Choosing IP
- It's not just the product, it's the relationship
By Stéphane Hauradou
Co-founder and CTO
PLDA
You are on a very strict schedule
for your next chip. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, you plan
to go to an outside vendor for some of your silicon IP. Your decision
is - do I get my IP from a large supplier who offers many cores covering
a broad range of functionality (the supermarket) or do I go to a focused
vendor who specializes in the critical piece of IP I need (the specialty
shop)? Well, it depends on the IP.
Decision Time
When you need a particular
piece of third-party IP, the factors that go into the "where to purchase"
decision include the "hard" attributes of IP functionality, availability
for a particular process node, performance, complexity, ease of implementation,
testability, and security. Along with these attributes are others
that apply specifically to vendor selection, such as track record as
an IP supplier and level of service. The latter is particularly
important if problems arise during IP integration. An IP supplier
who has been in the business for several years and is profitable demonstrates
that they are "in for the long haul" and will still be around down
the road if problems develop or to help with tricky IP integration technical
problems on future chips.
A small IP vendor may be your
best choice if you need a specialized IP core. Since a small vendor
has fewer products than a large vendor, they often are more willing
to work with you to make sure their product works in your particular
chip. In other words, small vendors generally provide better support
and extra service to their customers. Treat your IP vendor as
a member of your design team to help solve any and all problems relating
to the IP from that supplier and go with one willing to accept this
role.
IP Vendor Knowledge
A real test of an IP vendor's
value is what happens when you implement IP and it doesn't work correctly.
A vendor's knowledge needs to extend beyond the actual IP that they
sell, including knowledge of the various types of systems in which the
IP may be embedded. Look for a vendor who has experience with
several types of designs using a particular piece of IP.
An important factor beyond
the particular core you want is how involved the vendor is with similar
IP. For example, if you need PCI Express (PCIe) IP does the vendor
also have PCI and PCI-X experience and knowledge? Experience with
similar functionality in other cores indicates that the IP vendor most
likely has extensive familiarity with the core functionality you need.
Parameterizable IP is another
plus, allowing you to customize one core for a basic design and variations
of the same IP for derivative products. As is the case with any
semiconductor product, find out what else the vendor can supply beyond
the basic IP. If the vendor has versions of a particular core
for different silicon platforms - ASIC, FPGA and maybe even Structured
ASIC - this gives you flexibility during product development (maybe
on an FPGA) and then for transitioning to an ASIC for cost advantages.
If your critical need is for IP to implement a communication standard,
such as PCIe, then your vendor should offer IP verification with
common verification IP (VIP) that you might employ, such as that offered
by nSys, along with verification reports. Depending on the IP,
the vendor should also have the appropriate software you'll need to
implement the IP in a system.
Reference designs from the
IP vendor, particularly when you are targeting an FPGA platform for
design validation or prototyping, will save you a lot of design time.
A small, experienced IP vendor will generally be a good choice because
they have the design experience to develop such boards with high performance
characteristics and ease of use.
The bottom line is to look
beyond the IP itself and see what else the vendor has to make system
implementation and verification as painless as possible. IP integration
is not turnkey for high-performance, critical IP - and it never will
be since every chip in which the IP will reside represents a different
system around it. A small, focused IP vendor is your best bet
to get the core, associated hardware and software, and service you need
to maximize successful IP integration.
Currently co-founder and CTO
of PLDA, Stéphane Hauradou earned a Bachelor of Engineering from the
Polytechnic School of Montreal and a Masters in Microelectronics from
Sup'Telecom in Paris. His master's thesis concentrated on the development
of the first PCI IP controller for Programmable Logic Devices.
