Si2 Special Interest Groups—Forums for Collaborative Problem Solving

Ted

 

 

 

 

 


By Ted Paone
Si2 Interoperability Standards Architect

It is a new year but those design issues you could not fix last year are still robbing your company’s productivity. The problems didn’t stop at the beginning of this year, and there are less time and limited staff to find the solutions.  Well, you are not the only one. In my many years as a corporate application engineer for a large EDA company, I’ve heard the same stories told again and again, with slight variations and a different cast of characters. If I could only get them in the same room, we could discuss the insights to solve these common problems, but that could be collusion with all its consequences.

In 2017, you are no longer alone. The Special Interest Groups (SIG) set up under the anti-trust protection of Si2 allow you to solve design problems with other companies in the industry, sharing hundreds of years of knowledge of designers to address common issues. Si2, as a research and development joint venture, provides an opportunity to collaborate with like-minded companies to identify, document and even solve problems in the electronics/photonics design fields.

Within the Si2 structure, SIGs can be formed to address general or specific design topics such as Silicon Photonic/Electronic Co-Design, Process Design Kit Generation or Design Migration. The SIGs are the incubator for ideas within the Si2 structure. The SIG can create industry surveys to find and prioritize the issues and work with other industry groups to develop roadmaps. Members can jointly write white papers and present at conferences. Using the Si2 infrastructure, the SIG can spawn projects including prototyping implementations, developing standards and creating training and documentation.

sig-chart-copyA special interest group gathers the information and incubates the ideas. The multiple SIGs share their expertise. These ideas feed additional groups through papers, standards, workshops and project and prototype requirements. Project implementation is performed by members themselves or through the Si2 Working Groups under OpenStandards with the support of the working group members. The working groups spring up to complete a project, and the results are available to working group members. Some of the projects directly affect production design standards coalitions, OpenAccess and the Compact Model Coalition. Graduate and undergraduate students participate in development under the mentorship of the SIG and working group members to create the standards and implementations and supporting information. All this is done under the protection of Si2.

Si2 primary mission is identifying common problems and providing paths to solutions. Starting with the Special Interest Groups, the Si2 structure efficiently extends the industry’s resources, enabling collaborative development while protecting proprietary IP. What can we help each other with today?

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Si2 is a research and development joint venture that provides collaborative research and development leading to accelerated interoperability solutions and standards. As defined by the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993, activities conducted under the auspices and guidance of Si2 receive a large measure of protection against federal anti-trust laws.

2 replies
    • tberke
      tberke says:

      Hi Randy,

      The SIGs are being formed. I can put you on our distribution list if you’d like. Just provide your name, company and email.

      Regards,

      Terry Berke
      Manager of Member Services

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