Building an AI Chip: Silicon Design and Advanced Packaging

AI has become a key driver for the semiconductor industry as it is applied to ever more aspects of daily life. Many startups and established vendors are designing AI chips to accelerate algorithms and yield the best results. AI designs are large and complex, requiring advanced process nodes and putting stress on every step of the development process. Multi-die, or chiplet-based, design is becoming an increasingly popular option for AI chips to address the required compute performance, reduce communication overhead between chips and to maximize performance per watt.

This white paper discusses the key stages for AI chip design of silicon design and advanced packaging. Designing an AI chip is a major undertaking, requiring specialized knowledge, tools, and methodology at every stage of the process. For the silicon design and packaging stage, Synopsys tools and IP support RTL design and verification, implementation, and packaging for 2D, 2.5D, and 3DIC designs.