CUSTOM ASIC DESIGN

Need a solid IC solution for your business that is developed fast and right first-time? We address your IC development challenge and leverage our decades-long expertise in custom IC design and development to your benefit. 

SYSTEMATIC PROVIDES YOU WITH A FAST, HONEST AND OPTIMAL IC SOLUTION

Innovation is a catalyst for your growth and efficiency. We help enterprises move faster, and startups build smarter. Accelerate your product releases by relying on our highly-qualified engineers to develop the most optimal custom IC solutions for your business.

Enhance competitiveness with our in-depth technological knowledge

Extend your product roadmap

Reduce your time to market

Get access to our broad process experience

Benefit from our innovative design approach and analog IP

Lower your research costs and risks

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EXPERTISES AND INDUSTRIES

Need a solid IC solution for your business that is developed fast and right first-time? Let us help you to tackle IC design and development challenges and leverage our decade-long expertise in custom IC design and development. Having helped companies like NXP, Broadcom, Panasonic, Melexis and OSRAM with custom solutions, we know what defines success across industries.

EXPERTISES
Sensor interfacing

Sensor interfacing

We perform world-leading research in sensor interfacing and create groundbreaking innovations in multiple domains.

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Integrated power

Integrated power

The combination of our widely acclaimed and profound integrated power expertise is what makes SystematIC unique.

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High voltage

High voltage

Thanks to our experience in high voltage technologies, we can design accurate ASIC’s for special high-voltage applications in less time and at lower costs.

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INDUSTRIES

WE KNOW IT WILL WORK BEFORE WE START DESIGN

Time to market is an extremely important aspect in many electronic developments. The best strategy is getting the most out of the first silicon. The risk in a second run, if needed, should be minimal. Therefore it is important to acknowledge and address potential risks and uncertainties in a first IC/product design as early as possible. SystematIC aims to do so in the first step. Understanding model accuracy, component mismatch and process corner variations helps to make robust circuit designs. The time and attention that we invest in the first design is in almost all cases rewarded with fully functional first silicon. We...

  • search for the optimal solution
  • ensure first-time functional silicon
  • realize a fast development schedule

THE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH

SystematIC , as its name aptly suggests, draws its strength from a thorough systematic development methodology and a profound knowledgebase which it applies in practical implementation of every analog and mixed-signal ASIC it develops. Thanks to the ‘SystematIC’ methodologies fully functional and on-spec silicon is attainable with a minimum number of design iterations, resulting in a significantly reduced overall development time.

In our custom ASIC design service we support the three main phases, 1) Preparation phase, 2) Development phase, 3) Transfer to production, as indicated below.

We support customers with the full development package, or alternatively we provide services for just the appropriate and requested selection of tasks in each package.

PREPARATION

Feasibility, product definition, development plan (steps, schedule, efforts, tools, costs)

Will the idea work?
What is the best system topology?
What is the most suitable technology?
What development plan can we support?

  • Investigate the idea with consideration of the laws of physics and limitations of integration technologies
  • Fundamental comparison of different implementations or architectures of the system function(s)
  • Address risks and uncertainties:
    • can a discrete (PCB/FPGA) prototype help to reduce these?
    • how do we model special or external components (sensors, actuators, transformers, etc.)
  • Consider optimization directions of the performance: The best compromise is based on balancing different aspects (power versus signal-to-noise, accuracy versus area, etc.).
  • Consider process requirements, based on functionality, performance and chip area/price and  select appropriate IC technology
  • Model the system and simulate and confirm system behavior.
  • Complete IC definition, including architecture, specification, block division
  • Proposal for a SystematIC Design and Development plan.

DEVELOPMENT

Design, simulation, layout, verification, tape-out, evaluation, design adjustments

Account for production requirements like DfT, ESD, chip area, etc.

  • Project management to execute Design and Development plan
  • Block-level design, simulation, verification, layout, post-layout simulation
  • Top-level design and verification (incl. appropriate block-level modelling)
  • Top-level layout and verification
  • Peer reviewing and design reports
  • Tool selection and installation, including industry standard tools like Cadence and/or Mentor
  • Design for testability, support for (external) wafer test and final test engineering
  • Application-level verification (simulation, validation)
  • (Prototype) Evaluation plan and execution or support for that

TRANSFER TO PRODUCTION

Support data for production (gds2, testplan, etc.)

