Italy Finally at the Forefront with the First Chip Emulator: Costs a Fortune, but is Essential
Chips-IT Foundation
has launched a €12 million tender to acquire the first professional silicon emulator in Italy. The tool simulates the functioning of a chip before it is physically produced, allowing for early detection of defects.
The emulator runs real operating systems and software, reproducing the end-use conditions of the chip. This way, designers can find malfunction errors before physical production, avoiding the costs of re-designing after manufacturing has started. Machines in this category can be as large as a whole room.
An additional advantage concerns the software: while the chip is still in production, researchers and companies can already develop and test operating systems, applications, and firmware intended to run on it, shortening the overall project timelines.
Currently, there are no professional hardware emulation infrastructures in Italy. Universities, research centers, and companies must turn to foreign suppliers or specialized cloud services. The new tool fills this gap, offering capabilities comparable to those of the main international players in the industry.
Carlo Reita, director of the Chips-IT Foundation, stated: "The design of advanced integrated circuits today requires increasingly sophisticated verification tools. An emulation system allows for thorough checks, reducing technical risks, development costs, and the time needed to bring new products to market. Providing such an infrastructure to the national ecosystem means bridging a gap that today forces many parties to look abroad and allowing them to work with tools comparable to those used by major international industry players. Our goal is to strengthen Italy's capacity to design advanced chips and contribute to European competitiveness in an increasingly strategic technology."
The initiative is part of the European Chips Act, the strategy with which the EU aims to strengthen production autonomy in semiconductors. The infrastructure will also support research projects, collaborations between universities and businesses, and the growth of startups in the sector.
Founded in 2022, the Chips-IT Foundation is the first Italian industrial research center for the design of chips and semiconductors. Supervised by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, it has among its founders MEF and MUR. The Foundation operates between Pavia and Bologna, and currently employs 60 people: it has signed important partnerships with EssilorLuxottica, Stellantis, and Rapidus, the latter being crucial for gaining access to the 2 nanometer production process.