Outlook 2025: Embracing Chiplets

By Steve Brown, Cadence

November 21, 2024

The semiconductor industry is rapidly evolving, and as we look towards 2025, chiplets are at the forefront of this transformation. The shift from traditional monolithic system-on-chip (SoC) designs to chiplet-based architectures is gaining momentum, driven by the need to meet ever-increasing computing demands. This evolution is not just a trend; it represents a fundamental change in how we approach SoC design, driven by the pressing challenges of cost, complexity, and time to market.

Outlook 2025: Embracing the Chiplet Evolution

In recent years, the limitations of monolithic SoC designs have become increasingly apparent. As these designs push against silicon manufacturing reticle limits and the traditional benefits of Moore’s Law scaling diminish, the industry is turning to chiplets as a viable solution. By disaggregating SoCs into smaller, more manageable subsystem dies, designers can tailor each component to the most appropriate process node. This approach not only addresses issues of design complexity and yield but also significantly reduces time to market and development costs.

Chiplets offer unprecedented flexibility, allowing designers to mix and match components from different vendors, leading to greater product customization and expedited upgrades. As industry standards for die-to-die interconnects, such as Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe), become more prevalent, the future promises even more collaborative and innovative chiplet solutions.

Read Boyd Phelp's outlook for 2025.

Cadence's Breakthrough: The First Arm-Based System Chiplet

Cadence has been at the forefront of this chiplet revolution, achieving a significant milestone with the design and tape-out of its first-ever Arm-based system chiplet. This groundbreaking achievement exemplifies the seamless integration of multiple chiplet dies within a single package, leveraging Cadence's Chiplet Architecture and Framework.

This system chiplet, developed in collaboration with Arm, highlights its potential impact across various industries, including automotive, high-performance computing, and data centers. By enabling efficient integration of processors, system IP, and memory IP using the UCIe standard interface, Cadence's chiplet sets a new benchmark in the industry, offering unmatched efficiency and scalability. It showcases the capability to deliver cutting-edge advancements, paving the way for future innovations in chiplet-based system solutions.

Read more about the first system chiplet.

Collaborations Driving the Automotive Chiplet Ecosystem

Cadence's strategic collaborations with industry leaders like Arm and imec are crucial in advancing the chiplet ecosystem, particularly in the automotive sector. In partnership with Arm, Cadence has developed a chiplet-based reference design and software development platform aimed at accelerating time to market for software-defined vehicles. This collaboration addresses critical interoperability challenges and fosters a collaborative environment for innovation in automotive chip development.

Cadence's commitment extends to joining imec's automotive chiplet programme, where it brings its expertise in electronic design automation (EDA), IP, and SoC architecture. This programme aims to tackle the design challenges of data movement, processing, storage, and security in automotive electronics by promoting a scalable, modular approach through chiplets.

Read about Cadence and Arm chiplet collaboration.

Read about the imec automotive chiplet programme.

Transforming the Semiconductor Industry

As we move towards 2025, the potential of chiplets to transform the semiconductor industry is immense. By offering solutions to the challenges of traditional SoC designs, chiplets enable a more efficient, cost-effective, and flexible design process. This transformation is about technological advancement and setting the stage for a new era of innovation across various sectors.

Cadence’s advancements and collaborations in this field are not just milestones; they represent a bold step toward reshaping the future of semiconductor design. As chiplets continue to gain traction, the semiconductor industry is poised for a revolution, promising exciting opportunities for growth, efficiency, and technological breakthroughs.

Stay tuned as Cadence and its partners drive this transformative journey forward, redefining the possibilities of chiplet technology.