Concept of IP, classification of IP, IP multiplexing technology

background ：IP Cause of occurrence

With the ultra deep submicron manufacturing technology of integrated circuits 、 The rapid development of design technology , Integrated circuits have entered the era of system on chip . The so-called system on chip refers to the realization of signal acquisition on a single silicon chip 、 transformation 、 Storage 、 Deal with and I/0 And so on , Or digital circuits are integrated on a single silicon chip 、 Analog circuit 、 Signal acquisition and conversion circuit 、 Memory 、 Microprocessor MPU、 Micro controller MCU、 Digital signal processor DSP etc. , Realize the function of a system . SOC can realize high-level system integration on a single silicon chip , But at the same time, it also poses a huge challenge to the design of silicon chips . Because the current design tools and methods are not fully qualified for the design of system on chip . While the complexity of chip design increases rapidly , The growth of skilled designers is limited , And the requirement of design cycle is higher and higher .

IP Multiplexing technology , It is to improve the efficiency of system on chip design 、 A key to shortening the design cycle .

IP There are three advantages of multiplexing technology ：

• Repeated use IP It can improve the design ability , Save designers , It is one of the most effective ways to bridge the gap between the design and manufacture of integrated circuits ;
• It can greatly shorten the listing cycle ;
• We can make better use of the existing technology , cost reduction .

Expected in the next few years ,50% The above system on chip design should be reusable to varying degrees IP Based on the kernel of .

Reuse is not a new concept . In the field of software design , Reusable code has been used for a long time , Such as function library, etc , To improve design efficiency . In recent years , In the field of hardware design IP Reuse technology has made a major breakthrough . Automatic synthesis tool and hardware description language HDL （Hardware Description Language） Together, design reuse will be promoted to a higher level of abstraction , Realize the automation of design reuse , At the same time, it improves the efficiency and quality of the design .HDL It can realize the modularization of design 、 A parameterized , Facilitate the selection of sub modules 、 Operations such as adding and arranging . The automatic synthesis tool optimizes the design according to the specific application and directly maps to the corresponding process library . By the above means , Greatly enhanced IP The reusability of . Hardware design reuse is gradually adopting software methods , Such as programming 、 compile 、 Library technology, etc , From hardware design mode to software design mode .

IP The concept of

IP（Intellectual Property） It has intellectual property rights 、 Has been designed and verified 、 Reusable integrated circuit modules .

IP The classification of

According to different design levels , IP It is divided into soft core 、 Hard core and solid core .

• Soft core can be integrated HDL describe . Soft core includes logical description （RTL And gate level Verilog HDL or VHDL Code ）、 Device internal wiring table and testability design . The soft core can be modified by the user , To achieve the required circuit system design . It is mainly used for interfaces 、 code 、 decoding 、 Algorithms, channel encryption and other complex systems that require a wide range of speed performance . The development workload of soft core is relatively low , Therefore, the development cost is generally low , Flexible , For example, features can be added or processes can be selected, and it is easy to transfer from one process to another , And the performance can be improved , But the predictability is poor .
• Hard core is chip layout . The design and process of hard core have been completed and cannot be changed . The hard core that users get is only product function, not product design , therefore , The design and manufacturer of hard core can exercise full control over it , Its intellectual property protection is also relatively simple . The commonly used hard core is memory 、 Analog devices and bus devices . The development cost of hard core is the highest , Small flexibility , But the performance must be predictable , Easy to use .
• Solid core is gate level HDL describe . Solid core is between soft core and hard core IP. It is neither independent , It's not fixed , Some modifications can be made according to user requirements . Fixed core allows users to redefine key performance parameters , Some internal connection tables can be re optimized , Its use process is the same as that of soft core . If the internal connection table cannot be optimized , The use process is the same as that of hard core . Solid core is between hard core and soft core .

More typical IP Yes : MPEG nucleus ( Image market )、 Memory core 、SPARC(RISC Microprocessor ) Nuclear, etc .

IP Multiplexing technology

IP Multiplexing technology , That is, reuse the integrated circuit that has been designed and verified IC modular , It is to improve the efficiency of system on chip design 、 A key to shortening the design cycle .

Remark knowledge

HDL （Hardware Description Language）

Verilog HDL

VHSIC （very-high-speed integrated circuits）

VHDL （VHSIC Hardware Description Language） The difference in Verilog It's another language , It seems that no one uses it anymore

reference

What is? ip Multiplexing technology - CSDN