India gains TSMC foundry service access through imec
Building on their six-year VCA collaboration in Europe, imec will provide comprehensive access to TSMC technologies for the design and production of ASIC products
Imec has extended its cooperation agreement to become a TSMC Value Chain Aggregator (VCA) in India.
Under the terms of the agreement, imec can offer full mask tape out and wafer production to Indian fabless semiconductor companies, system and design houses. Customers in the region will gain enhanced technical support and fast access to TSMC foundry services through the new collaborative agreement with imec.
ASIC design for TSMC process technologies requires access to TSMC technology information, such as transistor models, standard cell libraries, memory compilers and IP blocks, among other components. For prototyping of the designed ASICs, customers can access TSMC Cybershuttle services through imec.
What's more, Customer-Owned Tooling (COT) services are available, such as access to TSMC technology files, library licenses, design support, GDSII submission, and preparation for production.
Imec also offers its own digital backend design services and has extensive experience in qualification, packaging, test, and failure and yield analysis to further facilitate the process of bringing qualified ASIC solutions to the market.
"Entrepreneurial ASIC teams can increase their knowledge while accelerating their time-to-market success by tapping into the resources of TSMC and imec," says Sajiv Dalal, Vice President, TSMC North America. "We have a long history with imec of collaborating on design and manufacturing, making this combination an expert support team for emerging new players who want to bring their innovations to the world."
"Over the past six years, imec has successfully supported more than 200 companies in Europe in designing and producing qualified ASIC solutions as a TSMC VCA in Europe, and earlier this year, we extended our VCA activities for TSMC in Brazil," explains Steve Beckers, general manager imec services.
He continues, "Through our local representation in Bangalore (imec India), we are now reaching out to the Indian market to further extend our VCA service for TSMC. Combining imec's and TSMC's strengths, we are well-positioned to support market growth of Indian semiconductor and design companies, while also spearheading research advancements in the region to drive further innovation."
Through its expanded presence and role as TSMC's VCA in India, imec can increase its customer base, taking advantage of the associated economies of scale. The partnership will also allow for better cooperation between imec and Indian companies as well as research institutes in applicable research domains, such as sensors, low power electronics, imaging, body area networks, energy devices and core CMOS technology.
