Luceda Photonics opens Chinese subsidiary
Luceda Photonics has launched their subsidiary office Luceda (Shanghai) Software and Technology Co., Ltd, in Shanghai, China, after more than 4 years’ experience in the Chinese market. The Chinese region is the second most important market within Luceda’s portfolio (with revenue doubled between FY19 and FY20). This local presence will enable Luceda to bring resources closer to customers and partners, such as CUMEC, IME-CAS, SITRI-CAS, AEMD Shanghai Jiaotong University, and provide products and services specifically targeted at the Chinese market. The team in Shanghai has a strong background in PIC and EDA (Electronics Design Automation) in addition to professional experience in the Belgian HQ.
The Integrated Photonics market in China is projected to grow 20% CAGR, more than other regions. Luceda has in-depth technical market knowledge, and the local venture responds to China’s intention to replace IP in the fields of data- and telecom, IOT, 5G, Lidar, and sensing with international IP. The proximity to fabrication partners such as CUMEC, IME-CAS, and SITRI, will further enhance collaboration efficiency.
Luceda Photonics offers the IPKISS Photonics Design Platform, an integrated photonics design environment that enables researchers and companies to automate and integrate all aspects of their photonic design flow in one tool. Leveraging the benefits of its Python code-based approach, the platform enables IP management, and enhances teamwork and design flow efficiency. IPKISS covers the complete photonic integrated circuit (PIC) design flow, from initial idea to design, simulation and validation. It is equipped for niche solutions ranging from 5G, Internet of Things, fibre to the home, Lidar, Artificial Intelligence, (Bio)Sensing and Quantum Computing.
“Luceda’s goal is to bring a 'human-centric' way of thinking to China and develop an attractive corporate culture with values such as empowerment, flexibility, expertise, and complement these with traditional Chinese values such as perseverance, (commercial) drive and commitment”, says Dr. Ruping Cao, general manager of Luceda China.
“I am among the first users of Luceda’s expert product in China. At CUMEC, we’ve set up an internal PDK development and knowledge consolidation workflow based on IPKISS, which helps us to quickly iterate the PDK development and release cycle. We currently offer our CSiP180Al and CSiP130Cu PDKs in the Luceda software kit. This enables our foundry user to efficiently and confidently carry out Silicon Photonics design projects, and ship quality designs to us”, says Dr. Guowei Cao, CUMEC PDK development team lead.
Luceda Photonics (founded in 2014) is a Belgian spin-off of imec, Ghent University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Luceda brought software automation tools, developed at imec’s world-first CMOS Silicon Photonics fabrication line, into the real market. The more than 50 years of combined experience in photonic integrated circuit (PIC) design resulted in tools and services that help PIC design teams world-wide benefit from a robust and flexible photonics chip design flow. Today Luceda’s expertise in the development of process design kits (PDK) as well as the design and validation of photonic integrated circuits is used by many of the top industry R&D teams and research organisations worldwide.
