AnySilicon Guidelines for Semiconductor IP Core Selection

The semiconductor IP core market has grown dramatically in the last 10 years. There are literally hundreds of IP core suppliers in the market providing almost every possible functionally – from DC/DC and PLLs to Bluetooth and CPU cores. This large number of vendors and IP cores makes the selection process more complex (some will say: critical) as it requires a time-consuming research.

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Typically, semiconductor foundries offer a few IP cores free of charge, yet these are relatively simple IPs. Assuming you require a more sophisticated or special IP core, you’ll need to find a 3^rd party IP supplier. One of the challenges is to first identify the vendors – out of 200+ suppliers, that meet your IP requirements.

This is where our IP Portal comes in – to help engineers and decision makers be more effective in the IP core selection process.

Here are some questions you should ask to make a better decision:

IP Functionality – first, examine the IP core functionality and check whether it meets your ASIC requirements in full. Will it also support your chip roadmap? Will the IP require some changes? Are they minor or major? What is the IP core size and its power consumption?

Readiness for Production – is the IP core ‘silicon proven’ on the targeted foundry and process node? Is it already used in other designs and is already in production? Can you get the characterization report for review? Can you get test vectors? Did the IP pass qualification (e.g. latch-up, ESD or HTOL)?

Tech Support – Is there a tech support team to help with chip integration? Is there proper documentation?

Price and licensing –In today’s competitive IP supplier landscape, you can most likely find several vendors with the right offering, so if time allows, it’s recommend to compare pricing.

Would you like help with finding the right IP core? Try this form.