May 1, 2005 -- Six companies started the SPIRIT Consortium in 2003. These companies had a common goal: to automate the handling of intellectual property (IP) in system-on-a-chip (SoC) design and verification flows. Their shared feeling was that this critical issue must be solved in order to enable nanometer designs. At the same time, they observed that the then-current efforts to solve this problem were not proceeding in a timely and effective manner. The group felt that an informal consortium of like-minded companies could be effective if they did the following: maintained a tight focus on their goals; committed to aggressive, well-defined schedules; and supported the effort with dedicated experts who could work together as a team.

The consortium’s initial goal is to provide a standard mechanism for importing IP into any EDA tool environment. It also strives to describe IP in such a manner that IP integration can be automated. The group’s further goals are to layer methodologies for verification and electronic system level (ESL) onto this standard mechanism.

By Victor Berman.