science

Semiconductor intellectual property core

Semiconductor intellectual property core is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Semiconductor intellectual property core rather than just read about it. In short: In electronic design, a semiconductor intellectual property core (SIP core), IP core or IP block is a reusable unit of logic, cell, or integrated circuit layout design that is the intellectual property of one party. IP cores can be licensed to another party or owned and used by a single party.

Key takeaways

Semiconductor intellectual property core belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Semiconductor intellectual property core to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Semiconductor intellectual property core from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In electronic design, a semiconductor intellectual property core (SIP core), IP core or IP block is a reusable unit of logic, cell, or integrated circuit layout design that is the intellectual property of one party. IP cores can be licensed to another party or owned and used by a single party. The term comes from the licensing of the patent or source code copyright that exists in the design. Designers of system on chip (SoC), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) and systems of field-programmable gate array (FPGA) logic can use IP cores as building blocks. This allows for faster design cycles and reduced development costs by leveraging pre-verified and tested components.[2]

History The licensing and use of IP cores in chip design came into common practice in the 1990s. There were many licensors and also many foundries competing on the market. In 2013, the most widely licensed IP cores were from Arm Holdings (43.2% market share), Synopsys Inc. (13.9% market share), Imagination Technologies (9% market share) and Cadence Design Systems (5.1% market share).

Types of IP cores The use of an IP core in chip design is comparable to the use of a library for computer programming or a discrete integrated circuit component for printed circuit board design. Each is a reusable component of design logic with a defined interface and behavior that has been verified by its creator and is integrated into a larger design.

Soft cores IP cores are commonly offered as synthesizable RTL in a hardware description language such as Verilog or VHDL. These are analogous to low-level languages such as C in the field of computer programming. IP cores delivered to chip designers as RTL permit chip designers to modify designs at the functional level, though many IP vendors offer no warranty or support for modified designs. IP cores are also sometimes offered as generic gate-level netlists. The netlist is a Boolean-algebra representation of the IP's logical function implemented as generic gates or process-specific standard cells. An IP core implemented as generic gates can be compiled for any process technology. A gate-level netlist is analogous to an assembly code listing in the field of computer programming. A netlist gives the IP core vendor reasonable protection against reverse engineering. See also Integrated circuit layout design protection. Both netlist and synthesizable cores are called soft cores since both allow a synthesis, placement and routing (SPR) design flow.

Hard cores Hard cores (or hard macros) are analog or digital IP cores whose function cannot be significantly modified by chip designers. These are generally defined as a lower-level physical description that is specific to a particular process technology. Hard cores usually offer better predictability of chip timing performance and area for their particular technology. Analog and mixed-signal logic are generally distributed as hard cores. Hence, analog IP (SerDes, PLLs, DAC, ADC, PHYs, etc.) are provided to chip makers in transistor-layout format (such as GDSII). Digital IP cores are sometimes offered in layout format as well. Low-level transistor layouts must obey the target foundry's process design rules. Therefore, hard cores delivered for one foundry's process cannot be easily ported to a different process or foundry. Merchant foundry operators (such as IBM, Fujitsu, Samsung, TI, etc.) offer various hard-macro IP functions built for their own foundry processes, helping to ensure customer lock-in.

Sources of IP cores

Licensed functionality Many of the best known IP cores are soft microprocessor designs. Their instruction sets vary from small 8-bit processors, such as the 8051 and PIC, to 32-bit and 64-bit processors such as the ARM architectures or RISC-V architectures. Such processors form the "brains" of many embedded systems. They are usually RISC instruction sets rather than CISC instruction sets like x86 because less logic is required. Therefore, designs are smaller. Further, x86 leaders Intel and AMD heavily protect their processor designs' intellectual property and don't use this business model for their x86-64 lines of microprocessors. IP cores are also licensed for various peripheral controllers such as for PCI Express, SDRAM, Ethernet, LCD, AC'97 audio, IEEE 1394, AGP and USB. Many of those interfaces require both digital logic and analog IP cores to drive and receive high speed, high voltage, or high impedance signals outside of the chip. "Hardwired" (as opposed to software programmable soft microprocessors described above) digital logic IP cores are also licensed for fixed functions such as MP3 audio decode, 3D GPU, digital video encode/decode, and other DSP functions such as FFT, DCT, or Viterbi coding.

Vendors

IP core developers and licensors range in size from individuals to multi-billion-dollar corporations. Developers, as well as their chip-making customers, are located throughout the world. Silicon intellectual property (SIP, silicon IP) is a business model for a semiconductor company where it licenses its technology to a customer as intellectual property. A company with such a business model is a fabless semiconductor company, which doesn't provide physical chips to its customers but merely facilitates the customer's development of chips by offering certain functional blocks. Typically, the customers are semiconductor companies or module developers with in-house semiconductor development. A company wishing to fabricate a complex device may license in the rights to use another company's well-tested functional blocks such as a microprocessor, instead of developing their own design, which would require additional time and cost. The silicon IP industry has had stable growth for many years. The earliest silicon IP companies that were established in the 1990s and 2000s included Virtual Chips, Sand Microelectronics (both acquired by Phoenix Technologies), Integrated Intellectual Property (I2P) (acquired by Lattice Semiconductor) and Ingot Systems (acquired by Virage Logic). The silicon IP developed by these companies focused on standards such as PCI, USB, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), AGP and DDR3. In the recent times, the most successful silicon IP companies, often referred to as the star IP, include ARM Holdings and Synopsys. Gartner Group estimated the total value of sales related to silicon intellectual property at US $1.5 billion in 2005 with annual growth expected around 30%.

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Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Semiconductor intellectual property core

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Semiconductor intellectual property core claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Semiconductor intellectual property core before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Semiconductor intellectual property core ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Semiconductor intellectual property core

In research: Semiconductor intellectual property core appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Semiconductor intellectual property core in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Semiconductor intellectual property core is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Electronic design automation, Logic design, Semiconductor IP cores, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Semiconductor intellectual property core outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Semiconductor intellectual property core in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Semiconductor intellectual property core means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Semiconductor intellectual property core out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Semiconductor intellectual property core in simple terms?

Why does Semiconductor intellectual property core matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Semiconductor intellectual property core?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Semiconductor intellectual property core.