On intellectual property protection

New design paradigms based on the concept of system-on-chip are gradually replacing printed circuit board centric approaches. This trend is mainly due to two factors: far higher running speeds and greater miniaturization. The new paradigms will accelerate design cycles, which in turn will force designers to reuse existing and acquire new circuits ready to be integrated. Such acceleration will be possible only if highly specialized core authors, integrators, and foundries will be able to efficiently and safely exchange and handle their intellectual property, The field known as intellectual property protection is aimed at limiting all violations to intellectual property rights through appropriate design methodologies, tools, and infringement detection techniques. The paper surveys all published aspects of the intellectual properly protection problem, in the context of concerted VSIA efforts to define new standards and protocols.