Synopsys Enhances IP Library; Launches Verification/Characterization Tool
During this week's IP `99 Conference, Mountain View, CA-based Synopsys announced the expansion of its DesignWare foundation library. The enhanced library now includes complex commodity intellectual property (IP) blocks in addition to more than 100 medium-scale reusable components.
The first complex IP blocks in the enhanced DesignWare library include the DW16550 UART, the DW8051 microcontroller, and the DWPCI 64-b/66 MHz PCI 2.2 compliant bus interface with Vera-based PCI verification suite. In addition to these cores, Synopsys will implement a synthesizable next-generation input/output (I/O) bus interface core and Vera-base verification suite in the library.
All DesignWare components, including the latest additions, comply with the Reuse Methodology Manual (RMM). The guidelines in this manual ensure that users receive components with a high degree of built-in quality and reusability.
DesignWare Foundation is available in the US for $13,300. The DW16550 is available now in production while the DW8051 is available now in limited production. The DWPCI will be introduced in April.
Verification/Characterization Tool
Synopsys has also launched a timing verifications/characterization solution. The CoreMill solution is designed for applications exchanging and reusing hard IP.
With CoreMill, IP designers can create accurate timing models for use by subsequent designers or by the IP integrator. Once a core is characterized and its details are captured within the CoreMill database, a modified core can be rapidly re-verified against the original for process migration, to target a new foundry, or for core reuse within another design.
By having the CoreMill characterization information readily available for a hard IP component, the integrator can modify the core for re-use in other designs without having to work with the core developer during each design iteration. According to Synopsys, this speed turnaround time and shortens development cycles for the IP integrator. For the core developer, on the other hand, this means less time spent re-characterizing the existing cores or engaging in complex custom development for existing users.
CoreMill is available for qualified customer access as part of Synopsys' EPIC version 5.3 release in May 1999. CoreMill pricing starts at $170,000