AMD strikes IP deal with Virage

AMD AND IP platform provider, Virage, say they'll work together on developing silicon Intellectual Property (IP), starting with a few specific interface cores now and moving on to other cores later.

Virage and AMD will start by collaborating on a gen-2 PCI-Express interface, an HDMI/DisplayPort interface, and a MIPI core, all of which will come in either 65 nm or 40 nm flavours and were developed for internal use by ATI. Virage will purportedly take the cores - designed for standard bulk CMOS - make them commercialisation-ready as for-sale third-party IP and then market them.

The move could herald in a whole new era for the third-party intellectual property (IP) business, and it doesn't hurt AMD to be able to cash in on a bit of extra revenue to boot. But it seems there may be more to the concept than immediately meets the eye.

With Virage commercialising the cores quickly, AMD could effectively slash its time to market. And there's a sweetener in it for Virage too, of course, as it could take advantage of AMD's system-level verification IP, design best-practices and extensive testing of systems with actual workloads. It would be a tad expensive for Virage to design an SoC on its lonesome and then bung it into a whole smorgasbord of systems to evaluate and test it.

So, what could actually happen is a real 180 switch in roles for third-party IP companies, who, until now, have generally been the IP creators. Third-party IP firms used to be able to set themselves aside by claiming more expertise on the specific function of an IP block than their customers. But that expertise has been slipping away as margins tighten on IP licenses and the ins and outs of Intellectual Property become more complex.

It seems more logical that IP vendors will give up their roles as domain experts for the IP, leaving that to first-tier systems-chip semiconductor firms to develop and verify, whilst companies like Virage focus purely on commercialization.

The R&D costs involved in being a big IP provider could be significantly reduced if a wide range of cores can be efficiently commercialised, always something to aim for in times of economic crisis.

In fact, the situation really could end up a win-win, letting AMD get back more of its development costs on IP whilst Virage cuts back on R&D. Customers would probably benefit too, as the move would hopefully put higher-quality IP within their grasp. µ