JP2009217552A - Program and method for managing license fee - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reliably calculate license fees in a short time by reliably extracting macros of license fee payment targets from LSI. <P>SOLUTION: A computer 1 has a macro extraction means 2 and a license fee tabulation means 3. The macro extraction means 2 extracts the macro with license agreement from the macros constituting products, and extracts the number of macro deployment gates extracted from a list 4 prepared previously. The license fee tabulation means 3 tabulates the license fees for every macro extracted by the macro extraction means 2, based on the amount of sales of the products, a ratio of the number of macro-gates with the license agreement to the total number of gates of the products, and a ratio of the license fees to the sales of the products. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a license fee management program and a license fee management method, and more particularly to a license fee management program and a license fee management method for managing a license fee of a macro having a license agreement.

LSI (Large Scale Integration) developers / manufacturers develop, manufacture and sell LSIs with various functions (macro) in a short period of time.
In recent years, since it is difficult to develop all macros in-house, many companies procure macros from IP (macro) providers and use them in their own LSIs. In addition, it develops products that use in-house developed macros or procured macros in a short period of time.

When procuring a macro from a provider, in addition to purchasing the completed macro itself, procure a macro design drawing, etc., manufacture the macro in-house, and link to the provider in conjunction with the sales of the LSI that uses the macro. There are methods for paying license fees (royalties) (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP 2002-299464 A JP 2004-34169 A

  However, it takes a lot of labor to investigate the macro for which the license fee is paid for each LSI, and to understand the contents of the license. In addition, there is a problem that a large penalty may occur if a mistake in payment of the license fee occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a license fee management program and a license fee management method capable of reliably extracting a macro for which a license fee is to be paid from an LSI.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a license fee management program and a license fee management method capable of reliably calculating a license fee in a short time.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a license fee management program for managing the license fee of a macro having a license agreement. This license fee management program causes a computer to function as macro extraction means and license fee aggregation means.

The macro extracting means extracts a macro having a license agreement from the macros constituting the product, and extracts the number of installed macro gates extracted from a list prepared in advance.
The license fee aggregation means is based on the sales amount of the product, the ratio of the number of installed gates of the macro that has a license agreement in the total number of installed gates of the product, and the ratio of the license fee paid to the sales of the product, The license fee is totaled for each macro extracted by the macro extracting means.

  According to such a license fee management program, the macro extraction means extracts the number of installed macro gates that have a license agreement. Based on the license fee aggregation means, the sales amount of the product, the ratio of the number of installed gates of the macro with the license agreement in the total number of installed gates of the product, and the ratio of the license fee paid to the sales of the product Thus, the license fee is aggregated for each macro extracted by the macro extracting means.

  According to the disclosed license fee management program and license fee management method, it is possible to reliably extract a macro that has a license agreement. In addition, the license fee can be reliably calculated in a short time.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
First, an outline of the present invention will be described, and then an embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the present invention.

The computer 1 has a macro extraction unit 2 and a license fee totaling unit 3.
The macro extracting means 2 extracts a macro having a license agreement from the macros constituting the product (LSI or the like), and extracts the number of installed macro gates extracted from the list 4 prepared in advance.

  The macro is extracted from a product having product configuration information (parent-child relationship, etc.) such as a net list (not shown). Whether the extracted macro has a license agreement is determined by referring to a dedicated list.

  The license fee aggregation means 3 is based on the sales amount of the product, the ratio of the number of installed gates of the macro that has a license agreement in the total number of installed gates of the product, and the ratio of the license fee to be paid for the sales of the product The license fee is totaled for each macro extracted by the macro extracting means 2.

More specifically, the license fee aggregation means 3 aggregates the license fee after determining whether or not to reflect these ratios in the license fee.
The sales amount of the product, the ratio of the number of installed gates of the macro that has a license agreement in the total number of installed gates of the product, and the ratio of the license fee paid to the sales of the product are obtained from the dedicated list 5 respectively. To do.

  According to such a computer 1, the macro extraction means 2 extracts the number of installed gates of a macro that has a license agreement. Then, the license fee aggregation means 3 determines the sales amount of the product, the ratio of the number of installed gates of the macro with the license agreement in the total number of installed gates of the product, and the ratio of the license fee to be paid to the sales of the product. Based on this, license fees are aggregated for each macro extracted by the macro extracting means 2.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the license fee management apparatus.
The entire license fee management apparatus 100 is controlled by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101. A random access memory (RAM) 102, a hard disk drive (HDD) 103, a graphic processing device 104, an input interface 105, and a communication interface 106 are connected to the CPU 101 via a bus 107.

