Industry Insights Blogs

Easier IP integration into systems-on-chip has been a long-sought goal, and is a key part of the EDA360 vision. In a Design Automation Conference interview, I learned how Sonics and Cadence are working together to provide an integration-optimized solution for AMBA interconnect IP.

Sonics, a provider of interconnect IP, offers SNAP, or Sonics Network for AMBA Protocol. This is a highly automated, low-cost tool that makes it easy to configure AMBA bus solutions. The SNAP architecture includes AHB master layers, AHB/APB slave branches, and an interconnect matrix. Cadence is reselling the SNAP IP as part of the company's new Open Integration Platform.

One interesting aspect of SNAP is its use of a cloud computing model. You can create a SNAP fabric from a client, and run an evaluation on a remote server. In the video clip below, Jack Browne, vice president of sales and marketing at Sonics, provides more information about Sonics, SNAP, the cloud computing capability, and how this all fits with EDA360.

If video fails to open, click here.

This video was taken right after Browne's presentation at the Cadence booth at DAC. In that presentation, Browne provided a short demonstration of SNAP on a small SoC. "We think the EDA360 program matches Sonics' vision for SoC design pretty closely," he said. With the SNAP focus on integration-optimized and verified IP, which is also a key tenet of EDA360, that appears to be the case.

Separately, Sonics and Cadence recently collaborated to optimize low-power IP integration for the wireless market. You can learn more about that effort, and watch a short video, here.

Richard Goering