizers: 

• Makoto Ikeda (The University of Tokyo)
• Mehdi Saligane (University of Michigan)

Program:

1. Design experience: “The Journey of Two Novice LSI Enthusiasts: Tape-Out of CPU+RAM in Just One Month”, Kazuhide Uchiyama, University of Electro-Communications and Yuki Azuma, University of Tsukuba
2. From Zero to 1000 Open Source Custom Designs in Two Years, Mohamed Kassem, Co-founder and CTO, Efabless
3. The SKY130 Open Source PDK: Building an Open Source Innovation Ecosystem, Steve Kosier, Skywater technology
4. Open Source Chip Design on GF180MCU – A foundry perspective, Karthik Chandrasekaran, Global Foundries
5. Japan Foundries' Perspectives on Silicon design democratization, Shiro Hara, Minimal Fab & AIST
6. Google's perspective on Open source PDKs, Open source EDA tools, and OpenMPW shuttle program, Johan Euphrosine and Tim Ansell, Google
7. The Nanofabrication Accelerator Project, Matthew Daniels, NIST
8. Japanese government perspective on Silicon design democratization, Yohei Ogino, The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry METI

VLSI Symposium Workshop1 "Open Source PDKs and EDA" Audience

OpenPDK Networking Workshop

OpenPDK, OpenTooling and Open Source Design

An Initiative to Push Development

Date:
Networking Workshop FMD-QNC on 27-28 June 2023
Location:
IHP; Im Technologiepark 25; 15236 Frankfurt (Oder)
Contact:
Sergei Andreev; Phone: +49 335 5625 523

Free Registration: 

OnLine

The workshop is organised by IHP and FMD (Research Fab Microelectronics Germany) within the framework of the FMD-QNC Project.

Within the project FMD-QNC analog circuit design with open source software shall be enabled. For this purpose, both the open source design tools and a process design kit of the semiconductor technology used must support the entire design flow with sufficient quality. IHP provides its 130 nm BiCMOS technology SG13G2 for open source design. This technology is particularly suited for high frequency and mixed signal design applications. While basic tool support already exists for digital circuit design, it is still very rudimentary for analog designs and especially for high frequency designs. A considerable effort has to be put into the development of the design tools as well as into the creation of the technology specific Process Design Kit (PDK).

The 2-day workshop is intended to promote exchange and networking between tool developers, the PDK developers at IHP and designers. Tool developers are to present the capabilities of the tools as well as planned enhancements. Designers are to present ideas that can be used for training chip designers. Requirements for open source design tools for digital design, mixed signal design, and high frequency design are to be highlighted.

Discussions will identify and prioritize gaps for a complete design flow in the open source tools and PDK. The workshop will thus help to concrete the planning for the Open Design Platform and to create a roadmap for future work.

Presentation	Presenter/Institution	Timeline
Day 1
Welcome by coordinator FMD-QNC	Dr. Andreas Bruning Research Fab Microelectronics Germany	9:00-9:10
Introduction FMD-QNC project status and IHP OpenPDK Roadmap	Dr. Rene Scholz IHP	9:10-9:30
Status OpenPDK and OpenTooling for SG13G2 BiCMOS technology	Sergei Andreev IHP	9:30-10:00
An Ultra-Low-Power High-Density Wireless Biomedical Sensing System	Prof. Harald Pretl Johannes Kepler University Linz	10:00-10:30
Teaching digital design by using open-source EDA tools	Prof. Steffen Reith Rhein Main University of Applied Sciences	10:30-11:00
Coffee break		11:00-11:40
CMOS Rail-to-Rail Operational Amplifier for HPGe Radiation Detector	Prof. Herman Jalli Ng Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences	11:40-12:10
Design-flow approaches for mmWave and sub-THz integrated transceiver circuits for radar and communication	Sasha Breun FAU Erlangen	12:10-12:40
Lunch break		12:40-13:40
TBD	Dr. Frank K. Gurkaynak ETH Zurich	13:40-14:10
TBD	Joachim Hebeler Karlsruhe Institute of Technology	14:10-14:40
Coffee break		14:40-15:10
TBD	Prof.  Dietmar Kissinger Ulm University	15:10-15:40
LibMan - an easy way to manage your open source design flow	Dr. Anton Datsuk IHP	15:40-16:10
Get together (Barbecue)		17:00-…
Day 2
ngspice - status and future developments	Prof. Holger Vogt	9:00-9:20
DMT - Python Toolkit for Device Modeling	Mario Krattenmacher SemiMod	9:20-9:40
OpenVAF - Next Generation Verilog-A Compiler with ngspice integration	Mario Krattenmacher SemiMod	9:40-10:00
Coffee break		10:00-10:40
Best practices for implementing and optimizing KLayout DRC and LVS decks	Matthias Köfferlein	10:40-11:00
Generating DRC and LVS Runsets for KLayout	Dr. Andreas Krinke TU Dresden	11:00-11:20
OpenEMS in open source EDA	Jan Taro Svejda University of Duisburg-Essen	11:20-11:40
Lunch break		11:40-12:40
Panel discussion on the roadmap – open source tools for IC design Topics: Digital design flow Analog design flow Challenges in RF design	Dr. Norbert Herfurth IHP Panelists: TBD	12:40-14:10

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