About ChipVision Design Systems

ChipVision Design Systems is the technology-leading supplier of system-level low power optimization solutions that enable the design of complex integrated circuits (ICs) for the communications, wireless, and consumer product markets.

The use of ChipVision’s solutions in the pre-implementation phase of the design cycle substantially reduces cost and time to market by enabling pre-RTL optimization for low power, resulting in up to 75% reduction in power consumption.

ChipVision’s power optimization solution PowerOpt is the only design tool that efficiently allows designers to bridge between the Electronic System Level (ESL), at which the most significant reduction of power can be achieved, and the RT Level. Key users for ChipVision’s PowerOpt technology are

SoC Micro Architects focus on the development of individual data flow dominated blocks in a System on Chip. They start with an algorithm defined in ANSI C or SystemC and are responsible for the RTL implementation. PowerOpt assists them in exploring and optimizing the micro architecture for low power and to specifying the results for RTL implementation.
SoC Architects focus on the integration of the various blocks in a SoC and use PowerOpt to assess trade offs for selection of IP blocks based on their power characteristics.
Algorithm Designers use PowerOpt to select and optimize the algorithm best suited for implementation by optimizing the number of arithmetic operations required

Background

ChipVision's PowerOpt power-optimizing high-level synthesis tool is the result of 10 years of research, beginning at the University of Oldenburg. Based on a fundamental understanding of power consumption at all levels of abstraction, the first prototypes of the tool were developed by the renowned research institute OFFIS in close cooperation with industrial partners including Siemens, Alcatel, Motorola, Atmel and with partial funding from the European Union as part of their research framework programs.

History

ChipVision Design Systems AG was established in June 2002 in Oldenburg, Germany, as a spin off of the OFFIS and Systems Consulting GmbH, Germany. The subsidiary ChipVision Design Systems, Inc. was also founded in 2002 to address the North American market. ChipVision received its initial venture financing in May 2003 from a consortium led by Target Partners and BayTech Venture Capital, both located in Munich, Germany.