HKUST Cross-Licensing Agreement Advances Hong Kong as Semiconductor IP Application Hub

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has entered a cross-licensing agreement with VSI Alliance (VSIA), the leading standards body for the electronics industry, which will see HKUST research and development incorporated into an international standard for evaluating semiconductor intellectual property (SIP). The agreement, the first of its kind by an organization in Hong Kong, represents a major step forward for Hong Kong in securing a place as a key player in international SIP qualification and strengthening its position as the center for SIP application in the Greater China region.

Under the agreement, HKUST has cross-licensed its SIP Deliverables Checklist Framework to VSIA and together VSIA and HKUST will further develop the methodology and tools within the VSIA Quality IP (QIP) Metric, an international standard adopted by leaders of the semiconductor industry worldwide.

HKUST developed the Deliverables Checklist Framework as part of the first phase of the Greater China SIP Trading Center project, funded by the HKSAR Innovation and Technology Fund and sponsored by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. The project seeks to provide a global collaboration network to facilitate SIP application in Greater China. The first phase is focused on SIP quality measurement and the legal framework associated with SIP licensing. HKUST’s Deliverables Checklist Framework is an SIP tool that will allow third party providers to evaluate customer’s IP by categorizing deliverables using quality evaluation line items. It can be used to automate the generation of objective evaluation data for the determination of customer’s SIP quality, ultimately easing the process of IP integration.

“We were impressed with VSIA’s leadership in quantifying a metric for evaluating IP and felt that we could add value to the QIP Metric and to the industry through the contribution of our deliverables checklist framework,” said Prof. Philip Chan, HKUST Dean of Engineering and principal investigator of the HKUST project. “Additionally, we look forward to supporting VSIA QIP Metric development efforts in China and we hope we can work together on further development of QIP Metric and other VSIA initiatives.”

VSIA President Kathy Werner said, “HKUST has put in a great deal of time and effort into the successful creation of the Deliverables Checklist Framework and we are pleased that they recognized the value of combining the efforts of both groups. We look forward to the successful integration of the checklist and to the benefit it will bring to the industry.”

The semiconductor business represents a huge market opportunity. It is currently worth US$30 billion in China alone and forecast to rise to US$100 billion in 2010. Among Hong Kong’s competitive advantages as the SIP application center for Greater China are a solid legal framework based on common law and with established intellectual property protection; international business and financial know-how at world-class levels to support trading; the city’s position as a major purchasing center for semiconductors and ICs; the Pearl River Delta’s consumption of 75% of ICs in China and Hong Kong’s role as the “Dragon Head” of the Pearl River Delta; and internationally enforceable low-cost legal arbitration through the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre.

About VSIA QIP Metric
The VSIA QIP Metric is a tool that can aggressively reduce the time typically required to make an SIP purchase decision and to integrate the core. The Metric helps the SIP vendor and SIP consumer communicate based on an objective foundation. Besides setting up the basis for measuring a core’s characteristics against an industry-approved list of attributes, the metric provides a view of the SIP vendor’s general approach to SIP development. This enables a continuous improvement mechanism, and in turn, levels the playing field for vendors and allows an integrator to evaluate similar cores from competing vendors. VSIA is currently working on the development of the verification SIP quality extension to the QIP Metric. VSIA QIP Metric was released to the public in January 2006 and has seen over 1,000 downloads.

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 SIP 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 System-on-Chip. For more information, visit the VSIA web site at www.vsi.org, or e-mail to info@vsi.org.