The IEEE announced today the launch of Get IEEE 1685™, a website where users can download the current version of the standard free of charge. IEEE 1685™ is the first standard description of Intellectual Property blocks in highly automated design environments and provides the electronics industry with a way to make the use of IP blocks both easier and more affordable.

The standard is based on material originally developed by The SPIRIT Consortium, now part of Accellera, which transferred its copyright to the IEEE to facilitate the completion of a standard that would be widely accepted by industry.

IEEE 1685™, "Standard for IP-XACT, Standard Structure for Packaging, Integrating and Re-Using IP Within Tool-Flows," describes an XML Schema for meta-data documenting Intellectual Property (IP) used in the development, implementation and verification of electronic systems and an Application Programming Interface (API) to provide tool access to the meta-data.

"Like the popular Get IEEE 802® program before it, this is a great opportunity to accelerate the distribution of IEEE 1685 and potentially speed up its deployment and implementation" said Judith Gorman, Managing Director of the IEEE Standards Association. "The rapid worldwide dissemination of the 1685 standard will create benefits for all users and contribute to creating a robust environment and ecosystem around the use of the standard. This will benefit everyone in the electronics industry."

"IP is becoming an increasingly valuable part of System on a Chip designs," said Shrenik Mehta, Accellera Chair. "Our expanded partnership with the IEEE now enables the worldwide design community to download the first IP-focused IEEE 1685 standard for free."

Get IEEE 1685™ is made possible thanks to the financial support of Accellera.

The Get IEEE 1685™ provides free access to the current, active version of the standard in PDF form at no cost to end-users. IEEE retains the copyright on the standard. For more information, or to download the standard, visit: http://standards.ieee.org/getieee/1685/index.html

About Accellera

Accellera, an industry organization formed in 2000, provides design and verification standards for quick availability and use in the electronics industry. The organization and its members cooperatively deliver much-needed EDA standards that lower the cost of designing commercial IC and EDA products. As a result of Accellera’s partnership with the IEEE, Accellera standards are transferred to the IEEE standards body for formalization and ongoing change control. For more information about Accellera, please visit www.accellera.org.

About the IEEE Standards Association

The IEEE Standards Association, a globally recognized standards-setting body, develops consensus standards through an open process that engages industry and brings together a broad stakeholder community. IEEE standards set specifications and best practices based on current scientific and technological knowledge. The IEEE-SA has a portfolio of 900 active standards and more than 400 standards under development. For information on the IEEE-SA, see: http://standards.ieee.org.

About IEEE

IEEE is the world's largest technical professional association. Through its more than 375,000 members in 160 countries, IEEE is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Dedicated to the advancement of technology, IEEE publishes 30 percent of the world’s literature in the electrical and electronics engineering and computer science fields, and has developed nearly 900 active industry standards. The organization annually sponsors more than 850 conferences worldwide. Additional information about IEEE can be found at http://www.ieee.org.