Enhancing the ROI of Third-Party Semiconductor Intellectual Properties (IPs)
In the fast-evolving realm of System on Chip (SoC) design, complexity is skyrocketing. From chiplet-based design to multi-physics integration, these innovative technologies pressure design engineers to accelerate time-to-market while managing design costs effectively.
A key strategy that has emerged as a significant change in the past years is IP reuse. This approach involves integrating pre-designed functional blocks, or silicon Intellectual Property (IP) blocks, into new designs. With the global semiconductor IP market, reaching $9.8 billion by 2030, today’s IP vendors offer a broader spectrum of components, ranging from foundational Process Design Kits and Standard Cell ASIC libraries to more complex CPU cores and specialized RF components. With increasing design complexities, IP reuse has become more pivotal in reducing risks and enabling designers to focus on product differentiation.
Figure 1. Global silicon IP market size scales significantly from 2022 to 2030.
However, IP reuse is no longer a simple 'plug-and-play' LEGO game.
As chips get smaller and integration increases, the traditional method of simply adding more resources or creating compound architectures to achieve speed, bandwidth, or memory goals is no longer viable. IC design teams now require a more comprehensive IP management approach to ensure the cost-effectiveness of IP reuse.
See a demo of effective IP reuse with Keysight IP Management HUB
Understanding key challenges in every phase of IP reuse
IP reuse has become increasingly vital in recent years, as more complex designs can be completed in the same project timeline only by increasing reuse. At a high level, the process of semiconductor IP reuse includes three key phases: selection, integration, and verification.
IP selection
Frist of all, identifying the appropriate IP requires extensive research on multiple vendors and assessment against the project's design specifications and quality requirements. It also often involves considering the business relationship, vendors’ support, the scalability of licenses, and specific terms of IP usage. This can be a fairly resource and time-intensive task that would involve dealing with multiple IP vendors at engineering, business, and legal levels.
Another frequent initial hurdle is locating the existing IPs stored in disparate systems across teams. This requires a comprehensive understanding of the specifications of the chip and the knowledge about various IPs within the organization.
Figure 2. The increasing complexities in SoC design bring new challenges in integration of 3rd party IPs.
IP integration
After selection, integrating third-party IPs into the design presents its own set of challenges. This process demands extra engineering efforts to ensure high-performance, reliability, and seamless interaction between multiple IPs in a context-sensitive, application-specific way. Any integration issues can lead to delays and additional costs.
IP verification
The final step involves rigorous verification methods to ensure that the integrated IP blocks interact correctly and adhere to all design requirements and standards. Issues with IP quality can lead to redesigns, delays, and even failure to meet project objectives, resulting in significant financial and reputational costs.
Harnessing valuable insights from IP selection to verification
Imagine you're an explorer charting unknown territories; keeping track of the IP selection, integration, and verification process is like creating a map for those who follow, whether within the same design team or in different divisions of the organization.
It's imperative to document both technical metrics (such as power optimization and area efficiency in the final design) and non-technical metrics (such as integration efforts and vendor support) to enhance cost saving and future referencing. Here are five most practical use cases.
- IP selection considerations: This includes comparative analyses, evaluations of different IP offerings from various vendors, and the rationale behind choosing a specific IP. This data serves as a reference enabling multiple teams to understand past decisions and learn from them.
- License agreement and business terms: Detailed records of the license agreement, including business terms and pricing details, are essential for future negotiations and compliance with the licensing terms in subsequent projects.
- Resolution of integration challenges: Documenting how any integration challenges were addressed provides valuable insights for future projects. It helps in anticipating potential issues and understanding effective strategies to resolve them.
- Issues and limitations: Keeping a record of any issues discovered during the use of the IP brings better insights into risk assessment and management in future projects.
- Assessment of quality and vendor support: Evaluations of the IP's quality, performance, and the level of support provided by the vendor are crucial pieces of information for future choices and vendor relationships.
Centralizing IP management with ease
Imagine the ease of shopping on Amazon, but for intellectual property (IP) selection—this is what Keysight’s IP Management solution HUB brings to the table.
Significantly simplifying the knowledge capture process, HUB stands as a one-stop repositor managing a wealth of IP data and meta-data (including crucial foundry and technology details), associated documentation, research materials, and legal agreements.
With a simple search, design teams can uncover a spectrum of IP options within their company. It allows the design team to compare IP side-by-side based on various metrics like performance and historical usage. Teams can quickly narrow down their choices and test potential IPs in simulations. Moreover, with built-in issue tracking systems, it empowers teams to manage, track, and resolve issues with unparalleled efficiency.
Maximizing the Value of IPs for Designers, Leaders, and Lawyers
HUB is a pivotal tool for IC designers, design leaders, and legal teams, offering comprehensive solutions for managing intellectual property (IP) within organizations.
For IC designers, with Keysight HUB, all information about previously used IPs, including their integration challenges, quality assessments, and resolutions, are systematically stored and easily accessible, ensuring design traceability across the full hierarchy. This ensures that the expertise of past design teams is preserved, even after the original members are not present. In cases of company mergers, HUB's unified repository is particularly beneficial, allowing different teams across multiple sites to check if an IP has been previously licensed, thus avoiding unnecessary costs. Designers can also leverage past Q&A sessions, technical issues and other resources to more quickly integrate IPs into new projects.
Figure 3. The catalog feature helps locate and compare all the IP available across the enterprise.
For engineering team leaders, Keysight HUB offers secure access to critical information on IP-related issues, accelerating the selection of IPs for new projects. The platform enables comparing various IP vendors side-by-side, with historical performance metrics and compatibility to find the best match for their needs. Even in cases where additional licensing is necessary, the groundwork laid by previous teams minimizes the associated overheads. Keysight HUB integrates workflow checks to ensure timely approvals for third-party IP usage and keeps all stakeholders updated with automatic notifications about IP releases, license expirations, and renewals. Without such a mechanism, a technical lead, could unknowingly step over the line of a licensing agreement, or stay in the dark about existing negotiations with an IP vendor.
For legal teams, the often-overlooked complexities of IP licensing negotiations and associated paperwork are simplified with HUB's centralized repository of historical legal terms and business agreements. Keysight HUB integrates with valuable insights for future negotiations, enabling more favorable terms. Additionally, HUB offers comprehensive audit reports, allowing precise tracking of all IP usage. This feature ensures compliance with the latest standards and minimal risk of licensing violations.
Conclusion
Third-party silicon IPs play a significant role in enabling the SoC design team to focus on the development of differentiating design blocks. However, as the complexity of these IPs grows, there emerges an urgent need for a modern, secure IP management strategy.
Keysight HUB stands at the forefront of this transformation, serving as a golden thread that connects various facets of the design workflow. With its robust capabilities in design traceability, workflow management, and access control, Keysight HUB effectively help organizations of all sizes navigate the complexities of IP management, maximizing their ROI from IP reuse in the fast-evolving IC deign ecosystem.