OpenAccess is a proprietary API controlled by the OpenAccess Coalition that aims to facilitate Interoperability of electronic design automation software among the members of that coalition.

OpenAccess Coalition

OpenAccess Coalition is a coalition amongst integrated circuit 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 bylaws.

The OpenAccess Coalition consists both of EDA user companies (IC designers and manufacturers) and EDA provider companies, including Advanced Micro Devices, 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, Generation Alpha Transistor, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, Intel, INTENTO DESIGN, Invecas, Jedat, Keysight Technologies, Lattice Semiconductor, Life Technologies, Luceda, MediaTek, Mentor Graphics, Mythic, NVMEngines, PDF Solutions, Pulsic, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Savarti, Silvaco, Synopsys, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, Zuken.

OpenAccess software

OpenAccess consists of a data API of which the source code is available only to coalition members.

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 Genesis database and API was selected and now forms the technology base for OpenAccess.

In 2005 the Cadence Berkeley Labs and the Silicon Integration Initiative launched the OpenAccesGear, a project to develop open source utilities on top of the OpenAccess database. Participants included University of California at Berkeley, UCLA and UCSC. The OAGear project was subsequently suspended. Si2 has offered OAGear as an unsupported project.

References

  • Silicon Integration Initiative, the custodian of OpenAccess
  • OpenAccess Overview
  • Licenses
  • OpenAccess FAQ
  • Downloads
  • OpenAccess Discussion Forum (also functions as FAQ)
  • OpenAccess Bug Tracker
  • OpenAccess Enhancement Tracker
  • OpenAccess Public Wiki
  • OpenAccess Scripting Languages Public Wiki with documentation on the C#, Perl, Python, Ruby and Tcl language bindings