Synopsys to open second R&D center

Synopsys Inc, which develops electronic design automation (EDA) software and services for semiconductor design, announced plans yesterday to invest NT$1 billion (US$30.8 million) over the next three years in establishing its second research and development (R&D) center in Taiwan.

"Taiwan's leading position in the global IC [integrated circuit] design industry is facing increasing competition as world capital is rapidly entering countries such as India and China," Synopsys senior vice president Paul Lo (羅升俊) said yesterday, following a signing ceremony at the Ministry of Economic Affairs building.

The Mountain View, California-based Synopsys is planning to increase its local R&D personnel from 120 employees to 170 by 2010, Lo said.

The company will introduce the advanced 65 and 45-nanometer semiconductor design software technology, to help Taiwan become the world leader in both IC design and EDA software, he said.

Synopsys has invested a total of NT$800 billion over the past three years in Taiwan to carry the Synopsys VDSM EDA R&D Center Project, in a bid to develop EDA technology, which is required during the chip's production process.

Aside from Synopsys, global multinationals such as Intel Corp, Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell Inc, Sony Corp, Microsoft Corp and IBM Corp have also established R&D centers in Taiwan since 2002, statistics provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed