Essential Electronic Design Automation (EDA)

Design Re-use and Intellectual Property

Design Re-use

Teams of engineers strive to put greater functionality on a single chip. Large, complex blocks of prior designs can sometimes be re-used (e.g., a microprocessor, memory, or an Internet access block). This design re-use can be extremely valuable to speed up the design effort.

Figure F.2 shows re-use of blocks in a new IC. The design information for a functional block used in an existing chip (A) can be re-used for the same function needed in a new chip (B).

Figure F.2. Design Re-use

Intellectual Property

These complex blocks are complete little designs in their own right. They may be patented ...