Under the somewhat exclusive, multi-million-dollar program, Cadence will supply its so-called Cadence University Software package to the Latin American nation. The goal of the package is to grant access to its EDA tools for 22 educational institutions and four training centers within Brazil.

The overall goal is to train 1,500 new IC designers over a three-year period in that nation, said Michael Fister, president and chief executive of Cadence.

It is also aimed to "supercharge" and "accelerate" Brazil's emerging efforts in semiconductor design, Fister told EE Times at a press event here.

There are seven IC design centers in Brazil, which are mainly backed by the government. The goal is to have 15 design centers in the nation over time, said Augusto Gadelha, secretary to Brazil's Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT), in the press event.

Brazil is far behind China and India in IC design. But Brazil stands a good change to succeed in "niche" IC design markets, he told EE Times in an interview.

Brazil is trying to attract multinational chip makers to invest in the nation. So far, though, Freescale Semiconductor Inc. is one of the few that has invested in Brazil. Freescale has a major IC design center in the nation.

Brazil is also attempting to build a small-scale fab. Another fab project is in the works, which has been delayed.