About IP Provider CAST, Inc.

CAST develops, sells, and supports semiconductor IP (intellectual property) for electronic system designers.

Engineers use our pre-designed and pre-verified IP Cores and Platform IP products to save development time and add functionality beyond their areas of expertise.

IP from CAST and similar firms has enabled the design reuse methodology popular in recent years as a means for handling rising design complexity and decreasing time to market.

Keys to CAST's IP Business Success

Over the past decade and a half, hundreds of small IP companies have been started to capitalize on the design reuse methodology. It turned out, though, that making good, reusable IP -- and building a successful business doing so -- is pretty hard, and few of these firms are still alive.

CAST continues to thrive, and is a leader in our tier of the IP industry. Today we offer distinct advantages to our customers, built on lessons we've learned since our founding in 1993:

• Keep overhead costs low in order to offer significant value.
• Design and package IP for easy reuse from the start.
• Focus on fast, effective IP support, helping designers choose the right IP before a sale, and helping customers succeed after IP purchase.

The satisfaction we derive from helping hundreds of customers achieve success through the years is embodied in our tag line: IP that Works. Experience that Counts.

A Customer-Focused, Engineering-Oriented Organization

CAST is self-funded, and owned by its founders and core employees.

We use a virtual organization approach.

Our core group of employees is supplemented by outsourced services (i.e. accounting, marketing communications) and complemented by a large global team and relationships with key industry partners.

Every CAST employee either is or has been a practicing engineer. This technical culture helps us align with our customers better than is possible in a multi-level, sales-oriented organization.

Learn more about our management staff and partners, or find office addresses and phone numbers.

A Broad yet Deep Semiconductor IP Product Line

Our IP Cores cover a broad range of popular and standards-based functions. Our Platform IP combines multiple cores with essential software to give you a platform on which to build your system.

CAST IP is available in synthesizable RTL for ASICs, or optimized netlists for FPGAs and Structured ASICs. Our licensing is simple, with no royalties, and single-use or multi-use project licenses and other options to fit your needs. One license, for example, can cover a core's FPGA version for prototyping and then its ASIC version for production.

Our product line includes buses and interfaces, microcontrollers and processors, peripherals, memory controllers, and other functions you might need. We have several areas of special expertise; for example, we're the leading supplier of 8051 cores, and we offer very fast, very small, and very affordable variations. Image and video compression is another strength: we offer more varieties of JPEG compression than any other vendor.

To facilitate system integration, our cores offer a simple, well-documented system interface or optional standard interfaces like AMBA, Wishbone, and OCP. CAST IP deliverables include rigorous documentation, test benches, synthesis and simulation scripts, example designs, and bit-accurate simulation models (BAMs) as appropriate. Application Platforms, prototyping boards, and other integration aids are also available.

A Fanatical Commitment to Customer Satisfaction

Our customer commitment begins with the quality we build into every product. A 90-day warranty with 30 days of support ensures initial satisfaction; other maintenance and support options cover you longer.

Our virtual/home office approach and international partner network give CAST IP customers a rare level of technical support. Your questions are answered quickly and correctly, and we strive to never let IP issues slow your development schedule.

We also understand that choosing IP before purchase is not easy. With a broader range of diverse customers and applications than most IP vendors enjoy, we are ready to help you determine which cores best meet your specific system needs.