Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

In the gold rush, who can break even? Not gold prospectors, but water sellers; in the hot chip investment boom, there are also such "water sellers"-- EDA manufacturers.

The EDA track was unusually lively, with first seeing that Gongsoft received 1.1 billion yuan in Pre-A round financing, and then Huada's nine-day landing on the gem, which closed up 129.43% on the first day. How can you get so much money as an EDA?

Without EDA, there would be no chip EDA (Electronic Design Automation, Electronic Design Automation). It is a large industrial tool for computer-aided design, manufacture and closed testing of integrated circuit chips. It is the most basic and upstream field, which runs through every link of the integrated circuit industry chain.

To put it simply, EDA is the paintbrush and artboard of a chip designer, just like using Word to manipulate documents and Photoshop to make pictures, it can efficiently design, control and manage billions of circuit components to work together in a single chip. [1]

EDA algorithm is intensive and integrates multi-disciplinary algorithm technologies such as graphics, computational mathematics, microelectronics, topological logic, material science and artificial intelligence. It must go through long-term technology accumulation and continuous large-scale R & D investment in order to meet the application needs of the new process.

▲ EDA supports the integrated circuit design and manufacturing process, key links, the source of the electronic prospectus [2]

EDA tools include hardware and software. Software is the core of tools, which is divided into three types: simulation tools, design tools and verification tools; hardware is a server and special tools used to accelerate simulation and verification. [3]

Three types of ▲ EDA software tools, tabulation (fruit shell hard technology)

Source: Xin Si Technology [4]

The location of ▲ design tools, simulation tools and verification tools in the chip design process, data source (IEEE Xplore [5])

EDA is so important that if something goes wrong, the integrated circuits, electronic information and digital economy downstream of the industry will collapse. Without EDA, it would be impossible to design and manufacture today's chips.

The chip design process is extremely complex, requiring high fineness of design, and a slight deviation will lead to chip scrapping and project collapse; at the same time, with the evolution from 90nm and 65nm to 3nm / 2nm, the manufacturing cost is rising, and more and more design steps are required, and the design is becoming more and more difficult. [6]

EDA can give full play to the three key functions of computer aided design (TCAD), manufacturing oriented design (DFM) and silicon life cycle management (SLM) to ensure the yield and performance of the final product. On the one hand, EDA divides the complex chip design process into high-level synthesis, logic synthesis, schematic layout and other steps, and is equipped with a rich library of tool components and reusable reference architecture; on the other hand, EDA can use simulation, verification and other tools to correct errors before chip production. [7]

▲ EDA has three key functions, tabulation (fruit shell hard technology).

EDA is also closely linked to another market segment-semiconductor intellectual property (semiconductor IP core). The so-called IP core is a semi-finished chip, which provides pre-designed circuits with different complexity, which can be divided into three categories: soft core, hard core and solid core. Given that the use and reuse of IP cores rely on EDA tools, and EDA and IP cores can be bundled, the industry usually regards both as a market [4]. Although EDA giants have their own IP core products, with the expansion of the market and the increase of IP suppliers, the trend is to separate EDA and IP cores.

Three types of IP kernels of ▲, data source (founder Securities) [8]

EDA changes with integrated circuits. It has gone through four stages: CAD / CAM (computer aided Design / computer aided Manufacturing), CAE (computer aided Engineering), ESDA (Electronic system Design Automation) to EDA (Electronic Design Automation). The phase transformation is essentially the change of the abstract level of chip description, and the precision is improved in turn.

Looking back on the development behavior of the EDA market, it is very similar to the development history of wafer foundry and digital chips, from the scarcity of players to letting a hundred flowers blossom, and then to the survival of the fittest, with only one or two mergers and acquisitions and no more than three or four super-large aggregates.

From 1964 to 1978, the chip transistor density was low, the integration was low, and the enterprise enrollment rate was low. Applicon, Calma and Computervision dominated the CAD / CAM market at that time.

From 1979 to 1992, CAE became an upstart, and the participation rate of related enterprises suddenly increased sharply. The turning point was the emergence of ASIC (commercial application specific integrated circuit), which gave the design team access to the custom chips previously reserved for large-scale system OEM. Daisy Systems, Mentor Graphics and Valid Logic dominated the CAE market at that time; [9]

In the early 1990s, technology developed along the way, high-level language description began to be used, ESDA dominated, and industry mergers and acquisitions were started. Synopsys, Cadence and Mentor (now Siemens EDA) became the new big three.

