MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.,
March 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --
Highlights:
- Inspired by DeepMind's AlphaZero AI that mastered complex games
like chess and Go, Synopsys' DSO.ai™ solution
is able to autonomously search for optimization targets in very
large solution spaces of chip design
- Synopsys' DSO.ai massively scales exploration of options in
chip design workflows while automating less consequential
decisions, significantly augmenting the throughput of chip design
teams
- Development partners have realized disruptive results with
DSO.ai, achieving targets in a fraction of the time and with fewer
resources
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) today announced a major
breakthrough in electronic design technology with the introduction
of DSO.ai™ (Design Space Optimization AI), the
industry's first autonomous artificial intelligence application for
chip design. Inspired by DeepMind's AlphaZero that mastered complex
games like chess or Go, Synopsys' DSO.ai solution is an artificial
intelligence and reasoning engine capable of searching for
optimization targets in very large solution spaces of chip design.
DSO.ai revolutionizes chip design by massively scaling exploration
of options in design workflows while automating less consequential
decisions, allowing SoC teams to operate at expert levels and
significantly amplifying overall throughput.
"As new silicon technologies are testing the limits of physics,
our customers are looking for manufacturing solutions that enable
their innovative products," said Jaehong
Park, executive vice president of Foundry Design Platform
Development at Samsung Electronics. "In our design environment,
Synopsys' DSO.ai systematically found optimal solutions that
exceeded our previously achieved power-performance-area results.
Furthermore, DSO.ai was able to achieve these results in as few as
3 days; a process that typically takes multiple experts over a
month of experimentation. This AI-driven design methodology will
enable Samsung Foundry customers to fully utilize the benefits of
our cutting-edge silicon technologies for their SOC designs."
Developed from the ground up at Synopsys, DSO.ai is part of
a multiyear, company-wide initiative and strategic investment in
AI-based design technology.
Chip Design: A Vast Search Space
Today, AI can interact with humans through natural language,
identify bank fraud and protect computer networks, drive cars
around city streets, and play intelligent games like chess and Go.
Chip design too is a very large space of potential solutions,
trillions of times larger than, for example, the game of Go.
Searching this vast space is a very labor-intensive effort,
typically requiring many weeks of experimentation, and often guided
by past experiences and tribal knowledge. A chip design workflow
typically consumes and generates terabytes of highly dimensional
data compartmentalized and fragmented across many separately
optimized silos. To create an optimal design recipe, engineers have
to ingest volumes of high-velocity data and make complex decisions
on the fly with incomplete analysis, often leading to decision
fatigue and over-constraining of their design.
With today's hypercompetitive markets and stringent silicon
manufacturing requirements, the difference between a good recipe
and an optimal recipe can be 100s of MHz of performance, hours of
battery life, and millions of dollars in design costs.
The EDA Industry's First Autonomous AI Application for Chip
Design
Synopsys' DSO.ai solution revolutionizes the process of
searching for optimal solutions by enabling autonomous optimization
of broad design spaces. DSO.ai engines ingest large data streams
generated by chip design tools and use them to explore search
spaces, observing how a design evolves over time and adjusting
design choices, technology parameters, and workflows to guide the
exploration process towards multi-dimensional optimization
objectives. DSO.ai uses cutting-edge machine-learning technology
invented by Synopsys R&D to execute searches at massive scale,
autonomously operating tens-to-thousands of exploration vectors and
ingesting gigabytes of high-velocity design analysis data – all in
real-time.
At the same time, DSO.ai automates less consequential
decisions, like tuning tool settings, relieving designers of
menial tasks and allowing teams to operate at a near-expert level.
Knowledge is shared and applied with high effectiveness across
entire design teams. This level of productivity means that
engineers are now available for more projects, apply more time on a
given problem to achieve better results, handle larger parts of a
project, and focus on creative and value-added tasks.
A Leap in Productivity
- Better design solutions, every time: By massively
scaling design workflows, Synopsys' DSO.ai brings immediate
visibility into hard-to-explore design-process-technology solution
spaces. Enhanced visibility means bringing to market more
differentiated products with better performance and higher
energy-efficiency – all within existing budgets and schedules. It
means maximizing the benefits of silicon process technologies and
pushing the limits of scaling.
- Faster time to market: With Synopsys' DSO.ai solution,
the throughput of engineering teams is significantly amplified, and
less consequential tasks are completely automated. DSO.ai means
slashing lead times to creating products for new markets while
accelerating derivatives of existing products to a fraction of
current schedules. It means effortlessly retargeting products to
different markets with different feature sets.
- Reduced cost through automation: DSO.ai can mean making
the best of the most valuable resource – engineering creativity.
Relieved from manual, time consuming tasks, engineers can now
become available to take on new projects; new hires can be
ramped-up quickly to operate at the level of experienced veterans;
and overall support overhead for design and manufacturing is
minimized.
"Ever since the introduction of Design Compiler in the late
'80s, Synopsys has been enabling silicon innovators with tools and
technologies across the design spectrum," said Sassine Ghazi, general manager, Design Group at
Synopsys. "With DSO.ai, once again, Synopsys is starting a new
chapter in semiconductor design. More than two years ago we set out
on a fascinating journey to bring AI to chip design, partnering
with academic researchers, industry thought leaders, and AI
technology pioneers. Today's announcement marks a very important
milestone, and our journey in AI is only just beginning."
Synopsys' DSO.ai solution is currently in select deployments
with industry-leading partners with broader availability planned
for the second half of 2020.
About Synopsys
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) is the Silicon to
Software™ partner for innovative companies developing
the electronic products and software applications we rely on every
day. As the world's 15th largest software company, Synopsys has a
long history of being a global leader in electronic design
automation (EDA) and semiconductor IP and is also growing its
leadership in software security and quality solutions. Whether
you're a system-on-chip (SoC) designer creating advanced
semiconductors, or a software developer writing applications that
require the highest security and quality, Synopsys has the
solutions needed to deliver innovative, high-quality, secure
products. Learn more at www.synopsys.com.
Editorial Contact:
Simone
Souza
Synopsys, Inc.
650-584-6454
simone@synopsys.com
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SOURCE Synopsys, Inc.