IEEE
TAKES STEPS TO UNIFY WORK ON VERILOG® HDL
STANDARD WITH A SINGLE WORKING GROUP
Verilog
Activities to Be Undertaken by Companies
via IEEE Standards Association Corporate Initiative
Contact:
Karen McCabe, IEEE Senior Marketing Manager
+1 732-562-3824, k.mccabe@ieee.org
PISCATAWAY,
N.J., USA, 13 July 2004 The IEEE has formed a working group
within its IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Corporate Initiative
that intends to unify the development of two Verilog® standards efforts:
an update of the IEEE P1364™, "Standard for Verilog Hardware Description
Language," and the creation of IEEE P1800™, "Standard for SystemVerilog
Unified Hardware Design, Specification and Verification Language."
By bringing
the two projects together in a single industry body, the IEEE
will work towards a single Verilog language specification for
use by the electronic design automation (EDA), semiconductor and
system design communities. The new working group is sponsored
by the Design Automation Standards Committee (DASC) within the
IEEE Computer Society and the IEEE-SA Corporate
Advisory Group.
Standards
developed under the corporate initiative occur through entity-based
working groups in which each member has one vote. This industry-oriented
method allows standards to be formed in one to two years, depending
on participant commitment and the use of IEEE support services,
which include administrative and project management, editing,
meeting planning
and marketing.
"The
new working group is a milestone in the evolution of Verilog,
which continues to be the predominant chip design language,"
says Johny Srouji, Chair of the SystemVerilog Working Group. "The
group intends to unify these two projects to keep the Verilog
standard at the cutting edge of the industry.
"The
update of IEEE P1364, the fundamental Verilog standard developed
initially in 1993 and revised in 2001, will correct existing ambiguities
and minor errors in the specification. IEEE P1800 will specify
SystemVerilog, a broad standard that extends IEEE 1364 to aid
the design and verification of large-gate-count, IP-based, bus-intensive
chips. Ultimately, the working group will merge the two specifications
into a single standard."
IEEE approved
the start of IEEE P1800 in June. This project will add new features
to Verilog to raise productivity for hardware design, specification,
simulation and validation. In offering a more powerful design
language, the standard will help industry address the growing
complexity of very large-scale integrated chips. Elements to be
added in IEEE P1800 SystemVerilog include advanced verification
methods using assertion and test-bench language, as well as a
richer coupling with other languages
such as C++.
"The
corporate initiative offers a unique industry environment for
standards development," says Peter Ashenden, DASC chair.
"It also will allow us to fast-track standards development.
At this time, we're looking at what IEEE support services we'll
need to accelerate the process, and our IEEE project management
team is working on a 12-to-18-month timetable for the IEEE P1800
project.
"After
the IEEE P1800 standard is completed, we want it to gain the same
level of international acceptance that existing IEEE 1364 currently
has. We'll do this through IEEE's presence among international
standards developers, especially its joint logo program with the
International Electrotechnical Commission."
According
to Edward Rashba, Manager of New Technical Programs for the IEEE
Standards Association, the addition of the Verilog initiative
to the IEEE-SA Corporate Initiative reflects the strength and
viability of this effort. "It also underscores our ability
to partner with IEEE technical societies on company-only, market-driven
standards," Rashba says. "Needless to say, we're pleased
DASC has embraced the corporate standards model as part of its
commitment to deliver high-quality, EDA-based standards."
Companies
that have joined the new working include EDA vendors and those
from the global Verilog user community. "We invite any organization
that
wants to help shape the next generation of Verilog to join the
group," Srouji
says. "This includes those that create Verilog-based products,
as well
as those that apply the Verilog language."
IEEE has been
a primary source of design automation standards since the mid
1980s. The IEEE 1364 Verilog standard has been a common language
for IC chip development for more than a decade and has sparked
strong growth in this sector. More than 100 companies now offer
Verilog tools. The Verilog simulator market, which involves more
than 200,000 licensed simulators,
totaled nearly $350 million in 2002.
The first
meeting of the SystemVerilog Working Group was on July 1 in Frankfurt,
Germany. For information on future meetings and on the working
group itself please contact the IEEE-SA Corporate Initiative Office
at + 1 732-562-5342
or email corp-stds@ieee.org.
About the
IEEE Standards Association
The IEEE Standards Association, a globally recognized standards-setting
body, develops consensus standards through an open process that
brings diverse parts of an industry together. These standards
set specifications and procedures based on current scientific
consensus. The IEEE-SA has a portfolio of more than 870 completed
standards and more than 400 standards in development. Over 15,000
IEEE members worldwide belong to IEEE-SA and voluntarily participate
in standards activities. For further information on IEEE-SA see:
http://standards.ieee.org.
About the
IEEE
The IEEE has more than 380,000 members in approximately 150 countries.
Through its members, the organization is a leading authority on
areas ranging from aerospace, computers and telecommunications
to biomedicine, electric power and consumer electronics. The IEEE
produces nearly 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical
and electronics engineering, computing and control technology
fields. This nonprofit organization also sponsors or cosponsors
more than 300 technical conferences each year. Additional information
about the IEEE can be found at http://www.ieee.org.
IEEE P1800
and IEEE 1364 are trademarks of the IEEE. All other names or product
names are the trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks
of their respective holders.
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