The world’s first fabrication and design of a silicon chip without direct human input has been completed by researchers at the University of Limerick, it has been claimed.
This “could pave the way for a new era of automated digital circuit design with Ireland at its centre, creating a new export industry with many well-paying jobs”, professor of machine learning at the University of Limerick, Conor Ryan, said.
“This is the first time ever anywhere in the world that machine learning has been used to design and fabricate a silicon chip entirely from scratch,” Prof Ryan, leader of the research team working on the chip, pointed out.
The team in Limerick plans to work with selected companies to make these chips, following their collaboration with chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) during the project.
The Lero project in the University of Limerick, where the team is based, was founded in 2005 and works with software teams across a range of subjects such as software engineering, information systems, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. The project is funded through the Science Foundation Ireland research centres programme.
The project’s overall objective is to establish Ireland as a high-quality software research and development location. At the moment, 16 of the top 20 global technology firms have a presence in the country, such as Microsoft and Apple.
As well as the University of Limerick, the Lero project has partnerships with Atlantic Technological University, Dublin City University, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Maynooth University, Munster Technological University, South East Technological University, Technological University Shannon: Midlands Midwest, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College Dublin and University of Galway.
A patent for the design process of the silicon chip has been filed titled “Automatic Design of Digital Circuits”. T
The new techniques created by Lero replace “traditional methods with an entirely automated flow”, this decreases the need for any human intervention and also minimises the risk of errors, he said.
“The system combines cutting-edge machine learning with industry-standard tools and workflows, ensuring the results are compatible with modern manufacturing processes,” Prof Ryan said.
He said that much of the project was made possible through partnerships with various experts, as well as the use of TSMC facilities.
- Sign up for the Business Today newsletter and get the latest business news and commentary in your inbox every weekday morning
- Opt in to Business push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our Inside Business podcast is published weekly – Find the latest episode here
