The recent IP-SoC Days, hosted by Design & Reuse, provided an excellent opportunity for IP providers (intellectual property) and IP customers to exchange ideas and requirements and to review the state of the IP industry. Here’s my take on the conference:
“Getting no respect”
One of the conference presenters called IP the “Rodney Dangerfield” of the semiconductor industry since it’s a $1.3B industry today compared to the $255B semiconductor industry. Yet if you look at the content of SoCs, 50% or more could be 3rd party licensed IP. And the licensed IP content will continue to rise given that system and semiconductor manufacturers are being asked to do more with less. In fact, an engineering VP from a fabless semiconductor company said, ‘We’re being asked to execute faster with less.’
Many companies struggle to launch new SoC programs because designers haven’t completed ongoing ones. To compound the problem, SoC speed and complexity continues to grow—making it impossible for any one company to develop all the IP needed to successfully execute on schedule. Clearly, having the ability to license value-added, high-quality IP is critical to the overall success and progression of the SoC industry.
“IP industry in the cat bird seat?”
Semiconductor manufacturers have no choice today but to license some of their IP. Even the largest companies license “star IP” like processors, along with commodity IP components. Even so, much of the discussion boils down to the question of “make vs. buy.” However, the real dilemma for many companies is where to draw the line between the IP they need to develop for their unique value-add (differentiation) vs. purchasing IP. Given these inherent challenges, it is critical for the success of the IP industry to make these decisions easier to answer and more obvious by providing complete products, including verification IP, software and support.
Jack Browne of Sonics, Inc. and D&R CEO, Gabriele Saucier, at Design and Reuse IP-SoC Days 2010 - Santa Clara - March 23, 2010
I also noticed that several speakers mentioned the growing use and importance of 3rd party bus IP. This is certainly good to hear from our perspective, but not a surprise. With the growing number of cores in an SoC, “rolling your own” bus is becoming a more complicated endeavor. Another factor is that the bus IP touches every other core in the system. It serves as the glue or center of the SoC, and ensures that everything comes together properly. Since Sonics’ IP must “play” with all other IP, it is critical for us to maintain our value by being able to connect to anyone’s IP at anytime. This is evident in Sonics’ recent announcement as one of the first supporters of the AMBA® 4 specification well ahead of the commercial release of cores with this interface.
Jack Browne of Sonics, Inc. presenting at Design and Reuse IP-SoC Days 2010 - Santa Clara - March 23, 2010
Future Direction of IP – The rise of software?
As the industry continues to evolve, the significance and role of software proves to be an interesting discussion. Software resources are clearly dominating SoC design teams. Some at the conference even speculated that we will see the emergence of software IP companies. Many IP companies today are providing software support, stacks, drivers and services, so I expect this will be an even larger part of the IP portfolio in the future. In any case, the IP industry will ultimately gain the “respect” it deserves as the SoC industry becomes increasingly aware of the critical role that 3rd party IP plays in its longevity and success.
Frank Ferro
Director of Marketing
Sonics, Inc.
www.sonicsinc.com
www.twitter.com/sonicsinc
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