Analog Bits to Provide Precision PLL and SERDES IP to DesignShare for SiFive Freedom Platform

RISC-V leader adds Analog Bits to speed time-to-market, improve performance of custom open source-based silicon

SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 14, 2017 -- SiFive, the first fabless provider of customized, open-source-enabled semiconductors, today announced that Analog Bits, the industry's leading provider of low-power mixed-signal IP (Intellectual Property) solutions, has joined the growing DesignShare economy. Analog Bits will provide precision clocking macros such as PLLs and SERDES IP available for the SiFive Freedom platforms through the DesignShare initiative.

"For two decades, Analog Bits has been an important supplier of low-power IP for use in SoC devices and helped spawn the mobile and computing revolution," said Mahesh Tirupattur, Executive Vice President, Analog Bits. "Through DesignShare, we hope to empower more system developers and provide them with the competitive edge they need to deliver innovative SoC products in a timely manner."

The DesignShare model democratizes access to custom silicon and allows any company, maker or inventor to create an entirely new range of applications. Companies like SiFive, Analog Bits and other DesignShare partners help remove traditional barriers to entry that traditionally have blocked users from developing custom silicon. This provides companies with low- or no-cost IP, reducing the upfront engineering costs required to bring a custom chip design based on the SiFive Freedom platform to realization.

"The addition of Analog Bits to the DesignShare ecosystem provides engineers with a faster and more efficient way to bring SoCs to market," said Shafy Eltoukhy, who leads the DesignShare program for SiFive. "The adoption of the RISC-V architecture continues to experience significant growth, and with Analog Bits as part of the DesignShare movement, it will be easier and more flexible for designers to employ RISC-V in their future designs across a wide range of implementations."

Within months of launching the DesignShare ecosystem, the initiative has granted system designers access to a wide range of technology. In addition to PLLs and SERDES IP, developers can include cryptographic cores, embedded analytics, debug and trace technology, embedded, reconfigurable FPGA and logic-based, non-volatile memory to their SoCs.

About SiFive
SiFive is the first fabless provider of customized semiconductors based on the free and open RISC-V instruction set architecture. Founded by RISC-V inventors Andrew Waterman, Yunsup Lee and Krste Asanovic, SiFive democratizes access to custom silicon by helping system designers reduce time-to-market and realize cost savings with customized RISC-V based semiconductors. SiFive is located in Silicon Valley and has venture backing from Sutter Hill Ventures, Spark Capital and Osage University Partners. For more information, visit www.sifive.com.

About Analog Bits
Founded in 1995, Analog Bits, Inc. (www.analogbits.com), is a leading supplier of mixed-signal IP with a reputation for easy and reliable integration into advanced SOCs. Products include precision clocking macros such as PLLs & DLLs, programmable interconnect solutions such as multi-protocol SERDES and programmable I/O's as well as specialized memories such as high-speed SRAMs and TCAMs. With billions of IP cores fabricated in customer silicon and design kits supporting processes from 0.35-micron to 7-nm, Analog Bits has an outstanding heritage of "first-time-working" with foundries and IDMs.