Synopsys kit to use Intel PCI controller modules

Electronic News, June 13, 1994

SAN DIEGO -- Intel and Synopsys announced an agreement to make Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) controller modules available as part of Synopsys' DesignWare line of reusable components for IC and system design (EN, Antenna, June 6). The Synopsys PCI Design Kit will include three major elements: synthesizable DesignWare PCI controller modules for use in ASIC design, a complete PCI bus interface module for pinout system verification and the PCI test suite for checking compliance with each of 27 test protocols adopted by the PCI Special Interest Group.

Synopsys expects to start shipping the DesignWare PCI controller modules in Q4. Pricing and exact product specifications are still being determined. PCI local bus interface models in either VHDL or Verilog source code are currently available from Synopsys' Logic Modeling Group for $15,000 in the U.S. The PCI test suite is also available, at a U.S. list price of $5,000.

"The PCI local bus is a fundamental building block of today's advanced PCs," said Craig Kinnie, vice president of Intel and director of the Architecture Development Lab. "Together with Intel's advanced Pentium processors, PCI enables new applcations, such as low-cost desktop multimedia, high-performance server I/O subsystems and highly integrated notebooks. Now our challenge is to help designers develop compliant high-performance implementations. Having Synopsys offer the PCI local bus interface as a reusable design will reduce design time and help ensure compliance to the standard."

William Lattin, president of the Logic Modeling Group, which was acquired earlier this year by Synopsys, said: "Currently, our Logic Modeling Group is marketing simulation models of the PCI local bus plus a full range of conformance tests, so designers can help verify that their ASIC designs are compliant with the PCI standard. With the forthcoming synthesizable DesignWare PCI controller modules, the design process will be greatly simplified, the development time reduced and standards compliance made such easier. Currently it can take several months to code, test, debug and verify that the chip is fully compliant with the bus standard. With the pre-designed DesignWare PCI

controller modules, bus functions can be integrated into an ASIC design in a matter of days."