Bavarian Chip-Design-Centre

The current semiconductor and chip crisis is having a serious impact on industrial companies worldwide. Due to their high dependence on Asian and American suppliers and value chains, the economy of Bavaria, Germany and Europe is facing great challenges. The Bavarian economy in particular (automotive, medical technology, IT) is heavily dependent on microelectronic components.

In the process from the idea to the finished chip, chip design takes on a central role, as it translates the requirements into functionalities and thus shapes the ultimate product innovations.

The Bavarian Chip-Design-Centre (BCDC) will be based on the following four pillars:

Education and training: Strengthening education through targeted programmes in cooperation with existing university education, as well as building up experienced specialists by working on research projects (training-on-the-job).

Chip development: Expansion of design competence, including the creation of an ecosystem IP portfolio (including RISC-V).

Chip production: Facilitating access for Bavarian companies to their own integrated circuits (ICs) and building up the competences for transferring production to semiconductor manufacturers, also for smaller volumes.

Involvement of system users: Development of research and portfolio roadmaps and further development of the Bavarian design ecosystem. Design ecosystems in cooperation with the Bavarian Chips Alliance.

The BCDC ensures a bundled approach to meet these challenges and thus make a significant contribution to strengthening the Bavarian economy. 

Three Fraunhofer Institutes are working together for this: 

• Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security
• Fraunhofer Research Institution for Microsystems and Solid State Technologies EMFT
• Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS

In the pre-project for the establishment of a Bavarian Chip-Design- Centre, the three Fraunhofer Institutes are currently devoting themselves to the conceptualisation of the organisation and the establishment of structures as well as networks and initial research work on the content.