Virtual Component Websites and Software

Virtual Component Exchange (VCX) is a web-based, regulated trading exchange for semiconductor virtual components or intellectual property (IP). The exchange was established as an outgrowth of the Alba Centre which was launched in 1997 by an economic development agency of the Scottish government. The main elements of the Alba Centre initiative were the Virtual Component Exchange, the Institute for System Level Integration and the development of the Alba Campus, the physical embodiment of the Alba vision. The Virtual Component Exchange has been acquired by Beach Solutions which continues to operate the website and to sell database solutions to both IP buyers and sellers. For additional information, VCX

A similar effort that was launched in France is the Design & Reuse (D&R) web portal which provides a secure catalog of 15,000 IP products from 150 suppliers with 37,000 registered users making 100,000 page views per month. D&R also sells a comprehensive intranet reuse infrastructure that provides an IP supply chain delivering external IPs as well as internal IPs from the designer site to the user site under the control of an IP management system hosting the corporate IP directory. For additional information, D&R

SIPAC, System Integration & Intellectual Property Authoring Center, is a non-profit organization located in South Korea that has an IP trading system providing a variety of IP related services. SIPAC has developed IP related guidelines for HDL coding and AMS design. It has also produced a web-based IP verification and evaluation system. For additional information SIPAC

Taiwan SoC Consortium (formerly named the Silicon IP Consortium) is a non-profit organization. Member companies include fabless design houses, integrated devices manufacturers, system vendors, foundries, EDA companies, design service companies and semiconductor research organizations. Its primary mission is to facilitate IP information sharing and IP exchange, especially for the companies in Taiwan. For additional information, TaiwanSoC