"Samsung Electronics and TSMC's processes below 2NANO (nanometers; 1NANO is one billionth of a meter), as well as the development and manufacturing processes of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) by global memory semiconductor corporations, have incorporated Ansys' electronic design automation (EDA) solutions. We will work with our clients to open the era of artificial intelligence (AI) through a software platform that can improve everything from design verification to mass production yield and chip performance."
Park Joo-il (52), the CEO of Ansys Korea, met with ChosunBiz at the Ansys Korea office in Jung-gu, Seoul, on 17th. After working as an engineer at HP and Agilent Technologies, CEO Park joined Ansys Korea in 2012 and has been leading the company since last year.
Ansys, founded in 1970 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, USA, is a leading company in the field of engineering simulation. It develops and provides simulation software that predicts how products will function in real-world environments. The company supports the optimization of product design and manufacturing processes in various industries, including automotive, aerospace, defense, and energy, and is the global leader in this field. Ansys' revenue last year was $2.5448 billion (approximately 3.6479 trillion won).
Ansys also possesses simulation technology that can streamline the semiconductor development and mass production processes. Synopsys, the world's top EDA company, has announced plans to acquire Ansys for $35 billion (approximately 47 trillion won) to enhance competitiveness. Notably, Ansys holds over 90% market share in the field of 'power integrity signoff' solutions, which can verify the presence or absence of power and signal transmission errors during semiconductor process design and manufacturing.
CEO Park explained, "Ansys has been focusing on software engineering solutions since its first client, Westinghouse, in 1970," and added, "The key to becoming a market leader has been enhancing competitiveness through continuous mergers and acquisitions (M&A)."
Software technologies such as EDA are essential in the design and verification of semiconductors. It is similar to the principle of using computer-aided design (CAD) when drawing architectural blueprints. Since defects in individual processes can fatal to mass production yield and chip performance, it is crucial to validate them to prevent errors in advance.
Ansys collaborates with global semiconductor corporations in the EDA field. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are among its Korean clients. Ansys' EDA is also being utilized in the development and mass production processes of HBM, which is emerging as a key memory in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). The EDA not only verifies the design of HBM but also provides analytical data to control the chip's heat generation.
CEO Park noted, "As the number of layers in HBM increases, power issues, such as heat generation, are intensifying in the DRAM embedded in it," and added, "As we enter the custom HBM era, collaboration with fabless semiconductor design companies like NVIDIA, which handles the logic die that serves as the brain of HBM, is becoming essential, and we are supporting smooth data sharing through the software platform provided by Ansys."
Ansys' EDA tools are also utilized in the advanced processes of global foundries like Samsung Electronics and TSMC. CEO Park stated, "As new processes such as gate-all-around (GAA) are introduced in processes below 3NANO, the complexity has significantly increased," and added, "With production costs soaring, the importance of Ansys software that allows for pre-simulation is growing. Both TSMC and Samsung Electronics are utilizing Ansys' solutions, and we are currently collaborating with Samsung Electronics from the design phase of the 1.4NANO process." The following is a Q&A session with CEO Park.
—Please introduce Ansys' core solutions.
"As we enter the AI era, there has been a significant change in the semiconductor industry. Issues regarding power have begun to emerge due to the miniaturization and sophistication of semiconductor processes. With competition in foundry processes below 3NANO intensifying, new technologies like GAA and back power delivery network (BSPDN) have been introduced. The complexity of the processes has increased as new processes are adopted, leading to a worsening of power issues.
As the complexity of the processes has increased, the expense of new equipment and materials has also risen. It is crucial to have simulation tools that can identify the root causes of potential power issues and develop solutions in advance. Ansys offers a service that allows this to be analyzed as a single platform.
—Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are clients; how are you collaborating with them?
"In the field of memory semiconductors, the importance of software solutions is growing during the development and manufacturing processes of HBM. As the number of layers increases, the thickness of the chip must decrease, and with the proximity of the chips, controlling heat generation from power leakage becomes challenging. The next-generation HBM is expected to be produced in a customized form designed to meet client requirements. In this process, organic collaboration between the semiconductor companies manufacturing memory and those participating in the design of the logic die is necessary. Since all HBM clients, including NVIDIA, are utilizing Ansys' solutions, we are building a service that facilitates seamless data sharing that each company needs."
—Global foundries like Samsung Electronics and TSMC are also utilizing Ansys solutions.
"Recently, the competition in 2NANO processes between Samsung Electronics and TSMC has intensified. It is natural that as processes are miniaturized, the complexity will increase. We are currently collaborating with Samsung Electronics from the design phase of the 1.4NANO process."
Collaboration on silicon photonics is also expanding. Silicon photonics is a technology that implements basic semiconductor signal transmission from electricity to electrons and light. Applying this in processes can exponentially accelerate signal transmission and greatly improve power efficiency. Ansys has no difficulty in providing solutions related to silicon photonics, as it holds solutions in not only power but also optical fields."
—Companies like NVIDIA also have a high utilization of the software platform.
"NVIDIA is actively building a digital environment where this can be simulated during the development process. In the chip design process, it not only digital twins the chip itself but also creates a virtual environment through digital twins for data centers. This allows for prior validation of whether the chip can perform as intended and what issues may arise during operation at data centers. NVIDIA is establishing its own software ecosystem. Ansys provides services to ensure that the data offered through its software platform can be applied to the AI solutions held by NVIDIA."