Samsung taps AI to design first 3nm mobile processor with Synopsys

Why it matters: Samsung has rolled out its inaugural mobile system-on-chip built using cutting-edge 3nm process technology featuring gate-all-around transistors. But that's not even the most impressive part - this silicon was designed with artificial intelligence-powered EDA tools from Synopsys.

The two companies announced the feat this week, shedding light on how Samsung leveraged Synopsys' AI-driven software suite to streamline the entire SoC design process. From architectural planning to physical implementation and verification, machine learning algorithms handled those painstaking tasks usually assigned to human engineers.

Synopsys' toolkit, branded as Synopsys.ai, comprises three core AI wizards - DSO.ai for chip design, VSO.ai for functional verification, and TSO.ai for silicon testing. By crunching massive datasets with deep learning models, these AI modules automated and accelerated notoriously time-consuming chip development stages.

For Samsung's mystery mobile processor, AI took the reins on everything from place-and-route layout to signoff and optimization ...