Certus Semiconductor Joins TSMC IP Alliance for I/O and ESD

Published: 25 Apr 2025

Author: Precedence Research

Share :

Certus Semiconductor, a well-known leading provider of ESD solutions and custom I/O rendering services to the semiconductor industry, has introduced an official partnership with the TSMC intellectual property (IP) alliance program. It is an important element of the TSMC open innovation platform (OIP). Certus Semiconductor has specialized in solutions like Wifi, HDMI, USB, LVDS, XAUI, Cellular, RF, and high-speed interfaces, everything for up to 256Gb Serdes, which resulted in the success of ESD solutions' high performance. Certus provides flexible ODIO and multi-voltage GPIO solutions, promoting and helping protocols by using quality high-voltage structures (10V, 20V+) on low-voltage CMOS for advanced applications. Certus has utilized its I/O libraries for aerospace, radiation environment, and automotive applications. Certus has been a member of the TSMC IP alliance, providing production-proven IP to integrate with TSMC process nodes ranging from 180nm to 12nm.

The solutions consist of:

• High voltage (>10V) ESD in 65nm and below.
• Multi-voltage and multi-protocol I/O Libraries.
• High speed die-to-die interface solutions.
• GPIOs help several standards with extended specifications. 

Certus Semiconductor IP solutions specifically prioritize low capacitance, distortion control, noise reduction, enhanced ESD performance, and robustness. Certus has always contributed with its multi-solutions, which support automotive-grade requirements and radiation-hardened IP testing in nodes from 180nm to 16/12nm. Certus is focusing on the required industrial needs to be considered in TSMC’s advanced processes. 

Views and Statements 

CEO and CTO of Certus Semiconductor, Stephen Fairbanks, shared his 16 years of Certus working indirectly with TSMC to deliver the best of its ESD and I/O solutions to customers. Now, Certus has announced an official partnership with TSMC, allowing it to provide solutions to their whole OIP ecosystem. 

Senior Director of Advanced Technology Business Development at TSMC, Lipen Yuan, mentioned the positive impact of the collaboration, saying the involvement of Certus Semiconductor’s IP solutions in the OIP ecosystem will provide accurate service insight to our mutual customers with an enhanced portfolio collectively used for the optimization of industry-leading process technologies. Further, he shared his excitement about working with other OIP partners, including Certus Semiconductor, with the combined expertise of several partners' skills, such as innovation, reliability, which will help develop and enhance the product accordingly. 

Co-Founder and CTO of Silicon Creations, Jeff Galloway, appreciated Certus Semiconductor, saying that Certus has been essential to Silicon Creations' development in high-performance SERDES solutions with its expertise and high-speed ESD protection IP. Additionally, Certus’s overall technical knowledge and timely response help Silicon Creations to provide SERDES designs to perform and achieve exponential growth. Certus is a valued partner in advising and notifying customers of the ESD requirements.