SMART MANUFACTURING
field, working right now in billions of chips and operating in some of the harshest imaginable environments. These ready-made circuit blocks can be deployed into a new project with few or no changes, and shortcut much of the design and verification.
When in-house IP is not available, there is an alternative way to accelerate timescales and reduce NRE. Instead, designers can license IP blocks from specialist vendors and incorporate them onto the custom-designed silicon. This can work well for complex yet orthodox IP blocks - like radio transceivers supporting particular standards. IP obtained in this way can often be tweaked in-house, allowing it to meet customer-specific requirements. This kind of flexibility means that extremely complex systems can be monolithically integrated in far shorter timescales than when starting from scratch. Swindon provides its customers full ownership of the completed system design, to ensure their system IP benefits them, and them alone. Choosing an ASIC partner that does not
UKManufacturing Autumn 2024
sell off-the-shelf parts alleviates the risk of IP potentially being used at a future date in an in- house product.
EFFICIENT, SUSTAINABLE POWER CONSUMPTION
Efficiency remains paramount in IIoT deployments. Suddenly, a high volume of devices that weren’t there previously are relying on the facility’s power sources, placing additional strain on the system. At the same time as this, manufacturers are trying to reduce their energy consumption in line with sustainability goals. So how can ASICs support sustainable, efficient IIoT deployment? The most prominent feature of ASICs is customisability. They are specifically designed for each individual application, meaning they’re completely optimised. By nature, this optimised design will have fewer active components and unused performance, therefore reducing the required power. By tailoring the circuitry to the specific requirements of the application, ASICs can
achieve faster processing speeds, lower latency and higher efficiency. In addition, ASICs can be specifically designed with the goal to minimise power consumption, making them well-suited for applications with strict power constraints. Further, ASICs can support the goal of reducing power consumption within the factory walls, by supporting real-time data collection on energy consumption, enabling occupancy sensors to control HVAC systems and reactive lighting to turn lights off when no personnel are present in an area.
As IIoT applications diversify and evolve, there is an increasing demand for ASICs to meet goals that only a customised solution can deliver on. While ASICs are a well- established component of smart factory technologies, as new levels of efficiency, intelligence and security become widespread requirements, they will become a commonplace building block to ensure smart factory success.
Swindon Silicon Systems
www.swindonsilicon.com
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