From 2009 to 2014, EDA-related patent applications other than giants gradually decreased, market monopoly emerged, small companies were acquired, and large companies were eliminated in the competition.

Over the next few years, the EDA industry continued to integrate. New Technology, Caden Electronics and Siemens EDA acquired many small start-ups, including Forte, Jasper, Springsoft, EVE, Nimbic and so on. With the rise of domestic EDA financing, some established domestic brands began to squeeze into the second echelon.

▲ EDA development stage and characteristics, tabulation (fruit shell hard science and technology)

Source: IEEE Design & Test of Computers [9]

EDA is not an easy business. How can EDA companies make money? Generally, the mode of License is adopted, that is, the specified version of the software is sold to the customer and the license fee is charged for the period stipulated in the contract.

Authorization is divided into two forms: fixed-term authorization and permanent authorization, which can be simply understood as the relationship between Office 365and Office 2021. Most of the customers with low replacement requirements choose permanent authorization, and the customers with higher replacement requirements choose fixed-term authorization. The fixed period is usually 1-3 years, or you can choose to authorize multiple times within a fixed period, which is equivalent to payment by installments. [11]

▲ 2019 ~ 2021 company EDA software sales revenue proportion of different authorization models, figure source (Soochow Securities)

The EDA industry has obvious room for sustainable growth. The global EDA market revenue is 11.57 billion US dollars in 2020 and 21.36 billion US dollars in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.9 per cent. [14]

▲ inverted pyramid industrial chain structure, Tu Yuan Huada's nine-day prospectus

But EDA is definitely not an easy business. Today, the whole market is divided into three levels of competition echelon, the highest domestic is only the second echelon, and the share is too small. According to SIA (American Semiconductor Association), domestic EDA / IP accounts for only 1% of the global market. [15]

The first echelon, which is composed of three companies, namely, Xin Si Technology, Caden Electronics and Siemens EDA, is in an absolute leading position, accounting for 78% of the global market share. The Big three have more than 95% of software sales in the Chinese market, have full-process EDA products, have business all over the world, and have strong scientific research strength.

The second echelon is represented by American ANSYS, Silvaco, Aldec, Huada Jiutian, etc., with full-process products in specific areas and leading technology in local areas.

The third echelon is represented by Altium, Conceptual Engineering Group (Concept Engineering), Conceptual Electronics, Down Stream Technologies and so on. These enterprises mainly lay out point tools and lack EDA domain-specific full-process products. [16]

Brief structure of ▲ global EDA industry, derived from Huada's nine-day prospectus [16]

Whoever is in the absolute leading position will make the market rules. But in fact, the competition among Xin Si Technology, Kaden Electronics and Siemens EDA in the market is also extremely fierce. Although the overall operation ideas of the three companies are the same, their strategies are not the same.

New think Technology is undoubtedly the largest EDA-related company in terms of revenue and business, but from the perspective of EDA product line alone, Kaden Electronics is on a par with New thought Technology, and even better than New thought Technology in previous years. From a strategic point of view, Xinsi Technology strengthens the development of integrated software products and develops the product strength of its product lines on average through frequent mergers and acquisitions. Kai Deng Electronics has a solid foundation of strength, and relatively few mergers and acquisitions can maintain the steady growth of EDA revenue. [17]

Comparison of the basic situation of the three giants of ▲ EDA, tabulation (fruit shell hard science and technology)

Source: EDP Sciences [18], "dual-use technologies and products" [19], "Chinese integrated circuits" [20]

The development of domestic EDA was tortuous and slow, and it did not begin to rise until 2008: as early as 1981-1985, the first-level and second-tier systems of ICCAD were developed one after another; in 1993, the panda system came out; but in the next 15 years, under the influence of the concept of "it is better to buy than to buy, buy than rent", domestic EDA was widened, at that time, during the rising period of Xinsi Technology, Caden Electronics and Siemens EDA. In 2008, EDA became the focus again, and Huada Group separated the EDA department, named Huada Nine days; in 2010, Jielun Electronics was established [21]; in December 2021, Keilun Electronics was listed on the gem board; in July 2022, Huada Nine days gem was listed.

▲ domestic EDA secondary market situation incomplete statistics, tabulation (fruit shell hard science and technology)

Under the trend of domestic substitution, the primary market of EDA is very active in the past two years, and the amount of financing once reached 1.1 billion yuan.

