Democratizing Chip Design - Naja

MAY 7, 202532 MIN
NGI0: Next Generation Internet

Democratizing Chip Design - Naja

MAY 7, 202532 MIN

Description

<p>“Open source EDA (Electronic Design Automation) can be a game changer when it comes to building a more resilient and accessible chip ecosystem”, says Christophe Alexandre. Together with Noam Cohen he created Naja, an open source EDA tool.</p> <p>The semiconductor industry is highly complex and globally interconnected, which makes it fragile. Open source can contribute to resiliency in what traditionally has been a closed field.</p> <p>Christophe: “Open source EDA tools make it easier for newcomers to get started by providing solid, accessible foundations that don’t require massive initial investment or deep legacy knowledge, and it can bridge chip design with other fast moving fields like machine learning and AI. It can accelerate the creation of a local semiconductor ecosystem by breaking down the traditional barriers and opening up innovation. So trying to grow a new EDA ecosystem in Europe just by using the old closed and behind the gates model just doesn’t seem realistic anymore. If we want to build something resilient, open source needs to be a core part of the strategy.”</p> <p>Links<br /> Naja<br /> <a href="https://github.com/najaeda/naja">Naja Github</a><br /> <a href="https://pypi.org/project/najaeda/">Naja Pyhton</a><br /> <a href="https://najaeda.readthedocs.io/en/latest/introduction.html">Naja documentation</a></p> <p>NGI Zero projects<br /> <a href="https://nlnet.nl/project/Naja/">Naja</a><br /> <a href="https://nlnet.nl/project/Naja-DNL/">Naja-DNL</a></p> <p>Learn more about Naja:<br /> <a href="https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-4775-naja-python-eco-netlist-optimization-and-netlist-data-collection-made-easy-with-a-simple-python-api/">Christophe at FOSDEM 25 about Naja Python</a></p> <p>Other projects and topics mentioned<br /> <a href="https://yosyshq.net/yosys/">Yosys</a><br /> <a href="https://github.com/lip6/coriolis">Coriolis</a><br /> <a href="https://theopenroadproject.org/">OpenROAD</a><br /> <a href="https://www.klayout.de/">Klayout</a><br /> <a href="https://www.ihp-microelectronics.com/services/research-and-prototyping-service/fast-design-enablement/open-source-pdk">IHP Open source PDK</a><br /> <a href="https://tinytapeout.com/">TinyTapeout</a></p> <footer><p><a href="https://nlnet.nl/NGI0/">NGI Zero</a> is a coalition of non-profit organizations lead by <a href="https://nlnet.nl/">NLnet</a>. It provides <a href="https://nlnet.nl/funding.html">financial</a> and <a href="https://nlnet.nl/NGI0/services/">practical support</a> to people working on the free and open internet. You can find us on <a href="https://mastodon.xyz/@NGIZero">@[email protected]</a> &amp; <a href="https://social.nlnet.nl/@nlnet">@[email protected]</a>. NGI Zero is made possible with financial support from the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/">European Commission</a>’s <a href="https://ngi.eu/">Next Generation Internet</a> initiative.</p> <p>The podcast is hosted by Ronny Lam and Tessel Renzenbrink, the jingle created by Yarmo Mackenbach, all from NLnet.</p> <p>The NGI Zero podcast is shared under the <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND 4.0</a> license.</p> </footer>