The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →In January 2010, the Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2) and the Interoperable PDK Libraries (IPL) Alliance were reported to be coordinating on an open foundry process design kit (PDK) standard—not competing efforts. The proposal aimed to make process-specific design information more portable across electronic design automation (EDA) tools and foundry formats. Si2 later marked its OpenPDK Coalition archived in 2014, so the announcement is historical, not proof of current production adoption.
What an open PDK was meant to address
A process design kit packages process-specific information that designers and EDA tools use to create and verify semiconductor designs. In the custom-design context described by EE Times on January 28, 2010, PDKs were often proprietary and tied to particular tool environments. That could leave foundries supporting multiple kit variants and make it harder for designers and EDA vendors to work across different environments.
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The proposed open approach was about standardizing how that information was described and exchanged. It did not mean that foundry process data itself would become universally public, nor did it promise that every kit would work unchanged in every tool.
What Si2 and IPL announced in 2010
EE Times reported that Si2 was working with the IPL Alliance to devise an open foundry PDK standard. The report presented the effort as bringing together separate work by the two organizations. Steven Schulz, then Si2 president and CEO, said: “OpenPDK is a large and important effort being carefully aligned across many parties, including the IPL leadership, not at all competing with IPL. More will be formally announced shortly.” A Si2 spokesman likewise told the publication: “This is in fact not a rival to the IPL effort, and we are actually working very closely with them on the structure. You will note that most of the members of IPL are in fact also members of Si2,”
The report identified OpenAccess as an important technical foundation for interoperability. It also placed the work alongside TSMC’s then-recent iPDK effort with IPL for 65-nanometer designs, described as supporting a full custom flow from schematic entry through final layout verification. That 65-nm reference is a snapshot of the 2010 landscape, not a present-day process recommendation.
Why portability mattered
Si2’s later account says the OpenPDK Coalition was founded in 2010 with the goal of letting an OpenPDK be created once and translated into specific foundry formats and EDA vendor tools. The intended benefit was portability between foundries and tool agnosticism, rather than requiring every party to rely on a separately structured proprietary kit.
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As quoted in a blog by the contemporary EE Times report, Sumit Dasgupta, then Si2 senior vice president of engineering, described the burden this way: “PDKs that only feed proprietary tool environments have increased in numbers and complexity so much that it is now a burden on the PDK providers (i.e., foundries) and the PDK users (i.e., the EDA companies, the IP companies and the end-users),” These statements explain the motivation for standardization; they are not measurements of savings or proof that the proposed format achieved universal compatibility.
What the OpenPDK materials covered
Si2’s OpenStandards page lists several OpenPDK-related specifications:
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- Open Process Specification (OPS): a structure for process-specific information. Si2 says OPS 1.2 included foundry layer information such as grids, connectivity, display information, and version information, and integrated device-parameter and tool-interface standards.
- PCell standard: a standard concerning parameterized cells.
- Design Parameter and Callback specification: standards material for design parameters and callbacks.
- Schematic Symbol standard: a standard for schematic symbols.
Together, these materials describe the kinds of information and interfaces that a portable PDK structure needed to address. Their listing does not establish which present-day foundries or EDA tools implement them.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is known about the effort today
Si2 lists the OpenPDK Coalition as founded in 2010 and archived in 2014. That archival status is the clearest later milestone in the sources cited here. Neither the 2010 report nor Si2’s archived-coalition information establishes a current vendor-by-vendor implementation inventory, current production deployment, or adoption rate. A foundry or tool user evaluating compatibility should consult current documentation from the specific foundry and EDA vendor rather than infer support from the historical announcement.
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Si2’s Public Standards and Solutions page says selected standards can be requested for download, with download links supplied after a request. The page does not specify detailed licensing terms for each archived OpenPDK file; anyone considering implementation should check the terms for the particular material with Si2.
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