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Commentary / Analysis

• Letter to the editor: Legal framework broken (Teck Phen, IntoTest) (Wednesday Aug. 15, 2007)
  The existing legal framework for IP, especially with regards to the patents law, is not conducive for sharing of IPs. And the clearest pointer to this problem, referring to US Patent office website, is that patent right is define as a right to prevent others to use.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: IP remains critical (Hal Barbour, CAST) (Tuesday Aug. 14, 2007)
  We've heard that the IP business is a total lost cause each of the last 14 years we've been successfully in business.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: Synopsys weighs in (John Koeter) (Tuesday Aug. 14, 2007)
  By 2010, we believe the Semiconductor IP market will generate approximately $2.7B in revenue. So what's driving the growth? Why is it sustainable? And why should you care? I'll begin with a quick review of the companies in the semiconductor IP market.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: IP needs integration (Richard John) (Tuesday Aug. 14, 2007)
  We have been milking Moore's Law for a many, many years; the time is changing. The industry needs to shift the focus to integration. IP as it is offered today, is a very crucial element of the eco system. It must evolve. The evolution lies in integration.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: DSPs for IP (Shaul Berger) (Tuesday Aug. 14, 2007)
  I think you are right on the money and it is not pleasant for companies trying to make money selling IP, to face the reality. The reality is that even many of the top 10 vendors hardly make money and by financial standards (EPS) they are not investor quality grade. I am not expert on the whole IP space but I know very well the DSP IP domain.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: Golf more fun than IP (Doug McKenney, LSI) (Tuesday Aug. 14, 2007)
  I received a plethora of e-mails regarding my recent article, entitled "Semi IP sector is a lost cause". Then, I asked for the IP vendors themselves to respond to a set of questions. Here's one letter to the editor from Doug McKenney, engineering director at LSI
  
  
• Letter to the editor: IP pros, cons (Jonah Probell) (Tuesday Aug. 14, 2007)
  I did engineering for Lexra, founded Ultra Data and ultimately sold its video processor technology to a chip company, did sales for ARC, and am about to join a fourth semi IP company. I've studied the processor IP core business model in perhaps as much depth as anybody.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: Patents a sore spot (Tuan Pham, EM Microelectronic Marin) (Monday Aug. 13, 2007)
  Just reading your article brings me to a subject that annoys almost small semiconductor firms: Nowaday, the equipment vendors sell their tools without transferring to the buyer the right to use the process.
  
  
• Semi IP sector is a lost cause (Thursday Aug. 02, 2007)
  Except in a few cases, the semiconductor intellectual-property (IP) sector is a non-profit business. It's simply a lost cause, with a questionable business model. Most IP vendors are losing money in the arena. This week, in fact, several IP vendors posted losses for the quarter, including Aware, MoSys and Virage.
  
  
• System-on-a-Chip (SoC) Market to Exceed $58 Billion by 2010, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (Tuesday Jul. 24, 2007)
  Driven by demand for high-speed, low power consuming chips, the market for System-on-a-Chip (SoC) is set to experience robust growth. the global market System-on-a-Chip or SoC market is expected to increase by more than 150% between the years 2006 and 2010.
  
  
• Mixed-signal SoCs alter analog scene (Monday Jul. 16, 2007)
  There are two good reasons you probably haven't heard about Chipidea Microelectronica. First, it's an IC company based in Portugal, where no large semiconductor manufacturer exists and the local IC market is virtually nil. Second, anyone who understands the complexity of analog technologies and the intellectual property business wisely regards "analog IP" as a risky proposition.
  
  
• Observers link Apple to Imagination's latest license deal (Monday Jul. 09, 2007)
  Imagination Technologies Group plc (Kings Langley, England), a licensor of graphics cores, has announced it has licensed a "next-generation" graphics and video core to an international electronics systems company under a multi-use licensing agreement.
  
  
• Analysis: 1 GHz MIPS core is DSP speed demon (Thursday Jul. 05, 2007)
  In May 2007 MIPS introduced the MIPS 74K, a new, high-performance synthesizable general-purpose microprocessor core. The 74K targets demanding multimedia and networking applications such as H.264 and WiMaX, and according to MIPS, the core has already been shipped to initial licensees.
  
  
• MIPS casts doubts on ARM expansion strategy (Tuesday Jun. 19, 2007)
  MIPS Technologies Inc. is confident that arch-rival ARM will not be able to take market share from it in the increasingly competitive IP cores market. The company was responding to a recent presentation given by senior executives at ARM which suggested that it was targeting sectors such as set-top-boxes, high definition TV and DVD systems, all areas where MIPS already dominates with its cores.
  
  
• The Electronic System Level (ESL) Tools Market: Virtual System Prototyping/Simulation Tools Predicted to Grow Fastest (Thursday Jun. 14, 2007)
  With the complexity of both hardware and software growing significantly, the challenge of designing and testing software earlier in the design process is becoming an increasingly significant factor, especially in cases where the hardware environment may be extremely complex and/or not yet available.
  
