IP reusability has been a drumbeat in the semiconductor industry for a dozen years or more. The thesis is simple: why build again what you already have? And with most durable, simple statements, the foundation is one of profundity.
The basic need has yielded breakthrough innovation from IP companies large and small. EDA methodologies to “assemble” blocks from preexisting inventions, and business models like the Value Chain Producer (VCP) that provide the margin of victory services to tie it all together. After all, very few, if any, companies can track the specification and actual performance of IP blocks from dozens of suppliers. VCPs do. That is one of our many functions.
As the industry samples 40nm parts and dabbles with 28nm test cases, the imperative for reusability is greater than ever. To date, the form factor has been in cores and blocks. But that must change and it will because even the most “reused IP’ on a 40nm device carries a too expensive NRE tab; reused or not.
The unit of measure for reusable IP is rapidly becoming the die. And the delivery mechanism is the Multi-chip module (MCM) or the so-called System-in-package (SiP). Call it whatever you like. There is great promise in taking two die, perhaps both from your company or one from you and another from your partner, and creating a “device” that 1) goes to market faster, 2) has comparatively no NRE tab as compared to a 40nm development and 3) definitely runs the existing software.
Further, when it’s time to integrate an analog front end (AFE) or a GaAs RF radio, probably acquired from a partner, there is no better solution.
But, there is also no free lunch. MCMs or SiPs carry their own class of risk. They demand a level of packaging expertise that exceeds that held by most fabless companies; it’s die packaging, test, PCB and raw physics rolled into one unforgiving challenge. And once that code is cracked you get to wade through the commercial issues; who owns the failure if the die comes from a partner?
eSilicon has developed many MCMs and SiPs for our customers including some of the world’s most demanding. We consider it to be table stakes as a VCP charting new solutions ahead of the market demands. We can’t make a mask set cheaper. We can’t precipitously lower the cost of 3rd party IP. But we can show you the way to get to market faster, lower your NRE and reuse the IP that either made you great or never saw the light of day…that’s what we do.
