Here comes the IP rep

EETimes reports that former Synopsys executive John Atwood is starting a company named The LogicWorks to serve as a "specialized sales channel partner" for smaller IP companies that do not have direct sales forces. I see this as another step in the normalization of IP for SOC design. Atwood's business looks a lot like the manufacturers’ reps (and these days, the big distributors) who sell ICs for the smaller IC companies that likewise can’t afford direct, worldwide sales teams.

Frankly, the controversy over IP use has always baffled me. Using IP blocks to simplify and accelerate SOC design seems no different to me than buying LSI chips to use in board-level designs. Someone else went to the trouble to design that IP. If the IP design is a good one (a thoroughly tested design with the proper documentation and a verification test bench), you’ll save time in designing your SOC. Poor quality IP designs are just like bad chips. They waste your time and money.

These days, time is precious. (Honestly, when was it not?) A missed market window incurs a huge expense. So do chip respins. Missed opportunites literally kill companies. Yet there are still pundits out there that decry IP as some sort of unproven concept. Sorry, I don’t get it.