Can You Trust Can You Trust Your IP Vendor?Your IP Vendor?

How Not to How Not to Lose Sleep Lose Sleep

Over itOver it

Can You Trust Can You Trust Your IP Vendor?Your IP Vendor?

How Not to How Not to Lose Sleep Lose Sleep

Over itOver it

Hal BarbourPresident, CAST, Inc.

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IP Horror StoriesIP Horror Stories

We all hear about the “bad IP” news Unfulfilled promises Missed deadlines Poor quality code & materials Lousy support

IP companies have come and gone Amphion inSilicon Dozens of smaller companies

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Trust is a Key FactorTrust is a Key Factor

Even the best IP will present some technical challenges

What matters most is if you can trust the provider to help you make it work External, commercial IP vendor In-house, IP & reuse group

But how do you judge trustworthiness in advance? A matter of continual style, not a simple check-list Every organization has it’s own style, just like an

individual’s personality

There are some critical things to look for …

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First Impressions MatterFirst Impressions Matter

Do they freely provide important information? Can you: Download datasheets without registering? See sample ASIC & FPGA implementation

results (Fmax, resource numbers) without asking?

Does their paranoia get in the way? Do they require an NDA for basic technical info? Do they demand an NDA for price info?

Do they waste your time? Are you buried in marketing fluff? Will they quickly get you tech docs,

design specs, etc.?

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Can They Run with You?Can They Run with You?

Is the organization geared towards rapid, effective response?

What is their process for responding to technical questions?

Do their engineers seem as good as yours?

How do they deal with time zone differences?

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Can They Deliver What They Promise?Can They Deliver What They Promise? Do they they know how to productize IP

for easy reuse?

Do they have a track record of financial success? Are they profitable? Any short-term

investor pressure?

Is IP critical to their success (or design services)?

Will they give you customer references? Don’t go by published “testimonials” Ask for — and talk with — engineers who have already

used the IP you want

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Do They Understand System Integration?Do They Understand System Integration?

Do they help make sure the IP is best for your specific project?

Most problems with a core are really problems understanding the application and designing the system correctly

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System Integration ExampleSystem Integration Example Challenge:

Need means for customers to try complex compression technology

Enable evaluation with own media, algorithm & core study, system dev head start

Solution: H.264/JPEG 2000

Reference Design Platform Multiple CAST cores FPGA Prototyping Board SW GUI for Parameters &

Control

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Licensing & Sales IssuesLicensing & Sales Issues

Does the licensing meet your needs? Straight forward and adequately flexible Doesn’t bury you in legal minutia

Is the pricing competitive? A good value for you A reasonable business

model for them (you want the vendor to stay alive)

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Post-Sales TrustPost-Sales Trust

Do you seem to matter as much after the sale as before?

Do they have a highly-commissioned salespeople who are now on to their next deal?

Is their Support Organization effective?

Would you buy from them again?

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CAST Knows About Building TrustCAST Knows About Building Trust

Successful IP provider, developer, and partner Sixteen years experience with IP Continually profitable, no debt Privately held, financially stable

Unique market approach We only do digital IP,

designed for reusability Independent of semiconductor

technologies and EDA tools

Effective Virtual Organization Global team of ~100 people:

stable, long-term partnerships 24/7 culture with very fast response Always online with Email, IM & Skype Original developers available to

help with support

Experience with diverse customers and applications 1,000 sales to over 600 customers Pre-sales help in selecting the right IP Post-sales support during system integration

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CAST Knows About Building TrustCAST Knows About Building Trust

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Broad IP Product LineBroad IP Product Line

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CAST IP HighlightsCAST IP Highlights 8051s — the fastest and smallest available versions,

from the largest independent supplier

H.264 — the highest-quality 1080p Baseline video encoder

Image Compression — the most choices, JPEG to JPEG 2000

PCI Express — easy system integration with application interface

USB — a complete family of solutions

Memory Controllers — advanced IP for DDR, NAND Flash, SD, SDR mobile

System IP Solutions — pre-integrated cores and software for a system design head start

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ConclusionsConclusions

In judging IP provider trust:

The quality of their people and character of the company can be ultimately more important than the product

Choose wisely, and get some sleep!