▲ in the past two years, the domestic EDA primary market situation is not complete statistics, tabulation, fruit shell hard science and technology

It should still be pointed out that the domestic EDA is dominated by point tools, the tool chain is incomplete, and the three giants cover all aspects of the industrial chain. In addition, the domestic EDA can not meet the requirements of the cutting-edge process, because the EDA is in the upstream position, so the EDA must be more advanced than the chip process.

▲ domestic and foreign EDA support tool chain comparison, tabulation, fruit shell hard science and technology

▲ domestic and foreign enterprises EDA product support process comparison, data source Liebao [22]

In order to survive, how can we go under a high monopoly? what are the ways that domestic EDA can go after all? The fruit shell hard technology team believes that there are the following points:

Investment in key points EDA requires a staggering amount of investment. Over the past ten years, the net profit rate of Xin Si Technology and Kaden Electronics has not exceeded 15% in most years, but it has never reduced the intensity of R & D investment because of the company's operating conditions. All R & D accounts for more than 30%, and even part-time R & D accounts for more than 40%. For smaller EDA companies, the number may be higher. [23]

The high investment means that the three giants have erected a patent wall, and the patent siege has led to an extremely awkward situation for domestic companies. In the past two years, all semiconductor companies have begun to establish a series of their own intellectual property rights, hoping to keep a safe distance from their competitors [24]. Domestic companies also need their own patents.

According to the statistics of the number and distribution of EDA key technology patents by the three giants, there is no great difference in the degree of development, focus and expertise, but the research is basically focused on the three topics of "verification", "simulation" and "cabling". There are not many studies on "timing analysis" and "synthesis", which means that "timing analysis" and "synthesis" is the part that can open the technology gap [18]. In addition, "verification" accounts for more than 70% of the total cost of chip design, which is an area that domestic EDA is breaking through. [25]

Number and distribution of key technology patents of the three giants of ▲, sources of information (EDP Sciences [18])

The development of Chiplet is the key point. The traditional chip is to put all devices on a single bare crystal (Die). The more functions the chip has, the larger the chip size is. Chiplet (small chip) distributes large-size and multi-cores on multiple tiny bare chips, such as different types of processors, analog components, memory, etc., and then combines them together like building blocks in the way of 3D three-dimensional stack. [26]

How important is Chiplet? Leading IC design companies such as AMD, Intel and Nvidia have all launched products based on Chiplet technology, and Apple is also preparing to use Chiplet technology in the next generation of high-end processors [27]. In order to make Chiplet develop better, Arm, AMD, Meta, Intel, Google Cloud, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sunlight and TSMC also launched the UCIe industry alliance. [28]

Implementing Chiplet,EDA is the key. At present, the biggest problem of Chiplet is how to put the components together and who will combine these parts together. Domestic EDA can study these problems.

Make a better use of EDA tools with software as the core of EDA, easy to use, so that more people can use is the king.

In recent years, with the increase of the basic data of chip design and the computing power of the system, AI (artificial Intelligence) and cloud technology begin to go deep into EDA. This model is also gradually recognized by the industry, and the use habits of users also change. [29]

This change benefits from the evolution of design methodology, and the ultimate goal is to improve design efficiency, ensure design correctness, improve chip production yield, and accelerate the design process. Domestic EDA should also follow this model for development.

The development direction of ▲ EDA tools at the level of design methodology, sources of information on Huada's nine-day prospectus [16]

Open source enhanced research in the field of EDA in recent years, the trend of open source prevails, giving birth to an open silicon intellectual property ecosystem. Open source EDA tools can quickly guide domestic EDA to find a direction, and at the same time create a new ecosystem for scientific development.

Open source EDA has five possibilities: first, it can quickly identify the latest benchmark results, so that it can quickly identify new EDA solutions and promote technological development; second, open source tools can accelerate EDA research, implement iterations faster on the basis of existing open source tools and components, and reduce barriers to entry. Third, as EDA improvements may be overshadowed by downstream tools, complete open source EDA tools can ensure that improvements persist to the end; fourth, open source tools with standard I / O format exchange can form a healthy ecosystem between open source tools and closed source industry, accelerating the spread of academic and industrial knowledge; fifth, the developer community can find more backdoors or loopholes, which can lead to a more reliable design process. [30]

