Should IP adopt a services business model?

David Bursky, EE Times
(07/25/2006 6:33 PM EDT)

SAN FRANCISCO — The use of intellectual property (IP) has become the de facto approach for implementing almost any system-on-a-chip (SoC), but, according to some panelists at a Monday (July 24) Design Automation Conference session, designers have to rethink the way they approach the use of IP.

Today, most designers think of a block of IP as a product said Naveed Sherwani, the CEO of Open Silicon. However, the IP should really be thought of as a service, he said, since there is often a need for continuing support from the supplier of the IP.

Unlike products that usually come with some type of guarantee regarding their functionality, IP licenses rarely come with a guarantee. Thus, the basic business model needs fixing, said Sherwani.

Anyone who has designed an SoC and has had a problem getting the chip to work due to IP that doesn't function as advertised knows the frustration of going back and forth between the IP vendors and the fabrication facility to determine where the fault lies, explained Sherwani.

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