asicNorth announces a Development Ecosystem to streamline the creation of mixed-signal IoT SoC's

Williston, VT October 20, 2016 -- asicNorth announced today they have created a complete development ecosystem specifically targeted toward custom “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices. The asicNorth “IoT Design EcoSystem” is formed by linking key partners in system design, semiconductor design and process technology areas. Joining asicNorth are SoC Solutions, Faraday Technology, Silicon Creations, and UMC. By bringing together the unique expertise of these companies, asicNorth is able to offer IoT customers a streamlined platform for the creation of fully integrated devices for the IoT chip marketplace.

At the center of any successful IoT device is the integration of analog IP, processing core, sensors, and digital IP all woven into a silicon technology that is cost effective and allows for rapid time to market in a constantly evolving IoT landscape. Currently, IoT customers have to seek out individual technology service providers and integrate the various complex circuit blocks themselves. asicNorth recognized the challenge IoT developers faced and solved it by creating this new ecosystem. Now, asicNorth is able to harness the unique capabilities of each partner member to give our customers a truly end to end solution.

Here is what this partnership provides to potential IoT device customers:

• asicNorth offers its Analog IP and 16 years of mixed-mode design experience to craft IoT devices which meet the most demanding applications. We bring together solutions which leverage our expertise, and that of our partners, to deliver new IoT devices to market on time and at the right price.
• SoC Solutions, as an official ARM approved design partner, has products that are ideally suited for Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine to Machine (M2M) devices. Their proven IP and Software are optimized for low power ARM Cortex®-M series designs.
• Silicon Creations provides PLL and Serial Link IP. Ultra-Low power PLL blocks are available for the most demanding IoT applications.
• Faraday Technologies has over 20 years’ experience providing ASIC and SoC design services. They support the full range of ARM Cortex® microcontrollers and Processors. Additionally, they offer a rich library of IP and a variety of tools which allow architecture exploration, RTL development assist, and Virtual Platform capability to allow concurrent software development
• UMC brings world class advanced semiconductor technology to the table. As one of the largest Pure Play semiconductor foundries, UMC offers high quality, competitive pricing, and outstanding production capability.

“UMC’s advanced technologies enable the future of Low Power / Mixed-Signal IoT devices.” noted Srila LaRochelle, AVP of business Development. “We’re pleased to be part of this initiative and believe that such collaborations will accelerate the deployment of ubiquitous devices”

“Faraday Technology has a proud history developing a large array of custom digital ARM-based SoC’s for our Customers” commented George Wells, Director. “We are excited to be part of this new ecosystem bringing compelling mixed-signal ARM-based solutions to IOT devices.”

“SoC Solutions is very excited to become a partner of the asicNorth ‘IoT Design EcoSystem’”, says Jim Bruister President/CEO. “Our more than 25 years of experience developing ARM based subsystems and software combined with asicNorth’s excellence in producing quality mixed signal designs is perfect for servicing the IoT market.”

“Silicon Creations is delighted to be joining asicNorth’s ‘IoT Design EcoSystem’,” says Randy Caplan, VP of Business Development. “We have provided hundreds of analog IPs based on our flexible and robust PLL architecture. This includes PLLs optimized for IOT with only a few microwatts of power, no external components, and capable of locking to a 32kHz reference clock from a watch crystal. We look forward to providing competitive IoT solutions together with asicNorth’s other ecosystem partners.”

“asicNorth is pleased to offer this new capability to our customers” says Steve Stratz, VP. “By aligning ourselves with such strong players in the system design, semiconductor design and manufacturing community, we can collectively help our customers to bring better IoT device solutions to market.”

ARM TechCon 2016 Exhibiting Announcement

In an effort to showcase the newly created asicNorth’s “IoT Design EcoSystem”, asicNorth will be joined by SoC Solutions at the ARM TechCon from October 25^th through October 27^th, 2016 in Santa Clara, CA. ARM TechCon’s conference program is built to ignite understanding and innovation across the embedded systems industry, connecting thought leaders and professionals from around the country in order to push tomorrow’s industry today. It’s an unmatched opportunity to share ideas, gather insight, and discover inspiration for your next project. By offering three full days of technical tracks, demonstrations, and industry insight from broad and deep levels of industry-leading companies and innovative start-ups, ARM TechCon remains more than a tradeshow; it is a comprehensive learning environment for the entire embedded community, uniting the software and hardware communities. The conference also hosts a large commercial exhibition featuring over 100 companies.

