IPHighway: Infrastructure for IP macro distribution

Recent sub-micron technology has made it possible to realize system LSIs wh ich integrate various system functions. However, system-level integration b rings enormous difficulties to LSI designers. It has been pointed out that the reuse of IP macros is a very effective way to overcome these difficulti es. This paper describes the issues that are necessitating the reuse of IP macros and our IPHighway system, which we have constructed internally for p romoting the reuse of IP macros. Also, recent activities in the industry fo r distributing IP macros between companies are described.