Supply Chain Verification: Critical Enabler for Next-generation Medtech Innovations

The democratization of chip design is a great catch phrase and captures the effect of the open-source silicon movement that offers the promise of chip design anywhere/anytime. Dig more deeply, though, and it is clear some big challenges must be addressed to enable this vision.

That’s not all. The trend toward specialized processors is accelerating. With the slowdown of Moore’s Law, today’s specialized, tailored chips are being designed to work next to the main processors. They are retargeted and implemented in a gamut of different applications that might range from MedTech and automotive to security, agriculture and industrial. As a consequence of these diverse applications, many chips have a longer lifecycle than before and may even need to have a lifespan of more than 10 years, introducing any number of new challenges. MedTech and mil/aero might be 20 years.

Chip design verification, a costly line item in a chip design project budget, is far more important now than previously due to more use cases, applications, and extended lifecycles. The requirement for functional verification runs through the entire electronic product design manufacturing supply chain. Without thorough verification, the supply chain can be compromised. This is especially alarming for the MedTech community and the products it produces that need to be well verified and able to meet stringent safety and reliability requirements.

A panel of thought leaders and experts will discuss ways in which verification across the supply chain can be improved to support the growing open-source movement, new chip applications and the impact on manufacturing and packaging. Audience participation will be encouraged.