What Keeps You Awake at Night?

While many things keep me awake at night, concerns about IP tracking and security must keep many chip project managers from getting a restful sleep. That’s what convinced Warren Savage, chair of the ESD Alliance’s Semiconductor IP Working Group and general manager of Silvaco’s IP Division, to organize a panel “Semiconductor IP Issues that Keep You Up at Night.” It will be held Wednesday, September 14, from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at Silvaco’s offices in Santa Clara, Calif. Light snacks and beverages will be served during the networking hour from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m.

Warren will start the evening with an overview of the IP landscape. A panel will follow with experts Eric Stein from PwC and Rob Ballow of KPMG, who will share their advice on best practices, offer ways to implement them and answer audience questions. Eric and Rob are leading authorities on IP compliance from two of the largest worldwide auditing firms.

According to Warren, the massive amount of IP reuse involved in building an SoC has created a “big data” problem that is poorly managed by industry standards or methodologies. Instead, IP companies face a situation where their IP may be used without the proper license, leading to millions of dollars of lost revenue. Semiconductor companies face different issues but equally troubling as their engineers may inadvertently expose them to potentially huge liabilities as a result of “accidentally” reusing a core without the proper license.  Warren, Eric and Rob will outline commonly used practices used today and discuss new technologies that may help both buyers and sellers rest easier.

This event is open to all ESD Alliance member companies free of charge. Non-ESD Alliance members are welcome to attend at a cost of $40, payable online or at the door. For more information, click here. To register, click register.

As an expert in IP design and reuse, Warren worked with the Alliance to form the Semiconductor IP Working Group, our newest initiative. The group is working on a common methodologies and best practices for fingerprinting, and an end-to-end solution for tracking and auditing soft and hard IP that benefits both IP developers and vendors as well as IP users.

As I mentioned in several earlier blog posts, please contact me if your company is considering joining the ESD Alliance. Member companies will be eligible to receive information from or participate in the SIP Working Group’s efforts. Additionally, employees of member companies can participate in the SIP Working Group or some of the other initiatives offered by the Alliance. I’m always available to answer any questions about the Alliance and why your company should join. Please contact me at bob@esd-alliance.org.

Join us September 14 and have a better night’s sleep! We look forward to seeing you. For more information about the ESD Alliance, visit: www.esd-alliance.org.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 5th, 2016 at 7:33 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.