IC-Link by imec, the design and manufacturing service provider operating under research institute imec, has expanded its collaboration with TSMC through membership in TSMC's Open Innovation Platform Cloud Alliance.

The move makes IC-Link the first managed-cloud service within that alliance to support a mixed-partner electronic design automation flow for silicon design, a distinction the companies say addresses growing infrastructure demands facing advanced chip development teams worldwide.

What the Expanded Collaboration Covers

Through the newly formalized arrangement, IC-Link will offer customers a secure cloud-based environment that combines access to TSMC process design kits with scalable compute resources configured for chip development workloads. The platform is structured to accommodate flexible EDA design flows, allowing customers to continue using their own preferred tool chains and licenses while IC-Link handles secure hosting, infrastructure management, and access to required design resources.

The offering targets design teams working on chips for artificial intelligence, communications, automotive, industrial, and other high-growth application areas. According to the announcement, the intent is to allow those teams to concentrate on product development rather than on building and maintaining the complex design environments that advanced node work requires.

The collaboration also expands the TSMC process design kit access available through IC-Link's cloud platform, giving customers controlled entry points into advanced node technology that would otherwise require significant internal infrastructure investment to access securely.

IC-Link's History Within the TSMC Ecosystem

The expansion adds a new dimension to a relationship between imec and TSMC that predates this announcement by nearly two decades. IC-Link has been a member of the TSMC Value Chain Alliance since 2009 and a Design Center Alliance member since 2007.

The new OIP Cloud Alliance membership builds on those existing ties and follows IC-Link's recent participation in the TSMC Open Innovation Platform 3DFabric Alliance, which focuses on advanced packaging technologies including 2.5D and 3D integration.

The accumulated membership across multiple TSMC alliance programs positions IC-Link as a broad-access intermediary for companies seeking to design chips at advanced nodes without direct relationships or infrastructure agreements with a leading-edge foundry.

Why the Timing Matters for Chip Design Teams

The announcement frames the collaboration against a backdrop of increasing complexity in semiconductor development. Design teams, particularly those at emerging semiconductor companies and research organizations, face compounding pressures around computing resources, tool access, data security, and the time required to move from a design concept to a manufacturable chip.

Managed cloud environments have become an increasingly discussed solution to these pressures, but the mixed-partner EDA flow capability IC-Link now claims as a first distinguishes it from simpler hosted design offerings.

By permitting customers to bring their own tool preferences into a managed, secure environment rather than requiring adoption of a single vendor's toolchain, IC-Link's platform is positioned to serve organizations with existing EDA investments and established design methodologies.

Pierre Blondeau, vice president of ASIC Services at IC-Link by imec, described the combined offering as a holistic solution. "By joining TSMC's OIP Cloud Alliance, we now combine access to advanced-node technologies with secure mixed-partner EDA flow, cloud-based design capabilities and expert support, making advanced semiconductor innovation more accessible," Blondeau said.

"Together with TSMC, we are helping customers reduce complexity, accelerate development cycles and move more confidently from design concept to end-product."

TSMC's Perspective on the Alliance Expansion

From TSMC's side, the expansion reflects the foundry's ongoing effort to broaden access to its technology through ecosystem partners. Aveek Sarkar, Director of the Ecosystem and Alliance Management Division at TSMC, said the OIP ecosystem is designed to enable innovation across the industry and that the collaboration with IC-Link supports a wider community of innovators seeking access to advanced process and packaging design capabilities.

"Together with our OIP partners like IC-Link by imec, we aim to help customers bring breakthrough silicon to market faster while leveraging the flexibility, scalability, and security of modern design environments," Sarkar said.

Implications for European Semiconductor Development

The announcement also carries a geographic dimension. Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and the press release explicitly states that the expanded collaboration contributes to efforts to enhance semiconductor innovation capacity in Europe and beyond.

Access to advanced-node design infrastructure has been a recurring concern in European semiconductor policy discussions, and IC-Link's role as a managed-access intermediary to TSMC's technology represents one practical mechanism through which European design teams can engage with leading-edge process nodes.

IC-Link's service portfolio encompasses ASICs in CMOS across commercially available nodes, imec-developed integrated photonics, advanced 2.5D and 3D packaging, and custom wafer processing. The company describes its business model as adaptable to customer requirements and capabilities, offering a range of service structures rather than a single engagement model.

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