  
• New CEO guides Bluespec's changing strategy (Thursday Jun. 14, 2007)
  As electronic system level (ESL) synthesis provider Bluespec Inc. broadens its focus by adding design services and intellectual property (IP), the company is adopting new leadership as well. Bluespec announced Tuesday (June 12) that Charlie Hauck, formerly the company's vice president of engineering, has been named Bluespec president and CEO.
  
  
• DAC panelists call for IP reuse standards (Monday Jun. 11, 2007)
  A panel at the Design Automation Conference held here Thursday (June 7) tried to identify the data models that need to be provided for the exchange requirements of silicon intellectual property (IP). For the most part, panelists agreed on the need for standards for IP reuse, but were short on details about taking specific steps toward that goal.
  
  
• Automotive standard open to interpretation (Monday Jun. 11, 2007)
  The pursuit of different options within the Autosar automotive-software platform is leading to software incompatibilities that could undermine the standard's high-level goals, according to experts. That would be ironic, because Autosar was set up by automotive OEMs and their tier-one suppliers to control the complexity and diversity in their vehicles' software
  
  
• IP business model 'broken,' says exec (Friday Jun. 08, 2007)
  The IP business is ''broken'' and needs consolidation to better serve customers, according to Mike Kaskowitz, vice president of semiconductor IP at Mosaid Technologies Inc.
  
  
• Analysis: Synplicity's 'Hardi' ASIC prototyping play (Wednesday Jun. 06, 2007)
  The recent acquisition of ASIC prototyping provider Hardi Electronics AB by FPGA synthesis provider Synplicity Inc. isn't one of the larger EDA acquisitions, but it's an interesting strategic move. It brings Synplicity into the ASIC verification market in such a way that it isn't directly competing with other large EDA providers.
  
  
• EE Times - DAC special: Video interview with Synopsys CEO Aart De Geus (Wednesday Jun. 06, 2007)
  Aart de Geus, chairman and CEO of Synopsys Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.), looks a decade ahead to discern the future direction of the EDA industry in an interview at this week's Design Automation Conference.
  
  
• EE Times - DAC special: video interview with Sidense CEO Xerxes Wania (Tuesday Jun. 05, 2007)
  Xerxes Wania, president and CEO of logic IP developer Sidense Corp. (Ottawa), spoke with EE Times editor-in-chief Brian Fuller at the Design Automation Conference.
  
  
• Analysis: BDTI releases ARM Cortex-A8 benchmarks (Wednesday May. 30, 2007)
  BDTI has released independent benchmark results for the Cortex-A8, ARM's highest-performance processor core, on the BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks and the BDTI Video Encoder and Decoder Benchmarks. The results indicate that the Cortex-A8 is significantly faster than its predecessor, the ARM1176, giving it considerable horsepower for its targeted applications
  
  
• TI takes two approaches to IC manufacturing (Monday May. 14, 2007)
  Chip maker revs in-house analog, but shifts logic to foundries
  
  
• EETimes Blog: Garage IP operation? Forget it! (Thursday May. 03, 2007)
  Engineers who are thinking of launching a silicon intellectual property (IP) business in their garage with a couple of friends had better think again, according to panelists at this week's EDA Consortium meeting. The overall message: it's a big business for big players now.
  
  
• Panelists cite pitfalls of silicon IP business (Thursday May. 03, 2007)
  The silicon intellectual property (IP) business is consolidating and maturing, but business models still need work, according to panelists at an EDA Consortium meeting here Tuesday evening (May 1). What's needed, panelists said, is high-value IP provided with integrated solutions or platforms.
  
  
• The IP highway: Intellectual property licensing offers OEMs and semiconductor companies a new model for designing automotive electronics (Tuesday May. 01, 2007)
  The idea of using small amounts of IP in the design process is not new. However, the concept of reusing what four years ago was a whole chip as an IP core in a system-on-chip (SoC) is emerging as a best practice.
  
  
• IP providers cast wary eye on TSMC (Monday Apr. 23, 2007)
  TSMC is quietly but aggressively laboring to broaden its portfolios of internally developed semiconductor intellectual property and ''proven'' third-party IP. That has some observers asking whether the company is migrating to a more ASIC-like business model--and whether third-party IP vendors should be concerned about the foundry giant's competitive ambitions.
  
  
• A panel discusses 65-nm mixed-signal design (Friday Apr. 20, 2007)
  The demand for analog/mixed-signal intellectual property (IP) blocks has never been greater, especially at the 65-nm process node and below.
  
  
• Not everyone gets mugged for IP (Thursday Apr. 05, 2007)
  Intellectual-property theft in China isn't going away anytime soon. That's the bad news. The good news is that there are still plenty of ways for chip designers and manufacturers like Intel to get in on China's growth without getting mugged.