“The kind of chip design work taking place in India is on par with that happening elsewhere”

Dr Aart J de Geus, chief executive officer, chairman of the board and co-founder of Synopsys, a $783.8 million company, spoke to Prashant L Rao about Synopsys India, chip design and the ongoing merger with Avanti

Do you see a lot of changes in Synopsys India?
We have matured over the years. Earlier, we were focussed on establishing ourselves in India and getting the R&D going. We have been successful in this regard and have also brought some products here. Synopsys is doing substantial business in the country. Our management has seasoned and we are now more than a hundred strong. Our customers include a number of large MNC development centres--TI, ST Microelectronics and Intel. We also cater to service-oriented start-ups.

Is the kind of development being undertaken in India on par with that done in the US?
A chip is a chip no matter where it comes from. The kind of design work taking place in India is commensurate with that happening elsewhere. We have virtual teams--we have them because our customers have them. Our products are being developed on the US East Coast, managed in the head office on the US West Coast and pieces are being done in India. Part of our customer support is done here. The software finds out where support is available and sends the requests there. Right now we've just started this in India and have a handful of people working on this aspect.

What comes after deep sub-micron design?
Deep sub-micron will always get deeper. Most devices today are manufactured at .25 and .18 micron. Designers are working on .18 and .13 micron designs. Some brave souls are talking about .10 micron. Every eighteen months we move to the next stage. With smaller geometries you run into new physical problems and higher complexity.

Is silicon going to die and give way to a new semiconductor?
Rumours of silicon's demise have been around for fifteen years. However, continuous improvement has been possible. New technology has come in copper interconnect, for instance. It was once viewed as impossible. People said that copper would contaminate the chip. Today Silicon-on-Insulator is the buzzword.

Tell us about the Avanti acquisition.
If you look at the chip design segment, Synopsys has traditionally led the front-end (verification) while the back-end has been dominated by Cadence and Avanti. By bringing together the strengths of Avanti and Synopsys we will have a complete flow. The merger will be completed in the March-May 2002 time frame.