OpenAccess is a proprietary API controlled by the OpenAccess Coalition that aims to facilitate

Interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader defi ...

electronic design automation Electronic design automation (EDA), also referred to as electronic computer-aided design (ECAD), is a category of software tools for designing Electronics, electronic systems such as integrated circuits and printed circuit boards. The tools wo ...

software among the members of that coalition.

OpenAccess Coalition

OpenAccess Coalition is a coalition amongst

integrated circuit An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

manufacturers to provide a standard for designing integrated circuit chips. The OpenAccess Coalition is an organization of semiconductor industry companies claiming to be competition-neutral that are leading this effort operating under

Silicon Integration Initiative Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2) is a non-profit consortium of semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. I ...

bylaws.Assessment of the OpenAccess Standard: insights on the new EDA industry standard from Hewlett-Packard, a Beta partner and contributing developer
''Fourth International Symposium on Quality Electronic Design'', 2003, pp. 203-207 The OpenAccess Coalition consists both of

EDA EDA or Eda may refer to: Computing * Electronic design automation * Enterprise Desktop Alliance, a computer technology consortium * Enterprise digital assistant * Estimation of distribution algorithm * Event-driven architecture * Exploratory ...

user companies (IC designers and manufacturers) and EDA provider companies, including

Advanced Micro Devices Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufact ...

, Agile Analog, AnaGlobe Technology, Analog Rails, ANSYS, AWR/National Instruments Corporation, Blue Cheetah Analog Design, Cadence Design Systems, Chengdu Higon IC Design, CST - Computer Simulation Technology, DXCorr Design, Empyrean Software, Entasys Design, Fractal Technologies,

GLOBALFOUNDRIES GlobalFoundries Inc. (GF or GloFo) is a multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Malta, New York. Created by the divestiture of the manufacturing arm of AMD, ...

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

Hewlett Packard Enterprise The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) is an American multinational information technology company based in Spring, Texas, United States. HPE was founded on November 1, 2015, in Palo Alto, California, as part of the splitting of the ...

, IBM,

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

, INTENTO DESIGN, Invecas, Jedat,

Keysight Technologies Keysight Technologies, or Keysight, is an American company that manufactures electronics test and measurement equipment and software. The name is a blend of ''key'' and ''insight''. The company was formed as a spin-off of Agilent Technologies, wh ...

Lattice Semiconductor Lattice Semiconductor Corporation is an American semiconductor company specializing in the design and manufacturing of low power, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Headquartered in the Silicon Forest area of Hillsboro, Oregon, the company ...

, Life Technologies, Luceda,

MediaTek MediaTek Inc. () is a Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company that provides chips for wireless communications, high-definition television, handheld mobile devices like smartphones and tablet computers, navigation systems, consumer multimedia pr ...

, Mentor Graphics, Mythic, NVMEngines, PDF Solutions, Pulsic,

Qualcomm Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, 4 ...

Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational corporation, multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of ...

, Savarti,

Silvaco Silvaco Group, Inc., develops and markets electronic design automation (EDA) and technology CAD (TCAD) software and semiconductor design IP (SIP). The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has a global presence with offices ...

Synopsys Synopsys is an American electronic design automation (EDA) company that focuses on silicon design and verification, silicon intellectual property and software security and quality. Products include tools for logic synthesis and physical design ...

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC; also called Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semiconductor company, the world' ...

Zuken is a Japanese multinational corporation, specializing in software and Information technology consulting, consulting services for end-to-end electrical and electronic engineering. Zuken came into existence as a pioneer in the development of Comput ...

OpenAccess software

OpenAccess consists of a data API of which the source code is available only to coalition members. The OpenAccess API is a C++ program interface to IC design data stored in an electronic design database, with an architecture designed to ensure easy integration of contributions from various companies which may implement database enhancements or add proprietary extensions. It also includes the reference database supporting that

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...

for IC design in multiple

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language. The description of a programming ...

C++ C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...

, C#,

Perl Perl is a family of two high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming languages. "Perl" refers to Perl 5, but from 2000 to 2019 it also referred to its redesigned "sister language", Perl 6, before the latter's name was offici ...

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

Ruby A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sa ...

and

Tcl TCL or Tcl or TCLs may refer to: Business * TCL Technology, a Chinese consumer electronics and appliance company **TCL Electronics, a subsidiary of TCL Technology * Texas Collegiate League, a collegiate baseball league * Trade Centre Limited ...

. In the past, electronic design flows were a combinations of proprietary applications and copyrighted

EDA database An EDA database is a database specialized for the purpose of electronic design automation. These application specific databases are required because general purpose databases have historically not provided enough performance for EDA applicatio ...

s, with many different file formats and syntaxes. As a result, significant efforts were required from IC CAD engineers to integrate them for particular projects. The resulting flows were often fragile, inefficient and therefore result in longer design cycles. OpenAccess effort is therefore attempting to create a standardized design flow among its participants.What is OpenAccess?
/ref>

Development history

The OpenAccess coalition was formed in Q4 1999. The members issued a request-for-technology for existing technology, looking for a solution that was proven and would be commercially adopted, and that supported a broad set of EDA tools. As a result, the

Cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (199 ...

Genesis database and API was selected and now forms the technology base for OpenAccess. As of 2005, OpenAccess was the only modern

integrated circuit design Integrated circuit design, or IC design, is a sub-field of electronics engineering, encompassing the particular logic and circuit design techniques required to design integrated circuits, or ICs. ICs consist of miniaturized electronic compon ...

which was publicly available.''EDA for IC Implementation, Circuit Design, and Process Technology'', 2005, , sectio
"Modern Database Examples"
/ref> In 2005 the Cadence Berkeley Labs and the Silicon Integration Initiative launched the OpenAccesGear, a project to develop

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

utilities on top of the OpenAccess database. Participants included

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and UCSC. The OAGear project was subsequently suspended. Si2 has offered OAGearOA Gear
/ref> as an unsupported project.

References

{{reflist

OpenAccess Coalition

OpenAccess software

Development history

References

External links