"Doc Evil" <drevil@sidereal.kz> wrote :

...

With subtle distinctions, intellectual-property (IP) core vendors are readying implementations of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) security algorithm.

This author needs to get a clue. There is only one form of intellectual property, which is the trademark, and trademarks won't benefit from encryption. Copyrights are "held", not "owned". Copyrights expire; property doesn't. Copyrights exist to reward the production of artisitic or literary material, as a public benefit. Property rights exist for their owners.

The term "intellectual property" must have been invented by the same PR genius who invented the terms "freeway" and "Social Security".

It's a matter of context. In the chip world a tested netlist that can be turned into Si is "IP" in the sense that it is something a company can offer as a product. AES is no different from USB, bluetooth, IEEE-1384, SCSI, 802.11b, MPEG, PCI cores etc. Yes, actual work is involved in turning a public standard into Si. Yes, people actually pay to include this sort of "IP" in their ASICs along with CPUs, memory, I/O and whatever else they may need to fuel their cash flow. Various licenses may or may not be part of each piece of "IP" used in an ASIC. Each has to be addressed before the part is built or your lawyers can fight it out later in court. I'm more of a SW than a HW guy but this is pretty much the view I've gotten of the business. Mike