Few decisions are as important to the success of a chip design. The choice of intellectual property (IP) interacts with basic architectural decisions. It influences the makeup of the design team, the schedule and the budget. If delimits the range of features and the performance of the completed chip. And it introduces a Pandora's box of unquantifiable risks into the design process.
In an earlier special section (see Oct. 10, page 33), we asked how design teams go about making this weighty set of decisions and what outcomes they are seeing. Now, with data in hand, we will attempt to answer those questions. In a Web-based study, we have examined why design teams seek external IP, who the decision makers are, how they go about making their choices and what the results have been. In the pages that follow, we will summarize some of the findings.
The survey was conducted through the EE Times online service, with invitations to readers of both EE Times and TechOnLine. Data was collected between Nov. 9 and Nov. 16 from respondents who were personally involved in the selection or integration of silicon-level IP. This report is based on just over 220 responses received during that period.
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