What is the future of Open Source?
Description:
It has been four years since the DARPA IDEA and POSH programs were launched as part of the U.S. Electronics Resurgence Initiative. The 22 projects are now ending (Summer 2022). Three years ago, a DAC-2019 panel session ended with the audience seeing EDA open-sourcing more as “dawn of a golden age” than as “pipe dream”. As government funding draws to a close, the urgency of transition to sustainable business models has grown. Classically, venture-funded EDA startups have always faced many IP and channel barriers, due to the industry’s Big-3 structure. An open-source business model for EDA software has never been proven. And, there are concerns about EDA technology vis-a-vis geopolitical issues such as national security. On the other hand, growing a domestic VLSI design and IC innovation ecosystem, including workforce development and democratization of access, is a focus for multiple regions across the globe. With this backdrop, the panel will broadly illuminate the topic of “What is the future for open-source EDA?”
Organizer:
Andrew Kahng, University of California, San Diego
Moderator:
Andreas Olofsson, Zero ASIC
Panelists:
- Bill Leszinske, Cambium Capital
- Peter Gadfort, Army Research Labs
- Noel Menezes, Intel
- Chuck Alpert, Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
- Mamta Bansal, Qualcomm