DUBAI, UAE: Dubai Circuit Design (DCD), the region’s first Design Center for physical implementation of advanced integrated circuits and a 100 percent owned center by Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), announced today the conclusion of the region’s first design of an advanced integrated circuit. The SMC chip was designed using Synopsys’ proven EDA tools and Pilot Design Environment.

The region’s first integrated circuit was designed using 65 nanometer manufacturing process technology from TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor foundry. The test chip is designed for data security applications and contains around 22 million transistors. This encryption/decryption chip was implemented using special low-power design techniques to minimize power consumption.

Commenting on this breakthrough, Dr. Jihad Kiwan, Managing Director of DCD, said: “Dubai Circuit Design Center was launched with the objective to attract international skills and talents specialized in the IC design and semiconductor industry to Dubai. Experienced and talented engineers have been recruited from different parts of the world to create a culturally-diversified environment that is rich in experience and innovation.”

He added: “The DCD Team enjoys over 100 years of accumulated experience specialized in various fields of the IC design industry. With solid backgrounds and experiences gained from industry giants such as Intel, Texas Instruments (TI), ST Microelectronics, Qualcomm, Wipro, and many others, the DCD team has set the pace to include Dubai on the  world map of the circuit design industry.”

 “We consider Dubai Circuit Design’s completion of their first chip design a major achievement for them and the region’s technology industry,” noted Glenn Dukes, vice President of Professional Services at Synopsys. “There are significant technical hurdles to overcome at the 65 nanometer process node, and DCD demonstrated the talent and commitment to work through them.  We are pleased with the outcome of this program, and look forward to future collaborations with DCD.”

The new DCD design team, which is located within the Dubai Silicon Oasis headquarters is managed by a highly experienced team, and supported by Synopsys and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority. 

Integrated circuits are chips using microelectronic technology, and operate in products such as super-computers, mobile phones, TV sets, plasma displays, airplanes, games consoles and others. The establishment of the design centre brings IC design talent to Dubai, including expertise in RF and analog design which are often challenging domains in advanced chip designs.