Aptix system lets users test-drive IP over the Net

Aptix system lets users test-drive IP over the Net
By Michael Santarini, EE Times
October 9, 2000 (2:34 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20001009S0051

SAN MATEO, Calif. — Emulation vendor Aptix Corp. this week will unveil its IP Test Drive product and certification services in a move that promises to one day let system-on-chip (SoC) designers functionally prototype and verify complete SoC platforms via the Web.

Like Simutech's eValab system for rapid intellectual-property (IP) evaluation, Aptix's IP Test Drive is an interactive IP repository open for browsing over the Web. There, SoC builders can look through a catalog of third-party cores that Aptix has mapped to its emulator and verified using the vendors' own testbenches. Each page of the catalog contains a given core's specification, an executable waveform example, the vendor's testbench and contact information for access to source code and licensing.

As the product name suggests, users can take cores for a test run — examine documentation, enter vectors, run the testbench a nd view waveforms. Once they find the core or cores they think are best suited for their SoC architectures, they can negotiate licenses with Aptix and participating IP vendors.

Aptix will then send out the bonded cores or even, in the future, platforms in the form of an entire preconfigured emulation box or, for current Aptix emulation customers, a flash card or bit stream. These can be plugged or downloaded into the customer's Aptix emulator for design validation and debug.

"We are helping designers examine and evaluate different blocks from different sources so they can see what's out there and put together their architectures quickly," said Leif Rosqvist, chief operating officer at Aptix. "It allows users to quickly close in on the functionality requirements they have for their design specifications."

Rosqvist said the company will launch the software and services initially on its emulation-services site, www.eSoCverify. com, with a repository of certified cores from selective IP vendors. Aptix will also make commercial licenses available for its IP Test Drive software and services to ASIC houses, system vendors and IP vendors, he said.

The repository currently contains eight cores from Aptix and a total of eight more from Xilinx, MIPS Technologies and ARC. Several others are under implementation, Rosqvist said.

IP vendors that participate in the program send in their cores, test benches, core software packages and specifications. Aptix maps the cores into its FPGA-based emulation system, creates an executable waveform and adds a page for the core to its site. Aptix charges $10,000 for small cores and $15,000 for large ones.

"We are mapping in designs, blocks and IP into our system against the vendor's testbench," said Rosqvist. "By mapping a core into our system, users know exactly how a hard or soft core will function in hardware."

Rosqvist said that on each core page, Aptix will provide core timing spe cifications — the standard cell timing provided by the vendor and the timing for the core running on Aptix FPGA-based emulators. "This way users can estimate if the core will meet their timing specifications too," said Rosqvist. Aptix uses Xilinx's RPM technology to estimate timing.

"We are not claiming that a core will work in any given environment because [the cores] vary so much from application to application," said Rich Newell, director of consulting services at Aptix. "The purpose of IP Test Drive is to help the ASIC architect to select the right cores for his or her intended environment."

Rosqvist said the IP TestDrive system hardware is running and maintained in a data center located on Aptix's campus in San Jose, Calif. He said the system is built with virtual private network (VPN) security and Synchronicity infrastructure tools.

"The data center is in a guarded area on our campus," said Rosqvist. "We have built our network to allow audits by customers."

Rosqvist said the compa ny will only certify and develop IP that is key to its customers' industry segments and does not plan to become a mass certifier competing with IP clearinghouses such as VCX, IPTC or Design & Reuse.

The commercial version of IP Test Drive will be available later this year.