Should an IP vendor become a PHY IP Dealer?

By SemiWiki

July 8, 2013

This is not a theoretical question. Imagine that you are developing and selling digital IP, like Interface Controller, PCI Express or USB 2.0 or 3.0, or MIPI Camera Serial Interface (CSI) or Display Serial Interface (DSI). If you look at companies like Synopsys, they have built their success on the “Integrated Interface IP” concept. In other words, they sell both the Controller and the PHY IP to support a specific protocol (USB, PCIe, MIPI etc…). You may think that you could much better developed your business by mimic competition, and be able to sell both the Controller and the PHY IP. The first problem you are facing is finding right resources: if you can easily increase your digital development design team, it’s much more difficult to find, then attract and hire experienced Analog designers (I mean those able to design a 6 GHz PLL or a 10 Gbps SerDes). Thus, it looks easier and faster to simply resale PHY IP developed by another party…and gets a higher share of this fast growing market, Interface IP:

After some research, you have exercised your network, and find, for example an IDM ready to run a partnership with you: he brings the Silicon validated PHY IP, you bring your support team and sale network and market these IP. No doubt that you will find such an IDM, as some of them have to increase their revenue to compensate some sale weaknesses. Let’s try to draw the complete marketing figure, and see the pros, and also the drawbacks linked with such a case.

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