OSCI also announced the public availability of the IEEE 1666T -2005 Standard SystemC Language Reference Manual, now accessible on the IEEE Web site. A companion open source proof-of-concept SystemC library developed by OSCI is now available for public review and comment on the OSCI Web site, the organization said.

OSCI, an independent non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and advancing SystemC as an industry standard language for electronic system-level design, said it has created a new tiered structure for its associate corporate level of membership for fiscal 2007. According to OSCI, this membership structure provides a way for startups and non-profit organizations to more easily participate in the development and promotion of SystemC standards.

New associate members added in the last year include: Actis Design LLC, Bluespec Inc., Canon Inc., Denali Software Inc., Doulos Ltd., Freescale Semiconductor Inc., GreenSocs Ltd., NEC Electronics, SpiraTech Ltd., SpringSoft Inc. and Vast Systems Technology Corp., OSCI said.

Yearly fees for associate corporate members are now assigned based upon the financial earnings of the company, OSCI said.

"A primary objective of OSCI is to provide mechanisms that allow collaboration of the members of the SystemC community and encourage the continued healthy growth of that community," said Michael Meredith, president of OSCI, in a statement. "The new tiered fee structure for associate corporate membership allows a greater number of organizations to contribute to the development and deployment of SystemC tools and technologies."

OSCI's membership roster now includes more than 30 system, semiconductor, intellectual property (IP) and EDA companies.

Associate corporate members may have an unlimited number of employees participating in the technical working groups, OSCI said. These members also gain early access to standards under development in draft form, OSCI said

Fees for corporate members remain at $25,000 per year, according to OSCI. Fees for associate corporate membership run from $2,000 per year (for non profits) up to $10,000 per year (for profit entities with revenue of $2.5 million or greater per year).