The Semiconductor Design platform EFABLESS has announced that it switches off its operation with immediate effect and that Matt Venns tiny tape out in search of an alternative way to produce the creations of its participants.
“Due to the financing challenges” a observe On the Efabless website, which otherwise seems to stay in operation and is still promoting the company's services, announces: “Efabless has closed the company up to further announcements. We regret all inconvenience and are updated as available.”
The Semiconductor Design platform Efabless has announced its immediate shutdown, including its chipignite platform. (📹: Efabless)
The announcement that came less than a month after Efabless' Michael Wishart promised “a brilliant future” for the company with a “start market strategy” [which] Winning of 50 academic institutions, Efabless and 80 commercial designs that have been recorded since we were founded, gained traction. “
The closure completes the chipignite platform from EFABLESS, which wanted to reduce the cost of customer-specific silicon chip production with a multi-project wafer (MPW), in which designs are laid by various submissions to a single silicon wafer to spread the costs.
It is chipignite that served as a manufacturing back end for Tiny Tapeout, a project by Matt Venn in which designers were experienced, and otherwise open source chip designs for production compact-based tile-basis designs in a multi-project chip on a chipignite multi-projection wafer, for just a hundred price lower to further lower it. As a result, the current Tiny Tapout production run in the queue is recorded-and it remains to be asked whether the existing but no longer produced runs will take place.
“At the moment we have TT08 [Tiny Tapeout Run 8] Waiting for packaging and TT09 is still in the Skywater Technology FAB, “explains Venn, referring to Efabless partner -Semiconductor -Fabrication company.” These chips represent an enormous time and energy in hundreds of people and we currently do not know whether we are preserving them. The current TT10 shuttle and future Sky130 [SkyWater 130nm process] Shuttles are stopped while we explore options for Sky130 and other processes.
“We already have an existing relationship with IHP, which offers a similar 130 -NM process. We have completed two experimental bands with you, and our next public shuttle will probably be with you in June. We will also try to find a route to manufacture GF180, an existing Open Source PDK, an existing Open -Source -PDK [Process Design Kit]. “
At the moment all tiny tapeout fans can do, is Take a look at the website For further news and if the in-production runs are canceled, Venn has confirmed that refunds are made available to all those affected.