Analyzing the Disruptive Impact of a Silicon Compiler

Recent years have seen an explosion in the cost and time required to design advanced System-on-Chips (SoCs), systems-in-packages (SiPs), and PCBs. As part of the $1.5B Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI), DARPA is building the world's first general purpose silicon compilers. The effort involves two distinct research programs, the Intelligent Design of Electronic Assets (IDEA) program aiming to create a no-human-in-the-loop layout generator for digital and analog circuits, and the Posh Open Source Hardware (POSH) program aiming to create a high quality trustable open source ecosystem. Together the efforts will create a universal hardware compiler capable of automatically generating production ready GDSII drawings directly from a rich catalog of trustable source code and schematics for digital as well as analog circuits. Achieving this ambitious goal will require advancing the state of the art in machine learning, optimization algorithms, expert systems, and verification technology. This talk will discuss technical challenges associated with building a universal hardware compiler and provide analysis of potential economic and societal impacts.