How does CEA-Leti work with its industrial partners?
It is CEA-Leti’s job to build innovation that can be transferred to industry. This concerns all branches of industry, in both conventional sectors and advanced technology. Leti adapts the framework of its partnerships to suit demand, with services ranging from targeted intervention over a limited period of time to the setting up of a joint laboratory as part of a long-term commitment. CEA-Leti has carried out research in the past that is now proving extremely relevant for deploying green production techniques, such as designing chips with lower power consumption. This has long been a key concern of ours, which gives us a valuable lead in a field that is now of key importance.
In what respect does CEA-Leti contribute to Grenoble-Isère’s drawing power?
The Grenoble ecosystem brings together in one place about 30 companies specializing in the development of software for the design of microelectronics components, commonly known as electronic design automation (EDA). This fabric draws on an extremely diverse range of players: world leaders such as Mentor Graphics or Synopsys; top semiconductor firms, notably STMicroelectronics, E2V Semiconductors and Soitec; but also highly specialized local companies, including Dolphin Integration, Design & Reuse, CWS, Iroc Technologies and EdXact; and lastly internationally renowned research laboratories, CEA-Leti, Verimag and TIMA, among others. At the core of this system CEA-Leti anticipates the demands of industry and plays an essential part in technology transfer. Such a range of complementary skills encourages the development of innovative software solutions, in circuit design, simulation and verification, all of which helps Grenoble-Isère keep its competitive edge in a very challenging environment.
What about the future promise of the Grenoble-Isère ecosystem?
Grenoble-Isère has been working on soft and hard-ware research for more than 40 years, achieving world-class performance in massively parallel multi-processing, 3D circuit development, EDA and technology development. Add to that the favourable context, with the presence here of Soitec, one of the leading companies in the race to produce next-generation materials, which gives us the certainty of working on top-notch media. Furthermore the support of the French government, through its research tax-credit (CIR) scheme, boosts the R&D efforts of local companies in a very tangible way. Lastly the Nano 2012 programme, which is one of the largest projects currently engaging French industry, brings together the world’s top players in this particular field thanks to the agreement signed by IBM, CEA-Leti and STMicroelectronics.