Webinar – How to manage IP-XACT complexity in conjunction with RTL implementation flow

Webinar – How to manage IP-XACT complexity in conjunction with RTL implementation flow
by Daniel Payne on 10-26-2021 at 10:00 am

RTL Integration

Standards help our EDA and IP industry grow more quickly and with less CAD integration efforts, and IP-XACT is another one of those Accellera standards (1685-2009) that is coming of age, and enabling IP reuse for SoC design teams. Here at SemiWik, we’ve been writing about Defacto Technologies and their prominent use of IP-XACT… Read More


What the Heck is Collaborative Specification?

What the Heck is Collaborative Specification?
by Daniel Nenni on 10-04-2021 at 6:00 am

Git Commit

It’s been quite a while since I talked with Agnisys CEO and founder Anupam Bakshi, when he described their successful first user group meeting. I reached out to him recently to ask what’s new at Agnisys, and his answer was “collaborative specification.” I told him that I wasn’t quite sure what that term meant, and he offered to spend… Read More


IP-XACT Resurgence, Design Enterprise Catching Up

IP-XACT Resurgence, Design Enterprise Catching Up
by Bernard Murphy on 06-02-2021 at 6:00 am

IP-XACT Resurgence

This standard has been around in one form or another for over ten years and was then arguably ahead of its time. RTL designers were confused: ‘We already have RTL. Why do we need something else?’ I also didn’t get it. Still, the standard plugged ahead among the faithful and found traction among IP vendors. Particularly as a common format… Read More


Small EDA Company with Something New: SoC Compiler

Small EDA Company with Something New: SoC Compiler
by Daniel Payne on 04-26-2021 at 10:00 am

Defacto SoC Compiler

I read the semiconductor press, LinkedIn and social media (Twitter, Facebook) every morning along with an RSS feed that I setup, staying current on everything related to using EDA tools to make the task of SoC design a bit easier for design teams. A recent press release announced a tool called SoC Compiler, so my curiosity was piqued… Read More


SoC Integration – Predictable, Repeatable, Scalable

SoC Integration – Predictable, Repeatable, Scalable
by Bernard Murphy on 03-24-2021 at 6:00 am

IPDD SIPD stack min

On its face System-on-chip (SoC) integration doesn’t seem so hard. You gather and configure all the intellectual properties (IPs) you’re going to need, then stitch them together. Something you could delegate to new college hires, maybe? But it isn’t that simple. What makes SoC integration challenging is that there are so many… Read More


Arteris IP folds in Magillem. Perfect for SoC Integrators

Arteris IP folds in Magillem. Perfect for SoC Integrators
by Bernard Murphy on 02-18-2021 at 6:00 am

merge min

Arteris IP and Magillem recently tied the knot, creating a merger of Network-on-Chip (NoC) and related Intellectual Property (IP) with a platform known for IP-XACT based SoC integration and related support. This is interesting to me because I’m familiar with products and people in both companies. I talked to Kurt Shuler, vice… Read More


CEO Interview: Dr. Chouki Aktouf of Defacto

CEO Interview: Dr. Chouki Aktouf of Defacto
by Daniel Nenni on 11-13-2020 at 6:00 am

Defacto CEO Interview Chouki Aktouf

“For more than 18 years, we never stopped innovating at Defacto. We are aware of EDA Mantra “Innovate or Die!”. Innovation is in our DNA, and we never stopped adding new automated capabilities to the SoC design community to help facing complexity and cost challenges, which increase every year.”

Before founding Defacto… Read More


A SoC Design Flow With IP-XACT

A SoC Design Flow With IP-XACT
by Ranjit Adhikary on 07-27-2020 at 10:00 am

soc flow with ipxact

Taping out a SoC is never easy. The physical dimensions of the chip often belie the work which has been done to get to the tapeout stage. And it is still not a done deal as the hardware and software development teams await the arrival of the test chip from the foundry to complete the post silicon bring-up and validation. The pressure on… Read More


Build Custom SoC Assembly Platforms

Build Custom SoC Assembly Platforms
by Bernard Murphy on 02-25-2020 at 6:00 am

STAR RTL design builder

I’ve talked with Defacto on and off for several years – Chouki Aktouf (CEO) and Bastien Gratreaux (Marketing). I was in a similar line of business back in Atrenta. Now I’m just enjoying myself, I’ve written a few blogs for them. I’ll confess I wondered why they wouldn’t struggle with the same problems we’d had. Script-driven RTL editing,… Read More