  The RAM 102 temporarily stores at least part of an OS (Operating System) program and application programs to be executed by the CPU 101. The RAM 102 stores various data necessary for processing by the CPU 101. The HDD 103 stores an OS and application programs. A program file is stored in the HDD 103.

  A monitor 11 is connected to the graphic processing device 104. The graphic processing device 104 displays an image on the screen of the monitor 11 in accordance with a command from the CPU 101. A keyboard 12 and a mouse 13 are connected to the input interface 105. The input interface 105 transmits a signal transmitted from the keyboard 12 or the mouse 13 to the CPU 101 via the bus 107.

  The communication interface 106 is connected to the network 10. The communication interface 106 transmits / receives data to / from another computer via the network 10.

With the hardware configuration as described above, the processing functions of the present embodiment can be realized.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the license fee management apparatus.

  The license fee management apparatus 100 includes a license macro extraction unit 110, a totalization process start determination unit 120, a license fee totalization unit 130, a netlist storage unit 140, a master selection information storage unit 150, and a macro gate master storage unit 160. A macro license master storage unit 170, an adopted license macro storage unit 180, a profit plan storage unit 190, a tabulation threshold storage unit 200, a tabulation condition storage unit 210, a product sales storage unit 220, and a payment license. And a charge storage unit 230.

  The license macro extraction unit 110 is connected to the net list storage unit 140, the master selection information storage unit 150, the macro gate master storage unit 160, the macro license master storage unit 170, and the adopted license macro storage unit 180. .

  The license macro extraction unit 110 includes macros (hereinafter referred to as “license macros”) that are subject to payment of a license fee included in the product based on the given information, and includes all macros constituting the product and their macros. The number of each gate is extracted and stored in the adopted license macro storage unit 180.

The aggregation process start determination unit 120 is connected to the adopted license macro storage unit 180, the profit plan storage unit 190, and the aggregation determination threshold storage unit 200.
The totaling process start determining unit 120 determines whether to start counting license fees for the license macros stored in the adopted license macro storage unit 180 based on the given information.

  The license fee totaling unit 130 is connected to the adopted license macro storage unit 180, the totaling condition storage unit 210, the product sales storage unit 220, and the payment license fee storage unit 230.

The license fee totaling unit 130 totals the license fee of the license macro stored in the adopted license macro storage unit 180 based on the given information.
The net list storage unit 140 stores a net list including product configuration information (macro name, parent-child relationship).

  The master selection information storage unit 150 stores master selection information (for example, technology code) in which control information for selecting extraction conditions for a macro gate master and a macro license master, which will be described later, is described.

The macro gate master storage unit 160 stores a macro gate master in which the gate scale for each macro is described.
The macro license master storage unit 170 stores a macro license master in which license conditions (contract contents) for each macro for which a license is contracted are described.

The adopted license macro storage unit 180 stores an adopted license macro list in which a list of macros adopted for the product is described.
The profit plan storage unit 190 stores a profit plan list in which a profit plan for each product is described.

The aggregation determination threshold storage unit 200 stores an aggregation determination threshold list in which various parameters necessary for aggregation determination are described.
The totaling condition storage unit 210 stores a totaling condition list in which conditions necessary for totaling license fees are described.

The product sales storage unit 220 stores a product sales list in which sales details for each product are described.
The payment license fee storage unit 230 stores a payment license fee list in which a license fee payment amount for each product and a license fee payment amount for each macro are described.

Next, the information (list) stored in each storage unit will be specifically described.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a macro gate master list.
The macro gate master list 161 is provided with a column of macro names and a column of the number of mounted gates, and information arranged in the horizontal direction of each column is associated with each other.

In the macro name column, the macro name extracted from the net list is described.
In the mounted gate number column, the number of mounted gates of the macro described in the macro name column is described.

In the supplementary column, if it is not the macro extracted this time, this is described.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a macro license master list.
The macro license master list 171 includes a macro name column, a payment type column, a payment period column, a payment terms column, and an IP vendor name column. Information arranged in the horizontal direction of each column. They are related to each other.

