I can hardly believe it. I’ve been in the EDA business since 1980 when I joined TI’s Design Automation Department after graduating from Cal Poly with my BSEE. Since 1995, much of my attention has been focused on EDA standards. I reached a moment of truth this year when I admitted, albeit reluctantly, that I could be called a standards-lifer. So, I decided it’s time to share my perspectives on what’s going on in the standards arena. Welcome to my blog - I can’t wait to hear from you! What's happening at Accellera?
Posted by Karen B on September 18th, 2008
As one of the more active standards-setting organizations in the EDA industry, Accellera is always up to something. Within its governance and technical committees, Accellera continues to make important strides in producing market-relevant standards. I am honored to have been recently reelected as an Accellera officer by its Board of Directors. Watch for an upcoming press release from Accellera announcing the full slate of officers for their new fiscal year.
The Accellera technical subcommittees are hard at work standards for verification, coverage, Verilog-AMS, open verification libraries, and verification interfaces. (Yes, verification has a lot of visibility in Accellera these days.) If you wonder why the technical groups are officially called “subcommittees” instead of simply “committees”, it’s because Accellera has a layer between its Board of Directors and its working groups. This layer is called the Technical Committee and is currently chaired by Karen Pieper of Tabula. The Technical Committee oversees process and direction of all the working groups. It’s also the liaison between the working groups and the Board.
If I were to characterize the Accellera standards-setting organization overall, I would say it is:
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Well-established with roots going back almost two decades
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Process-oriented with continuous process improvement
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Covered by a simple, yet proven effective, IP policy
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Nimble in its operations
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Cost-effective for its members
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A dependable partner with the IEEE Standards Association
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A proving ground for market-relevant, viable standards
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Balanced by leadership and participation of both users and vendors
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Vibrant and independent
In short, Accellera is a well-oiled and effective standards machine. I look forward to another productive year serving as an Accellera officer. If you have questions about or ideas for Accellera, I’m here to help.
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