RAMP is a programme established by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to develop secure design and prototyping capabilities to demonstrate how the DoD can securely leverage state-of-the-art microelectronics technologies without depending on a closed-security architecture fabrication process or facility.
In 2020, the DoD designated Microsoft as a central RAMP partner, as the DoD looked to leverage commercial industry expertise to modernize practices. Siemens has long been Microsoft’s lead partner for enabling electronic design automation (EDA) in the cloud, and as part of the RAMP Phase II programme, this collaboration now extends into secure, cloud-based environments also built on the Microsoft Azure Government platform.
Siemens‘ contribution to RAMP Phase II will initially focus on physical or “back-end” integrated circuit (IC) design via Siemens‘ Calibre platform, as this part of design creation is particularly challenging due to tight coupling of design techniques with the specific wafer fabrication processes targeted.
The Calibre platform is a back-end verification solution. Deployed throughout the global semiconductor ecosystem the Calibre platform delivers IC verification accuracy, reliability and performance.
“Siemens is pleased that Microsoft has agreed to extend our relationship into their RAMP II programme,“ said Michael Buehler-Garcia, vice president for Calibre Design Solutions Product Management. “This additional collaboration will help to demonstrate that semiconductors designed through RAMP II can leverage Siemens‘ verification expertise. Additionally, expanding our cloud collaboration with Microsoft Azure Government is expected to generate valuable insights that can be fed back into the RAMP programme in an effort to enhance the design and security of next-generation integrated circuits derived from the DoD’s RAMP programme.“
Microsoft is utilising all elements of the Calibre platform including its physical (DRC) layout vs. schematic (LVS), reliability, and extraction solutions for the RAMP II program. The platforms’ interface offerings allow IC designers to interactively use Calibre with any design creation flow selected by RAMP II participating companies.
“Siemens‘s participation in RAMP brings the industry-leading back-end verification solution for DoD’s use for secure development of microelectronics for defence technologies,” said Mujtaba Hamid, general manager, Silicon, Modeling and Simulation, Microsoft. “Our experience with Siemens for EDA on the cloud to address commercial customer needs is now being leveraged in the RAMP Phase II programme, to help the government and the defence industry develop silicon with secure access to advanced commercial design processes.“
