CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
13 July 2004
Industry Wide News
IEEE Takes Steps To Unify Work On Verilog HDL Standard With A Single Working Group
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 P1364T, "Standard for Verilog Hardware Description Language," and the creation of IEEE P1800T, "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 Design Automation Standards Committee (DASC) within the IEEE Computer Society and the IEEE-SA CORPORATE ADVISORY GROUP sponsors the new working 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."
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
The IEEE Standards Association 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 information on IEEE-SA see: http://www.standards.ieee.org/
For information about its Corporate Standards Initiative, call +1 732-562-5342 or email corp-stds@ieee.org
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