Various forces should be twisted into a rope EDA throughout the chip industry chain, various tools are also interlinked. The three giants all adopt the way of acquisition integration in varying degrees to achieve the coverage of the whole process tools. At present, there is only one company in Huada Jiutian to realize part of the whole design process, and the overall market is still fragmented and geographically dispersed. [31]

Comparison of two Breakthrough schemes of ▲ EDA tool, Picture Source, Huafu Securities [32]

It is not easy to promote integration, not to mention that domestic EDA is still in its infancy and does not have the conditions for large-scale mergers and acquisitions. Therefore, China can take a more characteristic form of integration, through industry leaders to affect industry cooperation, coupled with government support, take advantage of the situation to form a reasonable model of reciprocity. There are three forms of sales [31]:

Bundled sales: take bundled sales of multi-company point tools and associate them with each other

Customized development cooperation: large EDA manufacturers customize development to small vendors. After the latter completes the development, both parties share property rights and technology to achieve win-win cooperation.

Industry incubation: the first developed EDA manufacturers introduce industry resources for technology-based start-ups.

In addition, the six factors of talent and team, technology and product, market and ecology, capital and policy, law and regulation, software and hardware are indispensable to EDA, but nowadays, there is a shortage of talents in the field of EDA, the technology coverage is not comprehensive, and the ecological construction is incomplete. Behind this, it needs to be led by the government and assisted by the capital market, which gives full play to the effect of industry-university-research integration and promotes the development of integrated circuits. [33]

When domestic forces are tied together, independent standardization can then be built. Nowadays, EDA has a wide range of fields, complex systems and functions, and the scope of standardization work is also very wide. China can further promote its own standardization work. [34]

When all kinds of resources are integrated, it is inevitable to occupy the market.

References:

Cai Enze. EDA Surfer [J]. Board of Directors, 2021 (Z1): 97-99.

[2] Elon Electronics: initial public offering and listing prospectus of Science and Technology Innovation Board. 2022.1.3. Http://zqpdf.stcn.com/ kcb / 2021-11-24 / zcg / c5cbfffb4aae41cc814b13f55d282000.pdf

Zheng J N, Chien C F, Lin T Y. Real Time Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Scheduling System in IC Design Industry [C] / / Proceedings of the 2019 international conference on management science and industrial engineering. 2019: 62-67.DOI:10.1145/3335550.3335566

[4] Synopsys:What is Electronic Design Automation. https://www.synopsys.com/glossary/what-is-electronic-design-automation.html

[5] KRYLOV G, KAWA J, FRIEDMAN E. Design Automation of Superconductive Digital Circuits[J] .IEEE Xplore.2021.10.13.DOI:10.1109/MNANO.2021.3113218

[6] B. Martin, "Electronic design automation [1999 technology analysis and forecast]," in IEEE Spectrum, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 57-61, Jan. 1999.DOI: 10.1109 Electronic design automation 6.738327.

[7] Sifakis J. System design automation: Challenges and limitations [J]. Proceedings of the IEEE, 2015, 103 (11): 2093-2103 DOI Vane 10.1109 Universe JPROC.2015.2484060

Founder Securities: special report on EDA Industry Research Framework. 2020.6.9.

Http://www.d-long.com/eWebEditor/uploadfile/202006151903178045687.pdf

[9] Sangiovanni-Vincentelli A. The tides of EDA [J]. IEEE Design & Test of Computers, 2003, 20 (6): 59-75 DOI Vera 10.1109Universe mdt.2003.1246165

[10] EEtimes:Synopsys to acquire Avanti for $830 million.2001.12.03. https://www.eetimes.com/synopsys-to-acquire-avanti-for-830-million/

[11] Huada Nine days: reply on financial matters in the feedback on the implementation of the initial public offering of shares of Beijing Huada Jiutian Technology Co., Ltd. and its listing on gem. 2022.6.23. Http://file.finance.sina.com.cn/ 211.154.219.97 CNSESZ_STOCK 9494 / MRGG / CNSESZ_STOCK / 2022ap2022-6amp 2022-06-23/8314639.PDF

[12] Soochow Securities: EDA domestic top, the only national team dream for ten years global leader. 2022.7.20. Https://pdf.dfcfw.com/ pdf / H3_AP202207201576386328_1.pdf?1658387602000.pdf

[13] https://stockn.xueqiu.com/ SH688206/2022022817130101071314645.pdf: record form of investor relations activities of Shanghai Keilun Electronics Co., Ltd. 2022.2.28.

