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kurthr • today at 3:02 PM • 1 reply • view on HN

This might make some sense if, the cost of any change in design vs requirement wouldn't cost $30-50M in mask and tape-out alone. That doesn't count the first wafer 'hot lots' just to get the design's first wafer out in only 3 months, or the bringup and modified test equipment to validate the design, or the corners testing and optimization, or the package tooling, or... Those can easily be additional $10Ms and that's per design, if you do a full mask change. If you can "fix it in metal", you might get that down to just $10M and 1 month?

This isn't software. The time, labor, and equipment costs of the first wafer dwarf the redesign cost, so it makes sense to get it right the first time. What if every build, compile, and link cost you $10M and 1 month? How would that change your work flow?

Most of the "AI" design tools today are focused on verification, validation and layout, which makes a lot of sense. They might help with architecture in the future (or making something high yield AND easy to fix in metal)?

You could run a small design on an MPW shuttle to reduce these costs, but your TTM get's longer, the yields won't be as high, and if you go to mass production you still face the huge mask costs.

Another place this might make some sense is reworking old large die 130nm designs on 8" wafers to be newer 28mm designs on 12", there are a LOT of those. The mask costs are lower, the design is well understood with lots of process margin, and wafer/yield costs could be modeled and favorable. Of course analog scaling is a whole separate kettle of fish.


Replies

MisterMunchkin • today at 3:34 PM

But then you are assuming the current way is optimal. Why can’t we have a 3d-printer-style contraption for chips?

If people have millions of new chip designs that need making, perhaps that will be motivation to invent a new way of making chips. It might not be better at manufacturing a billion of the same chip, but maybe it’s better at producing a billion different chips. Then every HFT could have their own chip and people could try out all kinds of new designs without committing a fortune.

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