Prof. Dr.-Ing. Norbert Wehn: Open Source in Hardware Design – Opportunities, Challenges and Example

Abstract

Open Source is currently garnering significant attention within the hardware community. In this talk, we will explore this topic from multiple perspectives. First, we will discuss the role of Open Source within the BMBF initiative “Chipdesign Germany.” Next, we will provide a comparative analysis and discuss the challenges associated with current state-of-the-art (SoA) open-source design flows. Finally, we will showcase the evolution of our open-source DRAM modeling framework, highlighting its development and impact.

Short Bio

Norbert Wehn received his Diploma, Ph.D., and habilitation degrees from TU Darmstadt in 1984, 1989, and 1995, respectively. From 1991 to 1994, he worked in the central research division of Siemens AG, and from 1994 to 1997, he served as a semiconductor product development manager at Siemens AG. Since 1997, he holds the Chair of Microelectronic System Design in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau. He has authored more than 500 publications in various fields of microelectronic system design and holds over 20 patents. Currently, he serves as a Spokesperson for the BMBF initiative „Chip Design Germany.“