Cadence and SkyWater: Fostering the Next Generation of Innovators

At Cadence, we are passionate about fostering the next generation of innovators. Our commitment to education and innovation is unwavering, and we believe in removing barriers to commercial-grade tools and resources necessary for students and academia to thrive.

In February 2025, the then-current SKY130 multi-project wafer (MPW) aggregator went out of business, leaving many universities and academic organizations without a viable alternative for taping out the designs they had started with the SKY130 open-source process. This sudden change threatened to impact both the spring design class and the associated fall bring-up classes, interrupting the educational process of ideation to fabrication.

Recognizing the challenges of the situation, Cadence stepped up to fill the void, in collaboration with SkyWater, to ensure that no academic institutions are left without a path to tapeout. By offering these services, Cadence is helping to ensure that the next generation of engineers and designers can continue to gain hands-on experience on the skills they’ll need to launch their careers and bring their ideas to life.

This is critically important for the global system design world, with additional benefits in the United States. Both Cadence and SkyWater are DMEA-approved suppliers, and so the skills that are learned in this environment can easily translate to help Department of Defense suppliers meet their workforce development needs. Together with SkyWater, Cadence is paving the way for a brighter future, where students have the commercial resources they need to implement their ideas today and for years to come.

The Cadence MPW aggregation service leverages the open-source SKY130 PDK and design elements and enables engineers to design using any commercial or open-source tool to implement designs on the SKY130 process.

Program Details

Our MPW service offers flexibility with a cost-effective, open process that leverages standardized acceptance criteria to enable anyone to realize their design in silicon. To ensure that the MPW shuttle can be fabricated, we require that the design meet the manufacturing rules specified by our DRC Physical Verification deck.

The upcoming important dates are:

• A DRC deck that checks both the manufacturing rules and the recommended rules is available on the SKY130 Process Design Kits (PDK) Downloads Page
  • Please note: the PDK will be updated on a regular basis. Check back often for the latest version.
• On 27-May-25, we will begin accepting design submissions that include:
  • Signed legal agreement The Legal agreement will be provided upon request. SKY130MPW@cadence.com
  • PO submission details (For the cost of $10k to $12K + tax and S&H)
  • We will provide an FTP site for uploading the OASIS design file
  • Design layouts must fit within a 3.588mm x 5.188mm bounding box
  • A seal-ring, with integrated die ID, will be supplied by Cadence and must be added at 0,0 in the top level of the design
• We expect to provide feedback on our evaluation of the DRC checking of the designs for the following two weeks, and receive the final submission on 20-June-25.
• All persons submitting a die will receive 40 bare die.
• Expected Die Delivery: September 2025 (for U.S.-based participants, subject to SkyWater’s fabrication timeline).

Looking ahead, we anticipate these MPW runs will follow a regular schedule. Future iterations of the program may also introduce options for a standardized package, aligned with a standardized pad ring, based on input from the design community.

For persons who are interested in having their diced wafers packaged, please reach out to Integra, Rochester Electronics, (who have packaged SKY130 die previously) or a number of other package suppliers.

If using Cadence tools, the Cadence version of the SKY130 open-source PDK is accessible at Process Design Kits (PDK) Downloads on support.cadence.com.

Here are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) to note:

• The process will be offered with two options: one that includes ReRAM and one that does not. The contract details the differences in pricing.
• OASIS design files are accepted, regardless of IP, tool, or collateral used for generation.
• The OASIS design files will not be modified (i.e., merging data into abstracted IP blocks is not supported).
• A seal-ring and unique die ID layouts will be supplied to be instantiated in the top-level of the design. Refer to the contract for details.
• The acceptance criteria require passing design rule checks and data integrity checks for manufacturability.
• Submitters do not need to be based in the U.S.
• Designs can be for commercial or non-commercial purposes.
• Design owners will be responsible for ensuring the functionality and performance of their designs.
• Cadence can provide recommendations for services needed for integration, packaging, creating a test board, testing, etc., but this is currently outside the scope of our work.

We’ll continue to share updates as new runs are scheduled—both here and via our social channels—so stay connected and informed.

Questions can be sent to SKY130MPW@cadence.com.

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