Cadence Design Systems Introduces The Latest Supercomputer System To Accelerate Computing Chip Making

Cadence Design Systems introduces the latest version of a custom computing chip-based supercomputer (photo: x @CanceSDA)

JAKARTA - Cadence Design Systems on Wednesday 17 April, introduced the latest version of custom computing chip-based supercomputers designed to accelerate the creation of other computing chips and software to run on top.

Casidence makes software used by Nvidia, Apple, and many other companies to design chips with billions of transistors, a small switch that makes computers work. The design process can take a year or more.

Companies like Nvidia, whose software offerings are as important as their chips, don't want to wait so long to start writing code for the chip.

Two systems augmented by Cance introduced on Wednesday, called the Palladium Z3 and Protium X3, created a virtual version of the chip to start writing software while waiting for the physical chip to return from the factory. Such an emulation has become the main reason why technology companies can deliver products more quickly.

"Without the software, this system is useless," said Cadence CEO Anirudh Devgan, quoted by VOI from Reuters. "The general public does not realize how important these tools are in the design of all these electronics."

Casidence executives say Nvidia has tested several new Cadence systems that can simulate chips twice as large as the previous generation, which Nvidia used to design the newly announced Blackwell chip.

"Palladium is the only device more important to me than the refrigerator," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at an event in Santa Clara, California when he announced the new Cadence system. "This is the most important device in my life. We are the largest installation of the Paladium anywhere."

The core of the Paledium Cadence emulation system is the custom computing chip Cadence uses to design its own tools. The chips are as large and complex as some of Nvidia's artificial intelligence chips.

"For emulation, you need to design your own chips, and we have a 10-year advantage over anyone who even tries to design their own emulators," said Devgan.