Explain It in 30 Seconds
A process node is not usable just because the fab can manufacture it.
Customers need:
- design rules;
- verified IP;
- EDA tools;
- libraries;
- reference flows;
- packaging design support.
OIP organizes that ecosystem around TSMC technologies.
The goal is to reduce:
design time
↓
time-to-volume
↓
time-to-market
↓
time-to-revenueTSMC explicitly describes these as goals of OIP. [S13]
Where OIP Sits in TSMC
OIP sits before fabrication.
It helps customers reach manufacturing successfully.
The Problem OIP Solves
Modern chips can contain billions of transistors and many licensed IP blocks.
A customer cannot design effectively without knowing:
- what cells are available;
- what memory IP works;
- what EDA tools support the node;
- what design rules must be followed;
- how packaging affects the system.
A new process without mature design enablement can delay the customer's product.
How It Works — Simple Version
TSMC collaborates with ecosystem partners.
Those partners provide technologies such as:
- EDA software;
- semiconductor IP;
- libraries;
- design services.
TSMC qualifies and organizes the ecosystem around its manufacturing technologies.
The result is a more predictable path from design to silicon.
Why OIP Matters to the Foundry Model
A pure-play foundry wants many customers to innovate on top of its manufacturing platform.
That creates a commercial need:
make TSMC process easier to design for
↓
more customer tape-outs
↓
more manufacturing demandOIP therefore turns design enablement into a demand-generation mechanism for the foundry.
What OIP Depends On
OIP depends on collaboration with:
- EDA vendors;
- IP suppliers;
- design-service companies;
- cloud and design infrastructure;
- TSMC process teams;
- packaging technology teams.
The platform is valuable because no single company provides the entire chip-design toolchain.
What Depends On OIP?
Customers moving to a new TSMC process can depend on OIP-certified or ecosystem-supported tools to reduce design risk.
The importance grows at leading nodes because:
- design costs are high;
- verification is complex;
- time-to-market matters;
- failure is expensive.
Why OIP Matters to TSMC
OIP extends TSMC's business advantage beyond the fab.
Foundry competition becomes:
process technology
+ manufacturing
+ design ecosystemrather than process technology alone.
That can increase customer switching cost because a customer's design flow becomes deeply integrated with the foundry ecosystem.
Key Milestones
2008 — OIP launched
TSMC launched the Open Innovation Platform to deepen collaboration across the design ecosystem.
2018 — Ecosystem scale expands
TSMC reported more than 20,000 library and silicon-IP items and more than 300 process design kits available through its ecosystem and online tools. [S22]
Current platform
TSMC continues to position OIP as a core part of design enablement for process and packaging technologies. [S13]
What Most People Misunderstand
"TSMC only starts working after a customer finishes the chip design."
Too simple.
TSMC participates earlier through design rules, IP qualification and ecosystem enablement.
"EDA companies are competitors to TSMC."
Usually not in this relationship.
EDA companies are critical ecosystem partners that help customers design chips for TSMC processes.
"Foundry competition is only about transistor performance."
No.
Time-to-market and design ecosystem depth matter too.
Common Questions
Is OIP software?
Not one single software product.
It is an ecosystem and design infrastructure connecting TSMC with EDA, IP and other design partners.
Does OIP matter for packaging too?
Yes. TSMC positions OIP around both process and advanced-packaging design enablement. [S13]
Who uses it?
Semiconductor design teams and ecosystem partners working with TSMC technologies.