Huawei has made significant strides in developing its own Electronic Design Automation (EDA) chip-making tools, enabling the mass production of its 7nm Kirin 9020 processors amid ongoing restrictions.
The company’s efforts to develop indigenous EDA capabilities began several years ago, primarily to counter the impact of U.S. sanctions and revive the production of 5G-capable Kirin chipsets for its devices. EDA is specialized software essential for designing and manufacturing integrated circuit (IC) chips and printed circuits (PCBs).
These tools are fundamental in automating and streamlining the entire chip design procedure, from initial conceptualization through verification and physical design, and are vital for handling the increasing complexity of modern semiconductor design. According to reports, Huawei initiated collaborations with specific Chinese EDA firms in March 2023, initially focusing on developing tools for 14nm chipsets.
Since then, the company has advanced its technology to support the more complex 7nm process used in its latest Kirin 5G processors. This push for domestic EDA capabilities has been bolstered by significant investment from local authorities in key Chinese cities, with municipal governments in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen increasing funding for China-made EDA equipment.
The financial support aims to accelerate the development of domestic chip-making tools and reduce Chinese firms’ reliance on foreign, particularly U.S., technology. Huawei is now leveraging these domestically developed EDA tools for the mass production of its Kirin 9020 5G chipset, first introduced last year in the Mate 70 flagship series and currently being implemented in Huawei’s high-end Pura 80 smartphones.
While EDA machines do not directly fabricate System-on-Chips (SoCs), they play a critical role in ensuring that chip design requirements are met, making them an indispensable component of the overall chip manufacturing process. The absence of such tools, as highlighted by Xiaomi’s challenges with a 2nm process XRING chipset, underscores their importance.
