Optimism at IP08
1 min read
The specialist IP based electronic system conference and mini exhibition, IP08, took place in Grenoble last month under the shadow of the current economic uncertainty. Despite this, a number of companies were displaying optimism.
Following its friendly acquisition earlier this year, debug tool vendor Novas was sporting its new SpringSoft livery. Paul Gibson, vp Europe, pictured, is expanding the European operation to handle an increased and diversified product range.
“Novas debug products continue to do well in Europe,” Gibson explained, “but under the SpringSoft banner, we are about to introduced the Laker full custom ic design suite.” The tool suite was developed in the US by Silicon Canvas, which has also been acquired by SpringSoft.
“It is exciting,” he added. “Early discussions with European customers indicate that Laker products already have a good reputation here.” The tools are said to introduce a level of automation previously unseen in the custom ic design field. “Open Access is the watershed for ic designers worldwide to start looking beyond traditional tool vendors,” said
Gibson, who expects to be running a team of 10 people in Europe by the end of 2009.
For the highest performance applications, the Plurality HyperCore processor is now available in an IP version. Offering 32Gips and 8Gflops, the 64core processor can be configured as a general purpose accelerator in SoCs. It is claimed to offer superior performance and the lowest price/W/mm2 of any other chip level, shared memory device on the market. It is aimed squarely at high volume, performance driven applications such as graphics, image and video processing and network processing in the gaming, communications and security sectors.
A popular stand at IP08 was ChipStart, a semiconductor IP distribution company, now with European representation based out of the UK. The firm is currently offering IP from Dophin Technology, Analog Bits, Widesail Technologies, Sonics and Team EDA.
While the distribution model has proven difficult in the IP sector because of issues such as the high levels of technical support needed, IP quality and differing business models, ChipStart is focusing on vendors with proven IP that can be offered to a broad marketplace using an industry standard engagement model.