Service firms up on soft IP cores

A new design service will allow licensees of ARM IP cores to combine the advantages of "soft" IP with the performance, predictability and time-to-market benefits of "hard" IP.

Synopsys Professional Services is offering a new design service which will enable licensees of IP cores from ARM to realise the advantages of "soft" IP and the ease of adopting new, customer-preferred silicon technology combined with the performance, predictability and time-to-market benefits of "hard" IP.

The new core-hardening service addresses the key implementation stages of hardening an ARM microprocessor core described at the "soft" register-transfer-level (RTL) into a manufacturable GDSII description for the target silicon process technology and end-user application.

The new Synopsys core-hardening service supplements ARM's own hardening and integration services, providing ARM partners who use soft cores with fully modelled and validated core implementations.

The service builds upon the jointly developed ARM-Synopsys reference methodology announced late in 2001, which has become an integral part of ARM's soft IP core solution.

The ARM-Synopsys reference methodology is available to all ARM customers and provides the means to configure, customise for test, preverify and characterise core implementations.

The new Synopsys Professional Services offering uses the ARM-Synopsys reference methodology and leverages Synopsys' intimate knowledge of advanced design flows and experience with hardening and modelling ARM microprocessor cores.

Synthesisable or "soft" (RTL-based) IP cores provide advantages in the ability to configure the core to the requirements of the end-user or application.

Synopsys' new core-hardening service helps to ensure that the customer's final implementation makes best use of the chosen manufacturing technology in terms of silicon area, clock speed and power consumption.

The service also includes creation of all the models necessary for the core to be smoothly integrated into SoC designs, such as cycle-accurate simulation models, I/O and clock timing information, test models and physical models.

Synopsys has already successfully completed core-hardening projects undertaken directly for ARM as part of the ARM Foundry Programme.

The Synopsys design team recently delivered the ARM946E-S core for production using TSMC's 0.18-micron technology, completing the project on time and meeting the required performance benchmarks for speed and silicon area.

"Our core-hardening projects with ARM are an excellent demonstration of two technology leaders applying their core skills to produce the best possible design product", said John Koeter, senior director of Turnkey Design Services at Synopsys Professional Services.

"We focused not only on executing to ARM's project requirements, but also on implementing a design flow that is predictable and repeatable for future core implementations".

Synopsys Professional Services is a member of ATAP, the ARM Technology Access Programme and has design centres in the USA, Europe and Asia.

"The core-hardening process is key to our customers' ability to optimise the ARM RTL-delivered cores for the specific requirements of their target applications", said Dr John Goodenough, global design methodology manager at ARM.

"Our joint efforts on the development of the ARM-Synopsys reference methodology are enabling our mutual customers to make the best use of ARM technology in the shortest possible time.

The successful implementation of the reference methodology by Synopsys Professional Services, as demonstrated by the ARM946E-S core-hardening project, brings a welcome extension to the expert resources available to our customers".

The new Synopsys core-hardening service enhances the portfolio of design services provided by Synopsys Professional Services to ARM licensees, including the design, verification, and integration of SoCs that contain ARM IP.

The core-hardening service is available immediately through both consulting and turnkey engagement models.

(This was Electronicstalk's Top Story on 19 June 2002).

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