Custom Silicon Design Services for Industrial Engineers at Embedded World 2026
- adammiller961
- Jan 14
- 5 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
The Problem Every Industrial Engineer Faces
You've done the research. Found the ideal off-the-shelf microcontroller, sensor interface, or power management chip. It handles 95% of your design. Then you hit the wall—power budget's impossible, thermal envelope too tight, supply chain unstable, or you need integration that doesn't exist in any catalogue.
When you hit that wall, standard silicon won't solve it - that's exactly where custom silicon design services become valuable. Whether it's supply chain instability, impossible power budgets, or integration that doesn't exist, GUC specialises in custom silicon design for the problems catalogue parts can't address.
GUC's Custom Silicon Design Services: How They Work
Global Unichip Corporation (GUC) are silicon design engineers, full stop. Established 1998, headquartered in Taiwan, they're not selling hype or theory. They're TSMC-backed (34.8% shareholder, formal VCA partner), with 855 engineers distributed across Japan, Vietnam, Israel, Europe, North America, and Taiwan. Last year they shipped 30+ production designs and 35+ million chips.
That matters because they've actually solved hard problems across multiple domains. They understand what works in real manufacturing, not just in simulation. Custom silicon design is their entire business, from specification through production.
The Real Value Proposition: End-to-End Ownership
Most design services firms hand off work at convenient boundaries. GUC doesn't. They manage the entire pipeline:
Specification & Architecture: Does your constraint actually need custom silicon? Or will a different architecture solve it cheaper?
Design & Verification: Full SoC development, signal integrity, power analysis, thermal management
Production Ramp: Mask generation, yield learning, manufacturing coordination - GUC stays involved through volume production
That end-to-end ownership matters because silicon failures usually happen at the boundaries. Design looks perfect in simulation until it hits real manufacturing. GUC lives in that reality.
Who Needs This? Real Scenarios From Industrial Engineering
Custom silicon design solves four scenarios industrial engineers commonly face:
Scenario 1: Supply Chain Nightmare You've shipped 50,000 units using a standard UART + GPIO interface IC. Now the supplier can't deliver for 6+ months. You need a replacement but your PCB is done, software is locked, mechanical envelope is fixed. GUC has done this: custom silicon that drops into existing form factors, using proven libraries, shipping in production timescales.
Scenario 2: Power Budget Impossible You're designing IoT nodes for battery-powered industrial monitoring. The power envelope is 100mW continuous. Standard MCU + sensor interface + wireless stack = you're at 200mW. You need custom integration; mixed-signal analogue blocks coordinated with digital logic, optimised for sleep modes and wake latency. GUC's team understands both analogue and digital design; they can partition the problem properly.
Scenario 3: Thermal Headroom Industrial PLC controllers running power electronics. You've maxed out on cooling. You need denser integration (fewer chips, less interconnect, less parasitic heat). That's a systems problem, not just "pick a faster process node." GUC helps you repartition the silicon architecture to reduce thermal density.
Scenario 4: Long-Lifecycle Product You're designing infrastructure that will ship for 10-15 years. Standard silicon becomes obsolete in 3-4 years. GUC's TSMC partnership guarantees they can source advanced packaging and process nodes on long-term roadmaps. That supply certainty is unavailable through normal semiconductor channels.
GUC's Service Delivery: From Customer Specification to Finished Goods
GUC's value proposition extends beyond IP licensing into comprehensive design service delivery. The business model addresses the reality that most engineering organisations lack sufficient internal expertise to execute chiplet designs independently.
What GUC Has Actually Shipped
This isn't theoretical. Real examples:
Optical transceiver ASICs (100G, 200G, 400G) for datacom and telecom infrastructure
Solar inverter controllers (market growing 8.5% annually)—they've done gate drivers, power optimisers, inverter ASICs
Automotive-qualified silicon (AEC-Q100 Grade-2)—ADAS, LiDAR processors, camera interfaces, sensor fusion
Industrial control ASICs across 5nm, 7nm, 16nm, 28nm, 40nm, 180nm
They understand that not everything needs bleeding-edge nodes. Industrial designs often want 28nm (mature, reliable, power-efficient). They've shipped that production volume.
The Service Model: How This Actually Works
GUC isn't trying to sell you a full custom ASIC from scratch (9-18 month timeline, €2-5M NRE). They're offering:
Feasibility Study (2-4 weeks): Examine your constraint, assess whether custom silicon actually solves it, develop rough cost model. Answer the question: "Is this worth doing?"
Design Exploration (8-12 weeks): Develop preliminary architecture, simulate performance, refine cost. Build confidence before committing.
Full Development (18-36 months): Execute complete design-to-production, with GUC providing all engineering resources.
But critically, if you don't need custom silicon, they'll tell you. They're honest enough to say "actually, you should use this catalogue part with different firmware" or "the supply problem isn't silicon, it's packaging."
At Embedded World: What You Can Actually See
GUC will have production silicon on the stand not vapourware, not promises. Real silicon running real workloads. Enough to have a genuine technical conversation about your constraint.
You can discuss:
Whether your problem is actually a silicon problem (or something else)
Timeline and cost reality (not fantasy projections)
Supply chain certainty for long-lifecycle products
Process node selection based on your actual requirements, not hype
Who Should Actually Book a Meeting?
You should book if:
You've hit a genuine constraint that standard silicon won't solve
You're designing long-lifecycle products (10+ year roadmap)
Supply chain stability matters more than latest-generation nodes
You've already done the homework (you know what you need, not just "we need an ASIC")
You probably shouldn't book if:
You're just curious about ASIC design in general
Your problem solves fine with catalogue parts
You need a decision in 3 months (custom silicon isn't 3-month timeline)
The Honest Truth
Custom silicon is expensive, takes time, and requires engineering discipline. GUC won't oversell it. But when off-the-shelf components hit their limit; supply constraints, thermal headroom, power budget, integration complexity, that conversation is worth having.
They've got 30+ production designs and decades of experience. They understand what actually works in manufacturing. And they're honest about when it's the right answer and when it's not.
Embedded World 2026, Hall 3A, Stand 417. Bring your hard technical problem. Have a real conversation.
FAQs - GUC's Custom ASIC Capabilities
Q: How much does custom silicon actually cost?
A: Depends entirely on complexity. Simple designs (100-1000 gates) might be €50-200K NRE + tooling. Complex SoCs (multimillion gates) could be €2-5M+. GUC provides feasibility studies to give realistic numbers before commitment.
Q: Timeline
A: Feasibility study 2-4 weeks. Design exploration 8-12 weeks. Full development 18-36 months depending on complexity and process node. Supply chain ramp adds 6-12 months.
Q: What process nodes does GUC work with?
A: 5nm (N5), 7nm (N7), 16nm, 28nm, 40nm, 180nm. Most industrial applications don't need bleeding-edge nodes; mature nodes offer better value and proven manufacturing.
Q: Do you handle supply chain?
A: Yes. GUC's TSMC VCA partnership means they secure capacity on long-term process roadmaps. Critical for 10+ year product lifecycles.
Q: Intellectual property?
A: Your designs stay confidential. Formal agreements, isolated design teams, secure infrastructure.
Q: Can GUC handle mixed-signal designs?
A: Yes. Analog circuits, digital logic, embedded memory, power management—all in a single SoC.Q: How does GUC manage intellectual property in chiplet designs?
Q: What about automotive qualification?
A: AEC-Q100 Grade-2 available. ISO 26262 functional safety, ASIL-D capability supported.
