Guides for Canada’s semiconductor ecosystem
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Frequently Asked Questions
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There are no limits and we encourage people to join.
FABrIC Membership is separate from CMC Membership. There is no cost for either membership. Yes, you do need a FABrIC membership to access FABrIC services and to apply for challenges.
Academics need to have a FABrIC Academic Subscription to access the Innovation Platform FAB and CAD services and training. These services are hosted by CMC. Note we are working to help set up FABrIC memberships for Academics that have existing Academic subscriptions for FAB and CAD services with CMC. FABrIC Academic Subscribers are automatically FABrIC members.
Yes, absolutely. Individuals and organizations from for-profit, non-profit, academia, government are all part of the ecosystem and are welcome to join FABrIC.
FABrIC membership connects you with FABrIC services, events, training and applying for Challenges.
- CMC membership is intended only for organizations and institutions as members have voting rights and participation at CMC’s annual meeting (by classes of eligibility).
- CMC Academic Subscriptions are being migrated to FABrIC as the funding is now provided through ISED.
- You can also sign up to receive newsletters and communications from CMC
Non-for-profits including RTO’s are welcome to join as FABrIC members and to participate in Challenges and ecosystem events and training.
The IP repository will contain multiple types of IP. Open source IP will be identified so users are aware of the status.
Yes, ISED actually has an on-line Canadian IP marketplace, ExploreIP. We will be working with ISED to explore opportunities to post FABrIC IP on ExploreIP.
All CAD tools that are available through the Innovation Platform are listed at www.cmc.ca/cad and www.cmc.ca/vie (not supported by FABrIC funding) for start-ups
Yes, the MNT program will be restarted shortly. Some changes to the program are being implemented to fit with FABrIC activities and funding.
Subsidies for Academic Subscribers are being increased with FABrIC funding. These subsidies will result in lower pricing for Academic Subscribers. Details of pricing are available through your FABrIC Academic subscription
Access to MPW runs in any offered technology (including silicon photonics) for academic research (through the Academic subscription) is subsidized through FABrIC, but is not funded at 100%. If you are a participant in a Challenge project, as an academic you are eligible to receive up to 100% funding for eligible project expenses, which could include MPW runs.
We are working to secure increased supply for MPW runs based on demand. A full listing of the MPW runs that are currently scheduled is available at competitions.cmc.ca which includes the GF photonics process.
We will continue to offer advanced microelectronics, photonics and other technologies not available in Canada but, as a goal we would like to be 50/50 by the end of FABrIC, currently it is closer to 90:10
Yes, provided you haven’t submitted the design files.
We do not have an estimate yet of what the success rates will be for the Challenges. Application will be a two-step process, first a lightweight expression of interest (EOI) and, if that is approved, a full proposal. FABrIC project advisors will assist along the way, with a goal of facilitating each applicant to put forward their best possible project proposal.
Leave behind, or community-based IP include items like PDKs, IP blocks, code, reference designs and kits, design guides, etc. These resources are intended to help to expedite product development and technology adoption in the ecosystem. Some of these resources will be provided by CMC’s technical team as part of delivering the project.
We are also encouraging FABrIC members to contribute resources.
The resources will be listed on the IP Registry for reference. The resources will be stored in the IP repository.
FABrIC funding for Challenge projects can include partial funding of capital costs for manufacturing equipment and in fact we do expect that some projects will require this. There will be specific terms associated with capital equipment purchases and this will be described in the Challenge call materials.
Once the Challenge call is announced, applicants will submit an EOI of about two pages, which will be screened within 4 weeks of receipt. Successful applicants will then be asked to submit a full proposal which will then be reviewed and rated by an external committee.
Based on demand, we are hoping to have the first round of Challenge projects running this fall.
