Canon develops its own system large-scale integrated circuits (LSIs) -single-chip ICs that contain all system components, including the hardware and software necessary to run the device. Since system LSIs combine such extensive functions, rapid development requires a collaborative team of design engineers and technicians working within an efficient development environment.
Canon independently began developing system LSIs around 1996 and has established a highly efficient system LSI integrated design environment that provides comprehensive support for the entire development process, from specification checks to physical design.

Overview of System LSI Development

In the design support environment, MayDay, a unique design support tool, plays a pivotal role. A web-based application with an easy-to-use graphical user interface, MayDay supports communication and progress tracking for each member of a development team that may include several hundred people.
The compute farm underlying MayDay automatically activates the tool, managing a license pool for numerous CPUs and high-priced electronic design automation (EDA) tools, and distributes the appropriate computing servers and licenses according to the demand for such resources.
Configuration management allows the easy recycling of design assets by making possible the user-friendly management of design-results files and entire directories needed for compilations and simulations.

Defect management within the project management environment enables the sharing of bug information for each project and linking to development flows, with multi-conditional search and tracking features.
The IP (Intellectual Property) support system promotes the reuse of the IP core, a large-scale function block, in order to reduce the number of support processes.
In these environments, Canon endeavors to reduce development times for digital products and improve design quality.