Focus areas include optimized ESD solutions on advanced FinFET nodes for protection of high-speed SerDes, die-2-die interfaces and I/O with higher voltage tolerance.

Belgium, December 12, 2022 – Sofics bv ( www.sofics.com), a leading semiconductor integrated circuit IP provider announced that it joined the Intel Foundry Services (IFS) Accelerator IP Alliance program. With support from IFS, its TakeCharge® Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) portfolio will be validated on the most advanced processes. Currently, more than 100 fabless companies already use Sofics solutions to enable higher performance, higher robustness while reducing design time and cost of SoC design.

“Through IFS, Intel is opening its advanced manufacturing expertise to outside fabless design companies. We are pleased to expand our portfolio by joining the IFS Accelerator IP Alliance”, said Koen Verhaege, CEO of Sofics. “We look forward to working with IFS to support mutual customers with our proprietary ESD technology.”

The purpose of the IFS Accelerator program is to help Intel’s foundry customers bring their silicon products from idea to implementation. Due to increasing complexity, relying on re-usable and pre-validated IP blocks is the preferred path for successful chip design. Specifically, for FinFET designs an optimized on-chip ESD protection accelerates time-to-market, improves reliability, and reduces risk. Interface ESD protection in FinFET technology is challenging. FinFET circuits are very sensitive to ESD stress and the conventional ESD concepts are not effective anymore.

Key aspects for the Sofics ESD solutions include ultra-low leakage, small area, and low parasitic capacitance. The IP can be used to protect the most sensitive core interfaces against Electrostatic Discharge and can also support protection of interfaces running at voltage beyond the typical I/O range.

“We are pleased to welcome Sofics to our IFS Accelerator IP Alliance,” said Suk Lee, VP of Design Ecosystem Development at IFS. “We are collaborating with industry-leading IP providers to give our customers access to high-quality IPs, supporting their design needs and project schedule, while optimizing for performance, power, and area. We look forward to continued collaboration with Sofics to enable our customers to enjoy a proven selection of ESD protection IPs.”

About Sofics

Sofics stands for “Solutions for ICs.” Sofics is an IP provider with a track record in on-chip robustness for ESD, EOS and EMC with an extensive patent portfolio, proven on more than 50 processes. Our 100 licensees have integrated Sofics IP into their IC products. Thanks to close cooperation with some of the leading semiconductor companies, more than 4500 mass-produced ICs are protected by Sofics ESD solutions.