[14] GlobeNewsWire:Global Electronic Design Automation Tools (EDA) Market-Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021-2026) .2022.7.7 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/01/07/2363282/0/en/Global-Electronic-Design-Automation-Tools-EDA-Market-Growth-Trends-COVID-19-Impact-and-Forecasts-2021-2026.html

[15] SIA:Taking Stock of China's Semiconductor Industry.2021.7.13. https://www.semiconductors.org/taking-stock-of-chinas-semiconductor-industry/

[16] Huada Nine days: initial public offering and gem listing prospectus .2022.7.25. Http://www.szse.cn/ disclosure / listed / bulletinDetail / index.html?7e94b593-7f95-47d3-bdd5-a6cd0afc643b

Luo Yiqi. The way of Localization of EDA, the Mother of chips [N]. 21st Century Economic report, 2021-08-06 (012)

[18] Li W, Wen H, Duan P. Key technologies and international trends in EDA field of digital IC design: a patent analysis[C] / / SHS Web of Conferences. EDP Sciences, 2022, 140.DOI:10.1051/shsconf/202214001020

[19] Zheng Chen. Viewing the rise of the three global EDA giants and talking about the way for domestic EDA enterprises to break the situation [J]. Dual-use Technology and products, 2021, (09): 10-19.

Zhang Tianyi, Liu Chao, Wang Jie, Chen Ying.Research on the construction of talent team in EDA industry [J]. China Integrated Circuits, 2021 Jol 30 (09): 31-36.

[21] EDA: [core history] China's EDA industry, which missed 15 years, finally embarked on the road of rise. 2022.4.13. Https://laoyaoba.com/ name814235

[22] Leopard: an overview of China's EDA industry. 2022.03. Https://pdf.dfcfw.com/ pdf / H3_AP202204211560705251_1.pdf?1650575333000.pdf

Zhang Tianyi, Liu Chao, Wang Jie, Chen Ying.Research on the construction of talent team in EDA industry [J]. China Integrated Circuits, 2021 Jol 30 (09): 31-36.

[24] Semi:Homegrown EDA Tools, Open Source, Starting an EDA Company: Verific on Chip Design Trends.2021.10.4. https://www.semi.org/en/blogs/technology-trends/homegrown-eda-tools-open-source-starting-eda-company-verific-chip-design

[25] https://www.laoyaoba.com/: [core Vision] New proposition of domestic EDA: break through the fortress of verification and integration has been put on the agenda. 2022.7.25. Https://www.laoyaoba.com/ Web / share / news?source=app_ios_3.4.9&news_id=826628&utm_source=utm_source_sharewxm

[26] Oriental Securities: EDA in-depth report of Industrial Software (2): five major trends of the EDA industry in the post-Moore era. 2022.1.5. Https://pdf.dfcfw.com/ pdf / H3_AP202201051538659299_1.pdf?1641416320000.pdf

[27] Semiconductor industry observation: a brief discussion on the development route of local chiplet. 2022.1.5. Https://mp.weixin.qq.com/ s / ZWQ6D5mDzu4XDJc-WY1HUA

[28] UCIe official website: https://www.uciexpress.org/ membership

[29] Damiano R, Camposano R. The Integrated Circuit Design Process and Electronic Design Automation[M] / / EDA for IC System Design, Verification, and Testing. CRC Press, 2018: 2-1-2-14.

[30] Reda S, Stok L, Gaillardon P E. Guest Editors' Introduction: The Resurgence of Open-Source EDA Technology [J]. IEEE Design & Test, 2021, 38 (2): 5-7.DOI:10.1109/mdat.2020.3038851

Https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=9398954

[31] Liu Xing, Xia Yi. Analysis on the Development Prospect of Digital Integrated Circuit EDA Software Industry [J]. China Informatization, 2021, (09): 117,120.

[32] Huafu Securities: the leader of domestic EDA point tools made by Enron Electronics. 2022.6.1. Https://pdf.dfcfw.com/ pdf / H3_AP202206021569558838_1.pdf?1654196916000.pdf

[33] Wang Libin. Digital economy double cycle EDA technology breakthrough at the right time [J]. Software and Integrated Circuits, 2020, (11): 39-40.

[34] Zhang Yingnan. Standardization promotes the development of domestic EDA industry [J]. China Standardization, 2021, (08): 74-76.

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: fruit Shell hard Technology (ID:guokr233), author: Fu Bin, Editor: Li Tuo

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.