The new imec competence centre, to be based in Baden-Württemberg (Southwest of Germany), will develop state-of-the-art chiplet, packaging, system integration, sensing, and (edge) AI technology as part of imec’s Automotive Chiplet Program (ACP).
The centre will enable imec to better support the local and international automotive industry in derisking and accelerating the introduction of automotive chiplets into manufacturing.
The Advanced Chip Design Accelerator is part of a chip-design strategy of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg and the project is embedded in the European’s Commission strategy to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty. The centre is financially supported by Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism of Baden-Württemberg with 40 million euros, initially for a period of five years. It will be located at the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) in Heilbronn, Germany.
The new centre will address the shift from traditional chip technologies towards chiplet-based compute architectures in automotive, a technology more suited to enabling demanding functionalities such as autonomous driving and enhanced in-cabin experience.
Chiplets are modular chips specifically designed to perform specialised functions, facilitating rapid customisation and upgrades, while reducing power consumption, development time and cost. The project also meets the strategic goal of the European Commission to launch the European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance.
The State of Baden-Württemberg also announced that it will support the chip-ecosystem with an additional 5 million euros for a network office and the support for scientific cooperation on chiplet technologies, headed by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
“We are excited to bring our expertise and global partner network to the state of Baden-Württemberg, the cradle of the automotive industry in Germany,” said Luc Van den hove, President and CEO of imec. “We also look forward to expanding our collaboration with Fraunhofer to leverage on our complementary expertise and lay the foundation for future chiplet solutions. To realize the region's ambitions, we will also focus on growing the talent pipeline across Europe by training engineers in close collaboration with the local ecosystem, including universities.”
“High-performance chips are playing an important role for software-driven applications in core industries in Baden-Württemberg and are increasingly shaping mobility, artificial intelligence and digitalisation,” said Baden-Württemberg minister of economic affairs Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut (photo right).
Baden-Württemberg and Flanders signed a memorandum of understanding on electronics cooperation last year.
