Synopsys has just launched a new suite of software tools designed to help engineers manage the skyrocketing complexity of artificial intelligence chip design. The announcement comes just months after the company completed its $35 billion acquisition of engineering software maker Ansys. According to Reuters, the announcement was made today at a Silicon Valley event.
Per the report, Synopsys has said that the new AI chip design tools are meant to give designers a more unified set of capabilities. Previously, engineers had to use different tools for different stages of chip design. However, the company executives note that the new suite brings some of those workflows together under one roof.
AI chips from firms like AMD and NVIDIA are no longer single slabs of silicon. These days, they often include smaller components called “chiplets” that are stacked and packaged in complex ways to improve performance. That’s what raises new design challenges, especially around heat, physical stress, and reliability.
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Synopsys says that’s one of the key reasons behind its acquisition of Ansys was that it brings advanced engineering simulation expertise into its software suite.
With the newly announced tools, Synopsys looks to help designers predict and mitigate physical issues, such as heat-induced warping, earlier in the design process, rather than later when problems are more costly to fix.
CEO Sassine Ghazi reportedly said that the idea is to break down traditional silos in chip development. A statement of his in Reuter’s report reads, “Typically you have engineers designing for each step in a siloed way. What ends up happening is that the product is more expensive and it’s not operating at its maximum potential.”
By embedding simulation-like capabilities directly into the core design workflow, Synopsys says engineers will be able to deliver chips with better performance, lower power use, and reduced overall cost.
