91³Ô¹ÏÍø

What Cloud-Native Means for Chip Designers

Gurbir Singh

Sep 05, 2022 / 3 min read

Synopsys Cloud

Unlimited access to EDA software licenses on-demand

A cloud-native environment enables you to build and run scalable applications on public, private, and hybrid clouds. In this article, we answer the question: What does cloud-native mean? We also break down how cloud-native environments benefit chip design.

Cloud-native describes a development environment that includes services packaged in containers and deployed as microservices. These services are managed on elastic infrastructure using agile DevOps processes and continuous delivery workflows.

In combination with robust automation, a cloud-native environment allows engineers to make high-impact changes frequently and predictably.

Key Elements of a Cloud-Native Environment

Cloud-native environments contain several important elements.

 

Microservices

Microservices allow you to build large applications as modular components. They sit at the heart of cloud-native application architecture. Every microservice executes a different function, such as implementing capabilities, communicating, or running processes.

Generally, microservices are loosely coupled, meaning they operate independently. As a result, app developers can modify a microservice or small group of microservices without updating the entire application.

 

Containerization

Containers allow you to virtually isolate applications for deployment. Often, microservices are packaged into containers, so developers can limit work and keep changes to microservices in a single container. Containers prevent applications from consuming an entire host's shared resources. They also allow for multiple instances of the same application to run simultaneously.

The goal of containers is to ensure that software runs reliably in different computing environments. Typically, the container would run from: 

  1. a developer's laptop to a test environment,
  2. a staging environment to production,
  3. a physical machine to a virtual machine.
Key Elements of Cloud-Native Environment | Synopsys Cloud

DevOps

A DevOps team uses philosophies, practices, and tools to help deliver apps and services at high speeds. With DevOps, companies can evolve and improve their products faster than if they used traditional software development and infrastructure management processes. As a result, organizations better serve their customers and compete more effectively.

With cloud-native, there is no longer a siloed development and operations team. In fact, it is not uncommon for these two teams to merge into one team. These engineers work together on the entire application lifecycle, from development and testing to deployment to operations.

 

Continuous Delivery

With continuous delivery (CD), you can complete coding and testing in short but continuous cycles. Following the build stage, CD allows the deployment of all code changes to a testing or production environment. 

CD allows developers to automate testing beyond unit tests to verify updates to applications across multiple dimensions before releasing them. Testing may include the user interface, load, integration, application programming interface, and reliability tests. This process helps developers validate updates more thoroughly and locate issues earlier. In the cloud, it is easier to create and replicate multiple environments for testing than it is on-premises.

Synopsys, EDA, and the Cloud

Synopsys is the industry¡¯s largest provider of electronic design automation (EDA) technology used in the design and verification of semiconductor devices, or chips. With Synopsys Cloud, we¡¯re taking EDA to new heights, combining the availability of advanced compute and storage infrastructure with unlimited access to EDA software licenses on-demand so you can focus on what you do best ¨C designing chips, faster. Delivering cloud-native EDA tools and pre-optimized hardware platforms, an extremely flexible business model, and a modern customer experience, Synopsys has reimagined the future of chip design on the cloud, without disrupting proven workflows.

 

Take a Test Drive!

Synopsys technology drives innovations that change how people work and play using high-performance silicon chips. Let Synopsys power your innovation journey with cloud-based EDA tools. Sign up to try Synopsys Cloud for free!


About The Author

Gurbir Singh is group director, Cloud Engineering, at Synopsys. He has a demonstrated history of leadership in the software industry. In his current role, he leads the development of the Synopsys Cloud product, which enables customers to do chip design on the cloud using EDA-as-a-Service (SaaS) as well as flexible pay-per-use models. Gurbir has run organizations to develop cloud SaaS products, machine learning applications, AI/ML platforms, enterprise web applications, and high-end customer applications. He is experienced in building world- class technology teams. Gurbir has a master¡¯s degree in computer science, along with patents and contributions to publications.

Continue Reading