Connect to production partners

Application support

Preparation for production is an essential element in previous phases already. With release for production we may leave production to our customers or to facilities that directly interact with the customer. We help reach that stage by supporting customers in the following the key elements, and in finding production partners where needed.

  • Collection and transfer of relevant data to production facilities:
    • Physical data: gds2, bond-out, package, etc.
    • Data for testing: test operation (testbus), test limits, test plan, yield expectation
  • Production (Foundry) options and monitoring:
    • Mask options (MPW, SLM, MLM)
    • Process options (EEPROM, MIM caps, etc.)
    • PCM data
  • Test options (wafer test, final-test, both or none)
    • Yield optimization
    • Test-time optimization
  • Qualification options
  • Application support

LOOKING FOR A FULL TURN-KEY ASIC SOLUTION?

We also have a full value chain in place. Deliverables that we provide to customers range from feasibility reports, circuit topologies, to the full ‘IC development package’ including design database, mask sets, engineering samples, sample boards (PCB), or application testboards. As indicated above. In addition we can also support professional (volume) production in cooperation with qualified production partners, where the full supply-chain from order to delivery is managed by SystematIC. We then take care of bringing the development into production and of product support.

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WONDERING WHAT REALLY SETS SYSTEMATIC APART?

SystematIC has contributed IC design services in many industries. Each time delivering optimal results, we keep on looking for ways to improve, making sure our IC designs will stay among the best. Our services and IC's are reliable, versatile and future proof. Over the years we have grown into a successful company thanks to our fast and optimal solutions and the close relationships with our suppliers and customers. We take pride in the trust our customers have in us and want to continue offering the best service possible.

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WORKING FAST, BEING COMMITTED TO YOUR SUCCESS

We have the focus and speed of the small IC development companies along with the scalability and expertise of the big ones. You deserve an engineering team that will breathe your vision, love your product and be able to focus on your project goals. That's why we prefer long-standing relationships, where we can fully add value to your business. We work in small, dedicated teams focused to deliver valuable IC solutions for you.

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PROVEN TRACK RECORD IN FINDING BETTER SOLUTIONS

Innovation is the core of our philosophy. It powers everything we do and helps us come up with bold ideas and solutions to the most intricate challenges. The efficiency and business value of custom IC's are achieved by doing the right work at the right time. To find the optimal solution we like to be involved in system level considerations and support the IC choices in the context and full understanding of the application.

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A PARTNER THAT IS DRIVEN BY VALUES

We highly value your development expectations, so we are transparent and adapt to your business needs. Being reliable and fully committed to the result, we give our best to your product. We set realistic expectations and keep our promises. We will not stop halfway and will apply our professional expertise to achieve on-time delivery for your projects. We treat our customers the way we want to be treated ourselves and believe this is the only way to run a successful business.

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EXTENSIVE PARTNER NETWORK ACROSS THE VALUE CHAIN

When you work with us you are connected to an international network of expertise. We participate in several national and international research projects to stay on the forefront of technology. Because our offices are situated near the Technical University of Delft and the Technical University of Eindhoven, we also stay in touch with the latest academic research and innovation and welcome trainees, graduation and PhD students to participate in some of our design challenges and innovations.

25+

YEARS IN BUSINESS

with clients across the globe

85%

RETURNING CLIENTS

approach us for their next IC development

50+

PRODUCTS IN MASS PRODUCTION

to improve your day-to-day life

EXPLORE OUR CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

For over 20 years we've been working as a IC innovation partner to small and big enterprises and technology changers. Our team of professionals provides them with a full range of consultancy, design and development services for Application Specific Integrated Circuits. ASIC's that we build help the world's leading brands transform their businesses, enhance their portfolio's, improve time-to-market and increase their revenues.

Sensor Interfacing, Integrated Power
EAR PROTECTION CONTROL IC

4 weeks : discrete prototype demo

Our customer DEC develops and produces Dynamic Sound technology products which can typically be used as stand-alone hearing protection or embedded in headphone systems, hearing aids and hearables. The IC we designed for DEC was an example of an integration project for SME and it covers most aspects of a SystematIC turnkey solution. Our contribution extends from system study to  implementation, manufacturability and testability for ears, from zeroing in the IC process to IC design and layout and the production preparation.

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Sensor Interfacing
CURRENT SENSOR

12 weeks: prototype to factory

We were handed the responsibility of a current sensor IC that  monitors charge and discharge currents of a battery in a mobile phone and will remain insensitive to the variations of the supply voltage. We took charge of the entire design trajectory along with evaluation and redesign that was needed to make the final product a notch better than competition.

