Overview

Mentium Technologies, headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA, is a pioneering company specializing in AI chips for mission-critical applications in space, robotics, and security. Their AIM technology provides dependable AI at the edge, delivering cloud-quality inference at ultra-low power to handle the most complex AI tasks. With a focus on precision, throughput, and energy efficiency, Mentium is at the forefront of the AI chip industry.

Mentium Logo

Challenges

Mentium Technologies faced several critical challenges:
  • Tape-out schedule at risk.
  • Compute and storage not scalable, nor available on demand.
  • Mission-critical designs needed faster iterations for extensive verification and quality.
  • Unable to tap into advantages of cloud for peak EDA workloads due to license constraints.

Solution

Synopsys Cloud SaaS solution provided a comprehensive, browser-based platform for SoC design projects, addressing Mentium's critical challenges. Key features included:

  • FlexEDA Model: True pay-per-use (PPU) licensing for EDA tools and flows, offering access to unlimited, on-demand licenses.
  • Pre-configured EDA Flows: Reduced setup time from weeks to days with pre-optimized compute resources.
  • Comprehensive Production Environment: Fully operational in just two days, enabling accelerated time-to-results and more iterations to catch issues early.
  • Advanced Compute Resources: On-demand access to high-performance compute configurations for critical peak EDA workload requirements.
  • Reduced OpEx: Flexibility to use resources only when needed, with on-demand compute and PPU EDA software access.
  • Complete User and License Management: Seamless onboarding and user management without the overhead of EDA software, license installation, and server management.

Results

The implementation of the Synopsys Cloud SaaS solution yielded impressive results for Mentium Technologies:

  • Accelerated Time-to-Results: Enabled the team to meet the tape-out schedule confidently, with the ability to perform more iterations and uncover issues early in the design stages.
  • Enhanced Flexibility and Scalability: Unlimited access to EDA tools and compute resources on-demand, eliminating previous constraints.
  • Operational Efficiency: Reduced operational expenses by utilizing resources only when needed, thanks to the pay-per-use model.
  • Seamless User Management: Efficient onboarding and management of users and licenses, allowing the team to focus on design rather than administrative tasks.
  • Access to Advanced Resources: Leveraged the latest high-performance compute configurations, ensuring optimal performance for critical workloads.

Overall, the Synopsys Cloud SaaS solution provided Mentium Technologies with the tools and infrastructure necessary to overcome their challenges and succeed in their mission-critical AI chip design projects.