Systemic complexity is the chip designer’s biggest enemy
1 min read
Synopsys chairman and ceo Aart de Geus, pictured, says the single most important shift in the chip design world has been from dealing with scaling complexity to dealing with systemic complexity. Those companies which cope with systemic complexity, he implied, will develop better products more quickly and at lower cost.
In a keynote address to the NMI's recent Future World Symposium, he said: "Systemic complexity is requiring companies to embrace systemic collaboration. But systemic collaboration needs three things to make it work: a commitment from top management to the project's goals; competence; and compromise."
In de Geus' opinion, the latter two factors are critical. He said the common belief is that success is the sum of the efforts. "It's not," he argued, "it's the product of the efforts and who you work with will have a big impact on the project's technical and economic success."
But it's compromise which raises eyebrows. "Any engineering task involves compromise," he continued. "Time is the most important variable and this can only be managed by compromise."
There's also what de Geus called 'techonomics' – the combination of technology and economics – to deal with. "It's driving the industry," he claimed. He believes chip complexity means companies have to look to third parties for things like IP blocks. "To conquer systemic complexity," he concluded, "companies need a critical mass beyond their footprint."
