Keysight Vice President & General Manager, Design and Simulation, Niels Faché, Ph.D., was recently elected to the Governing Council of the Electronic System Design Alliance (ESD Alliance), a SEMI Technology Community, for the 2023-2025 term. The ESD Alliance is the central voice for the semiconductor design industry, addressing technical, marketing, economic, and legislative issues affecting the entire industry. ESD Alliance members include the top suppliers of tools that semiconductor and systems companies rely on to develop complex chips, components, and systems.
As the leader of Keysight's electronic design automation (EDA) software business, Faché believes this is an important step forward for the company as it works to expand the EDA product portfolio for radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), module, and multi-technology designs that require system, circuit, and physical simulations. Faché views his council role as an opportunity to further align the business with technology waves, for example in memory standards, Serdes, 5G, 6G, 3DIC, and new process technologies.
"Keysight's focus historically has been on the communication signal path and that's where we have system level capabilities with PathWave System Design (SystemVue)," said Faché. "But that can be combined with other system design capabilities, where we see a lot of growth and emphasis, and this gives us the opportunity to be a part of that dialogue."
As an ESD Alliance member, Keysight helps shape the future of the industry through technical topics such as standards and open interfaces as well as through the organization's thought leadership, education, and advocacy programs. With Faché joining the Alliance's Governing Council, Keysight is raising its profile in the industry.
"Keysight is joining the ranks of top EDA industry players and that places greater responsibility on strengthening the EDA ecosystem," said Faché. "We are an active participant in industry bodies and being an ESD Alliance Governing Council member gives Keysight a chance to help shape the industry priorities and focus. This role complements what we are already doing with many partners, including other EDA companies, foundries, and industry initiatives."
"We are pleased to welcome Niels to the ESD Alliance Governing Council," said Bob Smith, executive director of the organization. "Keysight plays an important role in the rapidly evolving semiconductor system design industry. Niels will bring valuable new insights and expertise to the Governing Council that will benefit our membership and industry. Under his direction over the past two years, Keysight has been a strong sponsor and contributor to our annual Phil Kaufman Award Ceremony and Banquet. Keysight also stepped up to host our annual CEO Outlook – one of our most popular events that brings members together – in both 2022 and this year."
"Keysight is primarily known for its test and measurement industry leadership. But as our customers shift left their product development cycles, we are doing the same with our EDA portfolio and software business," said Faché. "The reality is that we've been providing EDA for more than 40 years and have much to contribute to the broader engineering community. Being a part of this council reinforces the fact that we see ourselves as a part of the larger design-emulate-test ecosystem."
In addition to Keysight's organic growth efforts, Faché says this heightened industry visibility as a part of the semiconductor ecosystem supports the underlying reasons behind Keysight's recent acquisition of Cliosoft. Both underscore the need to be tightly aligned with the way the industry is moving, other industry players, and widely used tools.
"The Cliosoft acquisition is already changing the way the industry looks at Keysight – not only our new process and data management capabilities, but also because the Cliosoft tools extend our connectivity with other industry player tools," he said. "We look at Cliosoft as the foundational fabric to create engineering workflows, which definitely positions us as a mainstream player."
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