SAN FRANCISCO — In an unusual move that officials describe as indicative of a maturing industry, EDA standards organization Accellera is transferring the materials associated with its three-year old OpenKit Initiative to the Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2) for further development, Accellera said Wednesday (June 21).

The transfer was prompted, at least in part, by the hiring last October by Si2 of Nick English, the former chair of the OpenKit Initiative within Accellera, according to Shrenik Mehta, Accellera chairman.

The OpenKit Initiative, established in 2003, was created to establish standards for the physical design kits used by IC designers. The standards aim to improve interoperability and cycle time efficiencies across the electronics-design chain, while decreasing custom intellectual property (IP) and IC design costs.

"We believe it will be a smooth transition between the two organizations," Mehta said, noting that the organizations are working to establish a new level of cooperation and that many Accellera members are also members of Si2.

"I would look at this as a positive sign," English told EE Times. "Accellera and Si2 working together on the standard really helps the industry."

Design kits provide the design rules, device models, schematic symbols and associated formats required during the design entry, simulation, implementation and verification of IC designs. With no current standards, the nomenclature, use models, interfaces and delivery methods vary widely depending on the tools, library and foundry requirements.

According to Accellera, the OpenKit materials being transferred define a custom-design schematic symbol kit that categorizes the common data sets, files, models and IC processes important to establish common design flows. Si2 said it plans to establish "appropriate avenues" for utilizing and releasing these materials to the user community.

Both Mehta and English emphasized that this transfer between two organizations that essentially exist to develop standards for their members underscores the growing maturity of the semiconductor industry, which is increasingly embracing collaboration as a necessity.

"You wouldn't have seen something like this five or 10 years ago," Mehta said. "People were not thinking that way."