Moortec

Moortec Semiconductor, established in 2005, carved a specialized niche in the semiconductor industry by providing in-chip monitoring technology. The company was founded in Plymouth, UK, by Stephen Crosher, who drew upon his extensive experience in electrical and electronic engineering and prior roles at companies like Zarlink Semiconductor. He, along with a team of ex-Zarlink engineers including Fraser Philips, identified a growing need within the chip design community for enhanced device reliability and performance optimization as semiconductor manufacturing processes advanced to smaller nodes.

The firm's core business revolves around the design and licensing of analog and mixed-signal Intellectual Property (IP) blocks. Specifically, Moortec developed embedded subsystem solutions for Process, Voltage, and Temperature (PVT) monitoring. Its client base consists of fabless semiconductor companies and Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs), including major industry players. These clients integrate Moortec's IP into their System-on-Chip (SoC) designs for a wide array of applications, such as data centers, automotive, 5G communications, and AI. The business model is centered on licensing these tried-and-tested IP solutions to chip developers, enabling them to better manage the physical and functional variabilities that occur in advanced semiconductor devices.

Moortec's primary product is its modular In-Chip Monitoring Subsystem, a suite of sensors that provides real-time data on a chip's operating conditions. This subsystem includes highly accurate thermal sensors to manage overheating, voltage monitors to detect supply fluctuations and IR drop, and process monitors that use ring oscillators to gauge manufacturing variability across different transistors. A key component is the PVT Controller, which acts as a central interface to the entire sensor fabric, complete with features like threshold alarms and data logging. This technology allows chip designers to implement sophisticated power management schemes like Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS), ultimately improving performance, power efficiency, and long-term reliability. The company's solutions have been deployed on hundreds of chip designs across various process nodes, down to 5nm. In November 2020, Moortec was acquired by Synopsys, Inc., a global leader in electronic design automation (EDA). The acquisition integrated Moortec's PVT sensing technology into Synopsys's broader Silicon Lifecycle Management (SLM) platform, which uses data analytics to optimize chip performance from design through to in-field operation.

Keywords: in-chip monitoring, PVT sensors, semiconductor IP, process voltage temperature, SoC design, silicon lifecycle management, embedded sensors, analog IP, mixed-signal design, DVFS, AVS, performance optimization, device reliability, thermal monitoring, fabless, IDM, electronic design automation, Synopsys, advanced node CMOS, chip analytics