Open-source silicon and EDA workshop 2024

The chip design ecosystem in Europe is challenged by expensive development tools, legal constraints, lock-in threats and dependency on external supply chains.

Open-source Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools and open-source silicon chips are emerging as possible solutions to these problems. It is increasingly recognised that open-source development offers not only faster and cheaper development but also better products. The open-source model moreover resonates well with the core aims of the European Chips Act of reinforcing the Union’s semiconductor ecosystem by reducing dependencies, enhancing digital sovereignty, stimulating investment, increasing design capacity and the resilience of the Union’s semiconductor supply chain.

Even though some IP building blocks, such as those based on the RISC-V open instruction set, are already witnessing overwhelming success and industrial adoption, the open-source EDA and chip ecosystems are still in their infancy. Their development is further hindered by the high costs of manufacturing silicon chips and by the complexity of the ecosystem which involves heterogeneous participants (from designers to EDA developers, to foundries).