MODEL FOUNDRY SERVICES (MFS) Newsletter
August 2007 Edition
Volume 1

"Common Misconceptions about VHDL/Verilog Models"

~ Welcome to our third quarterly newsletter for 2007~

This issue is about some common misconceptions people have regarding FMF style VHDL and Verilog component models. These misunderstanding may prevent you from taking advantage of the sales and support benefits of behavioral models.

The three misconceptions we hear most often regard performance, security, and demand.

1. Performance:

   Aren't VHDL and Verilog component models too slow to be usefull to my customers?

   Component vendors have often tried to provide customers with encrypted versions of their own internal design code. This code is written at the register transfer level (RTL) and is indeed too slow for many board level verification tasks. It is encrypted because it contains too many details about how the component is implimented. Details the user does not need to effectively design in the part.

   FMF component models are written at the behavioral level of abstraction. Although they contain checkers to verify that the component is being correctly designed into the system, they do not include unneccessary details. For this reason they run much faster than RTL models. In fact, for some classes of components, such as flash memories, the models run significantly faster than the physical component. They also require fewer computer resources, allowing them to run on even Windows platforms.

2. Security:

   Won't letting users have models give away my company's design secrets?

   The same high level of abstraction that allows FMF models to run fast, prevents them from being synthesized. Our models, like your data sheets, describe what a component does and how it should used, not how it was designed and built. In most cases, we can model your components using only your data sheets.

   No proprietary information is required.

3. Demand:

   I don't hear my customers asking for models. Why should I provide them?

   For better or worse, electrical engineers are not an overly communicative bunch. They are much happier working out the details of a circuit than they are talking to a sales person. Because they find the technical side of a problem more appealing than the business side, they will try to find a solution on their own rather than ask for help. If you have ever told an engineer that you can/will not provide a model, do not expect him to ask you a second time. That does not mean he does want and need a model, it just means not having one has become one of his design constraints.

   In June, 2007, over 23,000 component models were downloaded from the FMF website by more than 8,000 engineers. Even more were downloaded from those IC vendors that provide them directly to their customers. The days of bread boards are over for most companies. If you build a PC board stuffed with ball grid arrays and it doesn't work, you will be lucky to find the problem in the lab. Simulation is essential to companies that need to get to market fast.

Do not ignore the need for models in your selling process. Your customers need them and with a small investment you can provide a level of design support they will appreciate. With out background in systems engineering, the team at Model Foundry Services can assist you in providing open source, standards based, FMF functional simulation models that would be your definite competitive edge. MFS has developed models for more than 11,000 parts and you can leverage our cutting edge methodology in creating models for your components.

For detailed information on our services, please visit us at www.ModelFoundryServices.com or call us at +1.408.774.1884.

MFS is led by an industry expert, Rick Munden, author of the best selling book on the subject, "ASIC & FPGA Verification - A Guide to Component Modeling" available to advise, manage and create solutions for your chip modeling needs.

Model Foundry Services (MFS) User Experience Column

This column shares user experiences from our open source model distribution site, www.FreeModelFoundry.com.

This month's experience is shared by Charles Anyimi, Technical Marketing Manager at Intel's Flash Memory Group. Charles writes:

"Our interest in working with MFS to develop VHDL/Verilog models for Intel's flash memory products was a direct result of multiple customer requests for FMF models."

Thank You.

To learn more about Model Foundry Services please contact us at sales@Model Foundry Services.com to discuss your requirements or visit us at Model Foundry Services.

Model Foundry Services
www.ModelFoundryServices.com
Tel: 1-408-774-1884