IPextreme First to Apply Extreme Programming to IP Development for Quality, Reliability

-- IPextreme, a new semiconductor intellectual property (IP) company, today announces it will deliver new proprietary IP titles designed based on a radically new methodology for developing and packaging IP products.   IPextreme’s IP development process is based on Extreme Programming, a deliberate and disciplined approach to design with a relentless focus on creating the best quality source code, emphasizing simplicity and customer involvement in the design process and employing techniques such as pair programming and continuous integration to eliminate bugs as early as possible in development. IPextreme packages its IP in an intuitive, easy-to-use format, using the paradigm of an interactive datasheet to contain all of the information and scripts necessary for customers to integrate the IP. In addition, IPextreme announces that Infineon Technologies will join the IPextreme’s Nexus partner program, and offer their C166 16-bit microcontroller and TriCore™ 32-bit MCU-DSP cores for licensing through IPextreme. Infineon expects the cores to be available from IPextreme by Q3 2004.  

“We are partnering with IPextreme to provide a new third-party source for our IP that offer systems designers the fliexibility to work with tools from any EDA vendor,” said Bernhard Huber, director of product marketing for Infineon.  “We look forward to the IPextreme sales channel creating a new source for companies to gain access to Infineon core architectures for use in new system chip designs.”
 
Extreme Programming Applied to IP
“The ‘dirty little secret’ of the IP industry is quality, with customers bearing the brunt of the pain one bug at a time,” said Warren Savage, president and CEO of IPextreme.  “It’s like finding a needle in a haystack. Our philosophy is the best way to avoid needles in the hay is to not hold the quilting bee in the barn. In other words, there needs to be a focus on changing the design team behavior to eliminate bugs before they are even coded.”

IPextreme is developing new proprietary IP titles for embedded systems applications using Extreme Programming practices to virtually eliminate bugs before the product reaches customers. Developers work together along with a lead customer who provides ongoing feedback and is an integral member of the team.  The team starts with the simplest design that could possibly work and builds the final product from that stable base through small, frequent releases, code refactoring (restructuring and rewriting), and continuous integrations that often occur several times a day.  All new code is written in pairs—two engineers, one keyboard.  

“We recognize the value of designing things right the first time,” said Matthias Pankert, Technology Licensing Officer for Philips.  “We have begun using Extreme Programming internally for software projects, and believe that this innovative approach for IP design will reduce defects and decrease the risk for customers buying IP.”

Innovative Packaging

Customers buy IP to save time and money.  Their objective is to integrate the IP as quickly and painlessly into their design as possible. Often IP packaging is a confusing mixture of code, scripts, and tools and may be biased towards supporting a specific vendor’s Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools.  Customers are faced with untangling and adapting the packaging in order to fit into their design flow, an additional effort that undermines the value proposition of buying IP.

IPextreme has developed a new lightweight technology for packaging IP that is based on the familiar metaphor of a datasheet, something any engineer can relate to.  The datasheet contains all the descriptions and diagrams one would expect from a datasheet, but in reality, it is the cockpit by which users interact with the IP.  Customers change configuration parameters or modify timing information by updating fields on the interactive datasheet.  When printed, it appears as a normal datasheet, and is used as a record of the modifications.  IPextreme’s packaging technology is EDA vendor neutral and supports the new industry standards from the SPIRIT Consortium.

Infineon Will Join Nexus Partner Program

IPextreme established its Nexus partner program to provide a sales and support channel for semiconductor companies that wish to establish to broaden the distribution channel for high-value IP. The partner program builds on IPextreme’s unique design and packaging methodologies to bring the same level of quality and a positive customer experience to partner IP products.

Management Team

IPextreme was founded in January 2003 with a team of veterans from the IP, Semiconductor, and EDA industry.  Warren Savage, a 25-year industry veteran, is the President, CEO, and Founder.  Michael Chapman is the Chief Technology Officer, and Michael Cizl is the Director of the Munich Design Center. Paul Giordano is Vice-President of Sales.

About IPextreme

IPextreme is a thought leader in semiconductor IP.  IPextreme creates, licenses, and brokers semiconductor IP and provides IP design and methodology services.  In order to provide trusted, high-quality IP, IPextreme is committed to the continuous improvement of the design process itself, adhering to the principles of Extreme Programming, a software development methodology that embraces customer collaboration and takes sensible development practices to an extreme.  IPextreme is a privately held company with locations in Campbell, California and Munich, Germany.  For more information, please visit www.ip-extreme.com.