Alchip
Encyclopedia
Alchip is a fabless semiconductor company
founded in 2002 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Alchip specializes in the design and manufacture of digital CMOS
ASIC
s.
, Shin-Yokohama, Japan, Shanghai, China, and Hsinchu, Taiwan.
acquired Simplex Solutions, an ASIC design services company.
Alchip was founded six months later by Kinying Kwan and other former Simplex employees as a fabless ASIC supplier. Simplex Solutions had gained notoriety for designing the graphics ASIC for Sony
's PS2 game console. Sony became an important customer of Alchip as well. In 2006 80% of Alchip's revenues were from Japan, and most of that was from Sony. In September 2008 Alchip's relationship with Sony took another step forward when it was announced that it would partner with Sony's microelectronics to provide packaging solutions for Alchip's customer's ASICs. Alchip has received venture capital investment from Global Future Group, Investar, AcerVC, Cisco Systems
, C2Capital, and TSMC
which owns 20% of Alchip.
and TSMC, which is also an investor. Alchip also outsources package assembly and test. Alchip owns a Verigy
93K tester platform on which it performs test development and the test of ASIC prototypes.
Fabless semiconductor company
A fabless semiconductor company specializes in the design and sale of hardware devices and semiconductor chips while outsourcing the fabrication or "fab" of the devices to a specialized manufacturer called a semiconductor foundry...
founded in 2002 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Alchip specializes in the design and manufacture of digital CMOS
CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor is a technology for constructing integrated circuits. CMOS technology is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital logic circuits...
ASIC
ASIC
ASIC may refer to:* Application-specific integrated circuit, an integrated circuit developed for a particular use, as opposed to a customised general-purpose device.* ASIC programming language, a dialect of BASIC...
s.
Location
Alchip's headquarters is in Taipei, Taiwan. Alchip also has locations in Santa Clara, CaliforniaSanta Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
, Shin-Yokohama, Japan, Shanghai, China, and Hsinchu, Taiwan.
History
In April 2002 CadenceCadence Design Systems
Cadence Design Systems, Inc is an electronic design automation software and engineering services company, founded in 1988 by the merger of SDA Systems and ECAD, Inc...
acquired Simplex Solutions, an ASIC design services company.
Alchip was founded six months later by Kinying Kwan and other former Simplex employees as a fabless ASIC supplier. Simplex Solutions had gained notoriety for designing the graphics ASIC for Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's PS2 game console. Sony became an important customer of Alchip as well. In 2006 80% of Alchip's revenues were from Japan, and most of that was from Sony. In September 2008 Alchip's relationship with Sony took another step forward when it was announced that it would partner with Sony's microelectronics to provide packaging solutions for Alchip's customer's ASICs. Alchip has received venture capital investment from Global Future Group, Investar, AcerVC, Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
, C2Capital, and TSMC
TSMC
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited or TSMC is the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, with its headquarters and main operations located in the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan.-Overview:...
which owns 20% of Alchip.
Products
Alchip provides physical design, design for test insertion, package design, product qualification, IP licensing, and manufacturing services for digital CMOS ASICs. Alchip has announced products in .13 um, 90 nm, and 65 nm process technologies. Customer ASICs have been announced in a wide range of applications including medical image processing, supercomputing, and networking.Manufacturing
Alchip outsources semiconductor manufacturing to SMICSemiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, is a semiconductor foundry in mainland China, providing integrated circuit manufacturing services at 350 nm to 45nm technologies...
and TSMC, which is also an investor. Alchip also outsources package assembly and test. Alchip owns a Verigy
Verigy
Verigy Ltd is an Advantest Group company in the semiconductor automatic test equipment business. It was spun off from Agilent Technologies in 2006...
93K tester platform on which it performs test development and the test of ASIC prototypes.