This interview was held with CoreHW’s VP of Sales and Marketing, Mr. Tomi Moilanen.
Can you provide an overview of CoreHW’s experience and expertise in IC design? What sets CoreHW apart in terms of its capabilities and track record in this field?
CoreHW, founded in Finland in 2013, is a leading fabless semiconductor company specializing in designing chips for wireless technology. Our business includes turn-key custom IC design services, semiconductor IP licensing, and supplying semiconductor components.
We focus on Radio Frequency (RF), mm-wave, analog, and digital Integrated Circuits (ICs), along with custom antenna design and testing.
The CoreHW IC design team has developed a wide range of applications in automotive and telecommunications including RF transceivers and front-end (FE) circuits, automotive radar and sensor circuits, photon counting and imaging ICs, power management ICs, data converters, and frequency synthesizers.
One of our main achievements is our Real-time Location System (RTLS), which includes CoreLocator, CoreTags, and a position software. This system is known for its high precision, with accuracy of 10 centimeters (about the length of the long edge of a credit card) and long tag battery life. It is a revolutionary solution for asset and people tracking in healthcare, retail, logistics, and industrial sectors.
How does CoreHW approach the design process for integrated circuits (ICs)? Could you explain the key steps and methodologies employed to ensure high-performance IC designs?
Our IC design team, averaging over 17 years of experience, forms the backbone of our operations. Our designs are built on a vast portfolio of more than 300 semiconductor IPs, ensuring the robustness and innovation of our chip designs. We prioritize accuracy, minimizing power consumption, and maintaining the highest quality standards across all our IC solutions.
Our system design team, with an average of 25+ years of experience, excels in creating high-performance ICs. They initiate the design process with a clear target specification, ensuring that every detail, from IP specification to system simulation, is planned to achieve excellent end results.
Our IP quality design process, rooted in decades of Semiconductor IC design projects and aligned with ISO 9001:2015 standard, enables us to produce high-quality products with the shortest possible design cycles.
To aim for a successful chip design service, CoreHW has developed an IPM (IP Milestones) design process including:
00: Target specification
01: Detailed IP specification
02: Schematic database and Simulation results
03: Block schematic and layout Simulation results
04: Schematic and layout database available, ready for silicon manufacturing
05: Circuit optimization, test board and test software
06: Fabrication
07: Maintenance and quality assurance
In what specific areas of IC design does CoreHW specialize? Are there any particular industry sectors or applications where CoreHW’s expertise and solutions have been particularly successful or impactful?
Currently, our innovations in Radio Frequency (RF) Front End are set to significantly impact current consumption savings and substantial cost and size reductions. We are also developing an industry-leading Radar Transceiver IP for 80GHz telecommunication and automotive radar systems.
Our RTLS technology stands out in the industry due to its outstanding accuracy, very low latency, extended tag battery life, and robust data and device security features. This technology offers positioning and tracking capabilities in domains like people and asset tracking, indoor navigation, location-based services, and analytics. We have disrupted the market by achieving 10cm-level (about 4in) accuracy in indoor tracking and positioning, which was previously unachievable.
CoreHW’s website mentions a comprehensive IP portfolio. Could you elaborate on the significance of this IP portfolio to CoreHW’s IC design services? How does it contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of the design process?
Our comprehensive IP portfolio minimizes risks associated with chip development and speeds up time-to-market. We assist in IP integration, verification, and customization to optimize design efficiency.
Our IP solution areas include:
-RF and RF Front End
-Analog / Mixed-Signal
-IoT wireless
-Sensor interface
-Power management / DCDC converters
-Transceivers:
With the rapidly evolving semiconductor industry, how does CoreHW stay at the forefront of technological advancements and maintain a competitive edge in the IC design market?
Our global leading customers across various industries demand state-of-the-art design and performance, so we continually innovate. To maintain this competitiveness, we establish partnerships with major foundries to gain early access to new process technologies. This allows us to design ICs that leverage the latest performance and efficiency benefits. We also actively engage in conferences and form strategic partnerships with universities and industry partners.
Within decades, we have also developed a rich portfolio of high-quality and verified IP cores which give us a significant edge. These reusable IPs can accelerate customer design cycles and reduce overall design risks. (read more here: https://www.corehw.com/ip/)
Are there any emerging challenges that are shaping the IC design services industry?
The IC design service industry faces challenges due to external influences such as global economic fluctuations, political instability, and geopolitical tensions. These factors can lead to prolonged decision-making processes for corporations when considering investments in new integrated circuits (ICs) and emerging technologies. This delay can affect the pace of innovation within this sector.
In terms of market demand, what specific areas or applications within IC design are experiencing significant growth or presenting new opportunities for CoreHW?
The automotive, telecom, IoT, space, and aviation sectors offer significant opportunities for technological innovation and advancement.
In automotive, the rapid evolution towards electric and autonomous vehicles presents a ground for semiconductor IC development. Specializing in customized ASIC development tailored specifically for automotive applications, CoreHW offers proven components that expedite market entry. With a focus on critical areas such as 5G connectivity, mmWave radar, sensors, and cellular and complementary radios, we provide customized solutions to meet the evolving needs of this industry.
The integration of cellular and complementary radios like Wi-Fi, BLE, and UWB in smart cities and homes represents new opportunities for CoreHW. These technologies align with the evolving demands of modern urban and residential infrastructure. Our experience in designing these technologies, coupled with our innovative solutions like RTLS, demonstrates the company’s readiness to meet these demands.
Moreover, with computational architectures in AI applications encountering notable challenges in managing data-heavy operations while maintaining optimal energy usage, the demand for alternative solutions is heightened. Leveraging our expertise, we can design cutting-edge, energy-efficient architectures.
How does CoreHW differentiate itself from competitors in the market?
We provide a full-service solution across all design stages, including feasibility studies, circuit design, layout, verification, tape-out assistance, characterization, and qualification support. This approach optimizes development, and we prioritize customer satisfaction through ensuring seamless integration and quicker time-to-market.
Can you discuss any recent partnerships or collaborations that CoreHW has engaged in to expand its market reach or enhance its offerings?
We have recently partnered with multibillion-dollar chipset providers, Fortune 500 automotive, and telecom companies, enhancing our competitiveness in the semiconductor landscape.
In RTLS, CoreHW collaborates with global solution providers to offer complete location solutions to healthcare, retail, logistics, and industrial sectors. The company actively encourages discussions with new business partners to explore opportunities for collaboration and growth.
Looking ahead, what is CoreHW’s vision for the future of IC design and its role within the evolving semiconductor industry? Are there any new markets or technologies that the company is actively exploring?
CoreHW’s forward-looking IC design vision revolves around leveraging the latest silicon processes and nodes. This enables us to offer tailored advice to our customers, guiding them towards the most efficient approach for their specific design needs.
At CoreHW, we focus on the automotive and telecommunication ICs, but we are constantly discussing with numerous end customers in different sectors about the growing need to develop semiconductor components for different use cases. In addition, we actively explore the possibilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning, recognizing their growing importance in the semiconductor world.
