Hard IP Extension of the VSIA QIP Metric Enters Beta Testing

WAKEFIELD, MA -- February 12, 2007 -- The VSI Alliance (VSIA), the leading IP standards body for the electronics industry, today announced the hard IP extension to the Alliance's QIP (Quality IP) Metric is available for beta testing. This beta version of the hard IP extension to QIP has enhanced support for hard IP quality metrics, including support for different types of hard IP, hierarchical evaluation and graphical results representations, and many automated features that are new to this version. Interested parties are invited to register to participate in the beta program by visiting http://vsi.org/HIPBeta/index.htm

The QIP Metric version 2.0 was released to the public in January 2006 as a standardized platform for evaluating IP Quality and has since seen over 1000 downloads. Initially released with vendor assessment metrics and soft IP extensions, the QIP Metric also included alpha versions of the hard IP, verification IP, library IP and software IP extensions. The group will continue development of the Alpha extensions as soon as the hard IP and verification IP worksheets are completed.

"We created the VSIA QIP Metric as a complete IP Quality solution for the entire design chain -- from vendors to integrators to foundries," said Kathy Werner, president, VSIA. "Providing a standardized solution enable users to make an 'apples-to-apples' IP evaluation, which is the only way to fairly compare IP from different vendors."

QIP Roadmap

Following the integration of beta tester feedback, the VSIA QIP Metric 3.0 will be made publicly available from the VSIA website. Currently, the VSIA workgroup for the verification IP extension is targeting a mid-2007 release for its beta testing. VSIA is seeking participation for the software IP workgroup from the industry. If you are interested in joining, contact Jodi Bova at membershipservices@vsi.org.

QIP Metric Logos

Companies can promote their QIP Metric status through the use of the VSIA QIP Metric logos. These logos are graphic symbols identifying IP Vendors that have gone through vendor qualification (QIP Metric Rated logo) or IP Integrators that require QIP Metric scores from their vendors (QIP Metric Adopter logo). QIP Metric logos are available for free download from the VSIA website at www. http://vsi.org/pillars/quidelines.htm

About VSIA

The VSI Alliance (VSIA) is an open, international organization that includes representatives from all segments of the SoC industry: system houses, semiconductor vendors, Electronic Design Automation (EDA) companies, and Intellectual Property (IP) providers. VSIA's mission is to dramatically enhance the productivity of the SoC design community by providing leading-edge commercial and technical solutions and insight into the development, integration and reuse of IP. VSIA has wide industry participation with more than 70 member companies from around the world. Membership is open to any company with an interest in the development and promotion of business solutions and open standards used in the design of Systems-on-Chip. For more information, visit the VSIA web site at www.vsi.org, or e-mail to info@vsi.org.