Integrated
circuits (ICs) are the essential building blocks of today's
electronic equipment and devices. The positive economic impact
of a successfully established IC design and manufacturing
industry is unquestionable.
Opportunities
The size of the worldwide IC market reached US$214 billion
in 2004, and is projected to grow to more than US$250 billion
by 2007. In recent years, strategic and modern facilities
have been built to manufacture ICs in China, and a great amount
of work on the core technology has been done to sustain the
continuous growth of the electronics and manufacturing industries.
China has already been transformed from a manufacturing base
into a design and development base. It is foreseeable that
the industry in China will gradually acquire the capability
to build IC-design bases in the next decade. By then, the
country may further grow into an innovation base.
Focus and Strategies
The focus of ASTRI's IC Designs program is to establish the
technology foundation for the IC design industry in Hong Kong
and the PRD region, in order to capture the future growth
opportunities brought by the worldwide semiconductor markets
in general, and the China market in particular.
This can be achieved by identifying the Vision, the Opportunities
and developing solutions based on adaptable IC BUILDING BLOCKS,
together with trained staff, domain expertise and intellectual
properties, to expedite the growth of regional industries
in the these areas.
Plans
ASTRI's plan is to drive the development of the IC design
technology foundation, which includes generic IC design skills
and domain-specific expertise, by implementing designated
projects that create direct commercial benefits for Hong Kong
and the PRD region.
Deliverables
The various deliverables of our applied research programs
include services, expertise, IC prototypes, IC cores, IC design
libraries and ecosystems. All of these can be employed to
fuel the development of the IC design industry in Hong Kong
and the PRD region, thereby increasing our competitiveness
in the worldwide markets. |
