What is the IP core?

In the methodology of integrated circuit reusable design, IP core (full name of intellectual property core) refers to a reusable module provided by one party in the form of logic unit and chip design. IP core has usually passed the design verification, and designers can design based on IP core, which can shorten the design cycle.

The IP core can be provided by one party to the other by agreement, or it can be owned by one party alone. The concept of IP core comes from the patent certificate of product design and the copyright of source code. Designers can design the logic of ASIC or field programmable gate array based on IP core to shorten the design cycle.

IP core is divided into soft core, hard core and solid core. Soft core is usually a design code that has nothing to do with the process and is described by register transfer level hardware description language, which can be used for subsequent design; Hard core is a series of process files after logical synthesis, layout and routing, with specific process forms and physical realization methods; Solid core is usually between the above two. It has passed the process of functional verification and time sequence analysis, and designers can obtain it in the form of logic gate-level netlist.