The European Fabless Semiconductor Report is the most comprehensive analysis of the independent European and Israeli IC Design House Industry, and its importance in the European Electronics System and Semiconductor Markets, ever published.

It highlights the considerable number of independent companies that supply the key intellectual property, which allow system companies to achieve early market entry and leading-edge product performance. The strength of IC design expertise in Europe and Israel is one of the semiconductor industry’s best-kept secrets, and partially balances the influence of the trend towards foreign ownership of European wafer manufacturing.

The era of the system-on-chip is upon us. Can system and semiconductor companies have both the knowledge and resources to achieve the mammoth task of managing and designing these complex chips without calling in outside expertise?

This report is essential for planning or subcontracting new product design, both in the semiconductor industry and final system end products. It lists companies in order of skill resources. It will therefore prove invaluable for authorities and government departments planning and directing economic growth, as well as IC design, software, foundry, test, and electronics companies working in Europe.

This Report provides analysis and commentary on the following key topics:

The European Design Centre Phenomenon
Analyses the history of the European independent IC design industry, its growth drivers, and importance of the intellectual property vendors in areas such as DSP cores and microprocessors

European IC Design Houses
Analyses the European design house structure, its development from the 1970s to today. European design centre skills are highlighted

Typical Profile Format:

Each of the fabless semiconductor companies data is displayed in the following format: 

ARM Ltd. 

Address: 

110 Fulbourn Road

Cherry Hinton

Cambridgeshire CB1 9JN

England

Phone: 

+44 (0) 1223 400400 • Fax: +44 (0) 1223 400410

Web Site: 

www.arm.com

Year Founded: 

1991

Number Of Engineering Employees: 

1,324

Company Classification: 

Chipless

Intellectual Property & Design Skills: 

CPU

Software

Company Profile/Strategy:

ARM licenses its 32-bit RISC microprocessor core IP to its semiconductor partners either direct or through its foundry programme. In 2005, the 172 licensed partners shipped nearly 2 billion units of product containing an ARM processor.ARM processors were mainly designed into applications such as mobile phones, but ARM has now broadened its customer base to derive more of its royalties from non-wireless markets, which include TV set-top boxes, disk drives, and networks. ARM has acquired a number of small IC design houses over the years and during 2004 acquired Artisan components to form its Physical IP division.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Foreword
• Introduction
• Scope
• Methodology

2 The Design House Phenomenon
• Introduction
• European Semiconductor Industry Evolution
• Applications Market Environment
• OEM Industry Changes
• Business Model Developments

3 Design Industry Drivers
• Introduction
• Driver - OEM Strengths In Europe
• Driver - End User Demand
• Driver - Integration Trends
• Driver - Time To Market
• Driver - Reusable Intellectual Property
• IP Exploitation • Importance Of External IP Sources
• Re-Use Of IP

4 IP Market
• Introduction
• IP Location, Evaluation & Libraries
• Valuing Intellectual Property (IP)
• IP Protection, Licensing & Negotiation
• Evaluation & Delivery Issues
• Types Of Core • Hard & Soft IP Delivery Formats

5 Design House Methodology
• Independent Contract Design Houses
• Captive IC Design Houses
• Fabless Semiconductor Companies
• Chipless IP Vendors
• Design House Chronology
• Skill Clusters
• Geographical Distribution

6 Company Skills & Profiles
• Introduction
• Alphabetical List Of All Companies
• European Companies, By Company Type
• Chipless Companies • Contract Design Houses
• Fabless Companies • Design House Service Companies
• European Design Companies By Country
• IP Resources In European Design Companies
• Families & Categories
• Companies With Analogue Skills
• Analogue Interface • Analogue Radio Frequency (RF)
• Processing IP
• Central Processing Units (CPU) • Memory
• Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
• Connectivity IP
• Bus Systems • Networks
• Modems & xDSL • Optoelectronics
• VLSI Application IP
• Automotive • Sensor Interfacing
• Encryption • Telecommunications
• Graphics • Video/Audio
• Internet • VLSI Integration - ASICs & FPGAs
• Radio Baseband • Software (embedded) IP

• Design Support & Verification
• IP Services • Verification Services

7 Company Profiles