StarIC featured in Markt & Technik
StarIC was featured in the German language magazine ‘Markt & Tecknik’, highlighting StarIC’s focus and experience in mixed-signal ASIC design. Links to the article can be found below, followed by an English translation.
English translation of article:
Analog and mixed signal circuit design requires considerable expertise and attention-to-detail in order to obtain desired outputs, often becoming the bottle neck in system performance. Due to the limited pool of worldwide analog designers, many companies have few, if any at all, analog designers on their team and have found themselves struggling to deliver on time, on-budget, or within specifications. StarIC, based out of Toronto Canada, specializes in the design of efficient analog and mixed-signal circuit blocks and complete ASIC designs. A company of over 20 highly specialized analog/digital/layout experts working on high performance analog and mixed signal blocks and ASICs.
"Our team is comprised of very talented, focused, and committed individuals who have proven their integrity and dedication to their art. We have been extremely selective in our hiring process and have hired people who are not only brilliant engineers but also very good individuals," says Michal Fulmyk, Co-Founder and Director of StarIC. “The ability of a team to effectively deliver projects is not just a function of domain expertise but also on the mutual respect, trust, and dedication of the team members to work together to build something bigger than any of them can individually accomplish.”
We hand-pick our engineers for their know-how of this complex environment, as well as their ability to tailor designs and IP to the level required by each project.” Attesting to this claim is the fact that almost all the engineers at StarIC hold either Masters or PhD degrees, most from highly regarded North American universities. StarIC has also cultivated close ties to universities working on cutting-edge scientific R&D, and all have years of in-depth experience in the field of ultra-low power, high-performance IP block design.
Many design houses typically churn out cookie-cutter designs and ASICs quickly by using off-the-shelf standard IPs and tweaking them ever so slightly in an attempt to meet the customer requirements. This creates very low barriers to entry for competitors and results in many redundant me-too products without any differentiating performance characteristics or features.
“StarIC, on the other hand, works hand-in-hand with the customer to identify the customer’s advantages and focuses StarIC’s efforts to amplify those advantages,” discussed Michal. “Whether the advantage is faster speed, higher resolution, lower power, lower cost, or a combination, we concentrate on understanding the key metrics that matter the most and focus our efforts there to help ensure success. After-all, a satisfied customer is the easiest sale we’ll ever have to make, as they already know what to expect and will come back for their future design needs.”
Michal also discussed that the wheel does not need to be reinvented every time, as many tasks, blocks, and sub-systems may be performed perfectly sufficiently by standard methods or IPs. However, the key is to be able to determine where the conventional approach falls short in differentiating the customer from the pack.
“A very important factor when designing any circuit, be it analog, digital, or mixed signal, is a thorough understanding of the needs of the customer in order to tailor the solution to match their goals,” said Michal. “We start projects with our customers with a Discovery Phase which engages both parties in key discussions right from the beginning. The Discovery Phase helps define the customers specifications and goals, project timelines and budgets, and specific roles and responsibilities of the entire team to ensure a smooth and successful project delivery.”
Oftentimes, at the start of a Discovery Phase, the customer requirements do not fully define the project constraints. Key senior designers and project managers from StarIC would then spearhead high-level discussions and meetings with the customer virtually and/or on-site to determine the details of the project. Michal continued, “This approach has worked very well for us, and our customers, as we are able to identify which projects are feasible with realistic targets, timelines, and budgets. At the end of Discovery Phase, the customer’s design will be flushed out at the high level with milestones, and we are ready to get started with the Development Phase of the project”.
A typical approach for StarIC is to create a system model which captures the key metrics of the project and is able to model end-to-end functionality. A good system model balances accuracy vs performance and is a skill that StarIC has developed over the years. They know which questions and approaches will shake the tree enough for the necessary apples to fall.
For StarIC, the system model is a starting point during the Discovery Phase and continues to be a shining light as the project moves along. As a design approaches completion, blocks in the model will be replaced with their real-world representative schematics, extractions, verilog, as appropriate. This allows StarIC to quickly and accurately identify which blocks may potentially impact performance and resolve these issues early. By the end of the project, the system model often represents quite accurately the expected performance of the final silicon and has provided feedback and progress updates throughout the entire timeline.
“Ongoing communication with the customer is key. If any issues are identified, including a need to trade-off any specifications, we inform the customer, provide a rational for why this is the case via simulations, calculations, modeling, and work together to find a path forward while minimizing the impact to the most sensitive needs of the customer. After all, this is about science, physics, math, and simulations, not opinions,” Michal stated.
StarIC also encourages their engineers to be forthcoming with the challenges they are facing to tackle them head-on as a team and not hide them until it’s too late. They have fostered an environment of winning together.
As discussed above, StarIC’s focus is on analog and mixed signal circuits including ultra-low power, high performance analog front ends and ADCs. Additionally, StarIC has considerable experience and IP in high-speed data communications, Serializers Deserializers (SerDes) and silicon photonics. StarIC has the privilege to work with some of the biggest companies in the industry as well as rising startups.
“We have worked with companies of all sizes from a handful of people to the large multinationals with easily recognizable stock market ticker symbols,” said Michal.
While StarIC has an established customer base and presence in North America, the goal is to repeat their success in Europe – specifically in the automotive industrial, sensor, and medical markets which may all benefit from StarIC’s experience and IP.
To help accelerate the entrance to Europe, StarIC has partnered with the consulting company KDM, which provides StarIC with European centered strategic consulting services in the areas of market development, product marketing, identification of potential customers in Europe, with a specific focus on Germany. Also, StarIC has recently appointed Redtree Solutions as its sales representative in Europe, brokered by KDM.
"Through the collaboration with Redtree Solutions, StarIC will expand its analog and mixed-signal IP offering in the European market, accelerate growth and strengthen its position in the European market," said Imran Ahmed, CEO of StarIC. In return, Redtree can complement its ASIC, foundry and service ecosystem via StarIC's IP and ASIC capabilities, according to Jean Marie Houillon, Redtree's VP Marketing & Alliances: "With StarIC's support, we can help our customers solve their problems in designing the complex mixed-signal functions on their chips and optimize their electronic systems." These include IP functions and complete ASIC designs in the areas of high-speed data communications, audio, MEMS sensor interfaces, power management, PLLs and ultra-low power, and high-speed DACs and ADCs.
In terms of forward looking objective, StarIC has set its sight on silicon photonics and interface solutions for the chiplet markets. StarIC’s goal is to continue providing premium design services and IP for the rapidly expanding high speed silicon photonics industry. Through their strategic planning, StarIC has obtained several design wins with premier companies in silicon photonics and will continue to expand its presence with upcoming introductions of in-house developed IP and strategic partnerships with foundries and multinationals.