Come visit us at booth #917.

About ASIC North:

ASIC North, INC was founded in January 2000 with one purpose in mind; to deliver the highest quality design services possible. In an industry that can be quite volatile at times, it is important to have a design partner that you can depend upon to deliver the skills you need when you need them. Today, asicNorth is enabling high-tech industry leaders and startups alike with a combination of design services in digital, analog, mixed-signal, and RF design. These capabilities, along with our focus on IP Design, Circuit Characterization; Supply Chain Management; and Turnkey Products allow us to support the needs of our clients at any point in the IC product development cycle. asicNorth is “Bringing Analog / Mixed-Signal to ASIC Design”. To learn more about asicNorth, visit us at www.asicNorth.com.

About Faraday Technology:

Faraday Technology Corporation is a leading fabless ASIC / SoC and silicon IP (intellectual property) provider, ranking in top 50 fabless IC suppliers in the world and top 10 in Taiwan. Headquartered in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan, Faraday has services and technical support offices around the world, including in US, Japan, Europe and China. Since established in 1993, Faraday has been acknowledged its expertise and capabilities with over thousands of successful designs in a wide range of application, covering consumer electronics, multimedia, display, communication, networking, and PC peripheral/storage, along with hundreds of million ASIC chips shipped annually worldwide. Faraday is one of the few leading ASIC / SoC vendors with a comprehensive self-developed IP portfolio. Accumulating thousands of valuable IPs, Faraday’s IPs are mostly silicon-proven, and includes cell library, memory compiler, processor cores, analog IP, peripheral IP, and complete interface IP solutions. These IPs help to greatly lower customers’ integration risk, IP licensing costs, and shorten the time-to-market. To learn more about Faraday Technology, visit us at http://www.faraday-tech.com/index.jsp

About Silicon Creations:

Silicon Creations provides world class silicon IP for precision and general purpose timing (PLLs), SerDes and high-speed differential IOs. We have a deep commitment to our customer’s success and to providing complete support. Our careful development procedures and strong QA result in robust and correct designs. And in our labs we comprehensively test all key blocks. As a result our IP has an excellent record of first silicon to mass production in over 300 chips for over 100 customers. Our IP is used in diverse applications including mobile phones, consumer devices, processors, network devices and medical devices and in technologies from 180nm to 7nm, and has earned “best-of” awards from TSMC and SMIC.

Silicon Creations was founded in 2006, is self-funded and is growing. We have development centers in Atlanta, USA and Krakow, Poland and world-wide sales representation. To learn more about Silicon Creations, visit us at http://www.siliconcr.com/

About SoC Solutions:

SoC Solutions was founded in March, 2000 and is a privately held company in the greater Atlanta, Georgia area. Our focus is to enable the next generation of IoT (Internet of Things) and M2M (Machine to Machine) silicon devices by supplying our IP Subsystems and following them with world class services to successfully build innovative “connected” products. Our experienced ASIC and Embedded Software designers have a rich history of designing SOCs with embedded microprocessors which are crucial to building small connected smart chips.

Our pre-configured IP Subsystems have been used successfully in numerous ASICs, SOCs, FPGAs and Structured ASIC designs, many of which have been in production for years. We have supplied IP to major OEMs and Semiconductor companies alike. Our well established comprehensive development flows help us quickly produce high quality products that will jumpstart any SOC design effort, Our processes include extensive verification at both system-level and stand-alone IP core level. We have a complete commitment to our customer success which has built solid partnerships and repeat customers and has resulted in an excellent record of product success. To learn more about SoC Solutions, visit us at https://socsolutions.com/

About UMC:

UMC is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced technology and manufacturing for applications spanning every major sector of the IC industry. UMC’s robust foundry solutions allow chip designers to leverage the company’s leading-edge processes, which include 28nm poly-SiON and gate-last High-K/Metal Gate technology, mixed signal/RFCMOS, and a wide range of specialty technologies. Production is supported through 10 wafer manufacturing facilities that include two advanced 300mm fabs; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i. Fab 12A consists of Phases 1-4 which are in production for customer products down to 28nm. Construction has been completed for Phases 5&6, with future plans for Phases 7&8. The company employs over 17,000 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. To learn more about UMC, visit us at http://www.umc.com/English/