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Space Industries, Integrated Power
ELECTRIC PROPULSION

several years of R&D in multiple generations of power units

State-of-the-art electric propulsion (EP) systems used in satellites exhibit impressive performance, but the used technologies cannot be scaled down in size and power whilst retaining system performance. So there are no conventional technologies for propulsion for the upcoming micro- and nano-satellite market. SystematIC partners in the European HiperLoc-EP project which aims to use a novel approach to develop an Electrospray Colloid Electric Propulsion System (ECEPS) suitable for small (cubesat) form factors. SystematIC develops the miniaturized Power Processing Unit for such a small form-factor electric propulsion system, achieving all required performance parameters, including a good power conversion efficiency and accuracy of the ultra high-voltage control.

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Integrated Power
INTEGRATED POWER SWITCH

18 weeks: from feasibility to final test support

Applications supporting plug-and-play connections require (accurate) over-current protections, preferably implemented in a low-cost solid-state IC. For a division of a large semiconductor company the accurate current control was a design challenge that was tackled by involving SystematIC in the design. The area, cost-of-silicon and on-resistance of the integrated power switch are relevant parameters for the technology choice, but in any case dictate preference for an NMOS power switch. Using an NMOS switch however complicates the design of driver and sensing circuits. SystematIC did the challenging full-chip circuit design, including current sensing circuits using low-offset chopped amplifiers, adjustable over-current current control, over-temperature protection, and push-pull chargepumps to drive the NMOS.

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20 weeks: prototype IC

The customer has a leading international position in industrial X-ray crystallography systems. In one of these products a multi-channel HV passive X-ray sensor is applied for material analysis and an accurate matched channel readout and signal processing ASIC is required. SystematIC proposed an architecture of ultra-low noise front ends that are noise optimized to the sensor element and applied in a matched channel configuration. The digital electronics where designed as special CMOS CML logic to obtain low crosstalk.

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Automotive, Sensor Interfacing
TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR

4 weeks: architecture proposal

In this project we developed an analog front-end architecture for a given capacitive MEMS pressure sensor. The front end must accurately measure the pressure in a tire and be robust against leakage, parasitics and noise. The SystematIC methodology was applied. First off, the sensor was electronically modelled to determine an optimal excitation and read out architecture. Next, during the detailed design phase the front-end was designed and layouted for a modern automotive IC application, including safety and test features.

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Industrial, Integrated Power
POINT-OF-LOAD POWER CONTROLLER

4 weeks: architecture and IC design plan

Our customer, a fabless semiconductor company, started a new product line of drivers and controllers for power converter applications in industrial applications. SystematIC took care of the design of a complex power controller IC targeting application in Point-of-Load Power Modules, used in Ethernet Routers and Switches and other Industrial Applications. The customer’s approach was to offer a very versatile IC to the market that also realized excellent performance parameters (efficiency, ripple, etc). The customer discovered a strong market interest and had marketing & sales and application support in place but lacked the IC design resources for a quick product development. Within a year SystematIC developed all accurate analog functions in a new IC process and delivered the verified mixed-signal chip design and layout.

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ac-led-driver-custom-IC

Consumer, Integrated Power
AC LED DRIVER IC

3 weeks: prototype demonstration
3 weeks: IC definition, process selection

Our customer produces a range of AC LED modules for lamp manufacturers. The products were originally built with discrete components, a different set for each module type. For performance enhancement and simplification of production steps and supply chain, the customer was looking for a custom ASIC solution. The customer was also expecting improved performance on TRIAC dimmer compatibility and a reduction in product costs. With a programmable high-voltage ASIC and only a few external components (rectifier, fuse and surge) all module types can be made. LED modules with such an ASIC are directly driven from the AC mains voltage, are low-cost and are very compact and reliable. An electronic solution was created that made the customer AC LED lamp compatible with TRIAC dimmers. A discrete prototype was built and demonstrated to the customer just a few weeks after the first contact. The discrete electronics where chosen such that they could be implemented in a HV IC process.

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TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

If you have any remarks or questions regarding our products or our services, please fill in the form or contact us by e-mail or by phone.

SystematIC (HQ)
Elektronicaweg 20
2628 XG Delft
The Netherlands

Phone: +31 15 2511100
Email: contact@systematic.nl

 

 

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