A new start for Swedish semiconductor design!
SSF grants 60 million SEK to the research project “Chalmers-Lund Center for Advanced Semiconductor System Design, ClassIC”. The goals are for Sweden to become one of the leading countries in semiconductor design, to build Swedish competence in the field and to increase Sweden’s participation in the EU’s major investment, the European Chips Act.
Sweden does not have a major semiconductor industry, but a very strong semiconductor-based systems industry. Semiconductor system design is therefore an important technology for Sweden, where competence needs to be strengthened. The EU Chips Act has also just decided to invest close to 500 billion SEK for European chip manufacturing, where the design stage is an important part and where Sweden has great potential.
In order to develop semiconductor-based system products, knowledge is needed in a number of technical areas, including semiconductor design. The multidisciplinary research within ClassIC focuses on whole systems instead of individual technology steps, which can lead to new innovations. By specially designing semiconductors based on the specification for the final product, product differentiation and added value are created.
The ClassIC center encompasses multidisciplinary research on semiconductor design, where researchers from different fields such as antenna technology, processor architecture, software and algorithms, wireless communication and low-power electronics collaborate. The center’s industrial partners participate with deep knowledge of communication systems, military systems, video systems, radar systems and semiconductor manufacturing.
Project leader is Christian Fager from Chalmers University of Technology. A total of ten partners participate, of which two are universities and eight are companies, namely: Chalmers University of Technology, Lund University, Axis Communications AB, Ericsson AB, Qamcom Group AB, SAAB AB, Codasip s.r.o., GlobalFoundries, STMicroelectronics SA and Acconeer AB. The center’s participants thus cover a large part of the value chain for semiconductors – from requirements setters via designers, chip manufacturers and subcontractors, to manufacturers of complex system products.
The center is the first in SSF’s major investment in multidisciplinary research centers (MRC – Multidisciplinary Research Centers) in natural sciences, medicine and technology. The overall goal of the research centers is to coordinate research efforts within several scientific competencies, each outstanding in their field, in order to jointly contribute to solving major societal problems. The aim is to stimulate multidisciplinary research between academia, research institutes, industry and society.
Contact persons:
Research Secretary Jonas Bjarne, jonas.bjarne@strategiska.se, 08-505 816 73
Communications manager Sofie Pehrsson, sofie.pehrsson@strategiska.se, 073-358 16 67