Changes At DAC

The 2014 DAC program is live, and for those who just can’t wait, here is a sneak peak of one of the new initiatives at the show. This year DAC introduces a brand new track focused 100% on IP. The IP Track will be on Monday, June 2, and includes six sessions running in two rooms adjoining the exhibit floor. This track provides creators and users of IP with an open forum to exchange information on state-of-art IP products and the tools and methodology to create, incorporate and validate IP in SoCs.

Kicking off the IP Track on Monday morning will be the DAC Keynote, by Sir Houssein Yassaie, CEO of Imagination Technologies, and his talk entitled “The Great SoC Challenge (IP to the Rescue!)” The sessions are split throughout the day in two rooms and divided by the following categories:

• Morning sessions address (1) IP Quality and the (2) Business of IP;
• Early afternoon sessions address (3) IP Simulation and (4) Hot IPs;
• Late afternoon sessions address (5) Low Power IPs and (6) New methods for IP Generation.

The first room is aimed at addressing the concerns of IP practitioners, and is made up of session 1, 3 and 5. This session offers practical presentations on the never-ending task of assessing IP Quality, the unique challenges of Simulation and Verification when parts of the design are purchased IP, and techniques for incorporating Low Power concerns when utilizing purchased IPs in an SoC.

The second room is aimed to address the concerns of project and design managers, and is made of sessions 2, 4 and 6. This session starts with “The Business of IP “ session which has two panels – one made up of members of the smaller IP companies, discussing nuts and bolts issues like getting funding, how to engage with customers; and the second made up of leaders from the largest IP companies, talking about their portfolio and investment directions.

The second session in this room has presentations from developers covering select Hot IPs that have recently been introduced to the market place. The final session of this track covers new tools and techniques for IP creation, and the implications of this on the market place.

Supporting the IP Track is the exhibition floor which includes over 20 leading IP suppliers and providers. If you are attending DAC please make sure to pick up the IP/SOC Game Card at the DAC registration desk before heading to the exhibits. This game card provides attendees with a list of all the IP vendors and gives the attendee a chance to visit with the vendors and be entered to win a several prizes throughout the day.

The IP Track Technical Committee includes industry leaders from large and small IP providers and IP ecosystem providers. A list of the committee members can be found at the DAC website.

— Michelle Clancy