News and New Products

Denali Software moves to become fabless IC IP vendor

Company introduces full PCI Express interface platform.

By Michael Santarini, Senior Editor -- EDN, 2/4/2008

First it offered memory models. Then it added semiconductor-related memory IP to its portfolio. Now Denali Software is taking the big leap of introducing a full PCI Express interface platform, and related customization services, for NAND memories.

The company introduced its platform offering, called FlashPoint, last week. The platform includes a complete hardware design ready for fabrication plus a complete software stack and all necessary drivers.

In making the move, Denali is essentially becoming a fabless IC IP provider. The company's CEO, Sanjay Srivastava, says that since its founding in the mid 1990s, the privately held company has been building up gradual expertise in the memory space, first creating models and then offering IP for memory controllers. Along with these offerings, the company built expertise in hardware, software, and firmware design.

"We figured we offered all the separate IP components and related software and firmware needed," Srivastava said. "Why not just take the extra step and offer a platform for PCI Express?"

Denali does not want to get into the chip business, Srivastava said, but it is essentially offering a full chip design to customers who need a PCI Express-to-NAND interface chip for application spaces such as PC cache modules, SSDs (solid-state drives), and ExpressCard devices.

Customers can license FlashPoint and create a chip as is, have it customized to suit their needs, or even use it as a macro block for an SOC. Denali can quickly customize the platform to run optimally with a customer's targeted memory or system configuration, Srivastava said.

The company has spent the last year beefing up its staff with experts in hardware engineering, software, and firmware in order to enhance its ability to quickly turn out customized versions of the platform.

"We have about 40% of staff dedicated to the new platform business," Srivastava said, noting that Denali's headcount is now in the 150 range.

In making the leap from IP vendor to platform provider, one might think that Denali is now competing with customers. But Srivastava downplayed that, saying that there are many companies who would like to build a PCI Express interface system of their own but lack one or more of the skill sets required to create a system.

The platform will be offered in an IP licensing model, in which Denali garners an upfront engagement/licensing fee and some amount of royalty. But the licensing terms will be flexible and vary depending on how much work or customization is needed.

The company does not have any licensees for it platforms yet, but Srivastava said that a few companies have already shown interest. "In fact, it was a couple of our customers who suggested we take the next step and offer the platform," he said.