In the macro name column, a license macro is described.
In the payment type column, the payment method of the license fee is described. “Royalty” indicates that the payment method of the license macro license fee described in the macro name is a license fee according to the sales of the product, and “batch” indicates the license described in the macro name. It shows that the payment method of the macro license fee is batch regardless of sales.

  In the payment period column, the payment period of the license fee is described. “No restriction” indicates that there is no payment deadline for the macro described in the macro name, and the deadline is written for those that have a deadline.

  In the payment terms column, the payment terms for the license fee are described. Note that payment terms are not described for macros with a payment method of “collective” because the payment is made at the time of contract. In the figure, the payment condition “0.13 μm or less, sales 10%” of the macro X1 indicates that 10% of the sales is paid as a license fee if the proportion of the macro X1 in the product is 0.13 μm or less. The payment condition “sales 20%” of the macro X3 indicates that the macro X3 pays 20% of the sales as a license fee (regardless of the proportion of the macro X3 in the product).

In the IP vendor name column, the sales company that provides the macro is described.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an adopted license macro list.
The adopted license macro list 181 includes a parent macro field, a child macro field, a child macro type field, a mounted gate number field, a license macro field, and a supplemental field. Are arranged in association with each other.

The parent macro is described in the parent macro column.
In the child macro column, a child macro immediately below the parent macro is described. The parent-child relationship is extracted by a license macro extraction process described later of the license macro extraction unit 110.

  In the column of child macro type, “soft” is described if the child macro is a soft macro composed of software, and “hardware” is described if the child macro is a hardware macro composed of hardware.

In the column of the number of mounted gates, the number of mounted gates of the macro described in the parent macro column is described.
When the macro described in the macro column of the macro license master list 171 is described in the child macro, “◯” is described in the license macro column.

  In the supplementary column, if the child macro type is “soft”, the number of installed gates is obtained from the sum of the number of installed gates of all the hard macros under it, so the name of the macro to be added is listed .

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a profit plan list.
The profit plan list 191 includes a product name column, a sales amount (plan) column, a sales quantity (plan) column, a development cost (plan) column, a manufacturing cost (plan) column, and a license fee (plan). A field, a profit column, a customer column, a negotiation column, a negotiation scale column, and a risk column are provided, and pieces of information arranged in the horizontal direction are associated with each other.

In the sales amount (planned) column, the planned sales amount of the product described in the product name column is described.
In the sales volume (planned) column, the planned sales volume of the product described in the product name column is described.

In the column of development cost (plan), the planned development cost of the product described in the product name column is described.
In the column of manufacturing cost (planned), the planned manufacturing cost of the product described in the column of product name is described.

In the license fee (scheduled) column, a planned license fee of the product described in the product name column is described.
In the profit column, the profit of the product described in the product name column is described. The profit is obtained by the sales amount (plan) -development cost (plan) -manufacturing cost (plan) -license fee (plan).

In the customer column, the importance of the customer is described. “Important” is more important than “General”.
The importance level of the negotiation is written in the negotiation column. “Important” is more important than “Normal”.

The size of the negotiation is described in the column for the negotiation. “Small” has the smallest business negotiation size, and “Large” has the largest business negotiation size.
In the risk column, the magnitude of the risk of development difficulty is described. “Small” is the least risky and “Large” is the most risky.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a threshold value list for aggregation determination.
The total judgment threshold list 201 includes a customer field, a negotiation field, a negotiation scale field, a risk field, and a judgment threshold field, and the information arranged in the horizontal direction is associated with each other. ing.

In the customer column, the negotiation column, the negotiation scale column, and the risk column, the same contents as the column of the same name in the profit plan list 191 are described.
In the determination threshold value column, a threshold value for determining whether to start the aggregation processing, which is obtained by weighting the contents described in the left column, is described. In FIG. 8, in the “customer” column, “important” has a larger determination threshold than “general”. In the negotiation column, “important” has a larger threshold for judgment than “normal”. In the negotiation size column, “medium” has a larger determination threshold than “small”, and “large” has a larger determination threshold than “medium”. In the risk column, “medium” has a larger determination threshold than “large”, and “small” has a larger determination threshold than “medium”.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a totaling condition list.
The totaling condition list 211 includes a macro name column and a license column, and information arranged in the horizontal direction of each column is associated with each other.

The license column further includes a payment type column and a constraint column.
In the macro name column, a license macro is described.
In the payment type column, a payment type similar to the payment type described in the macro license master list 171 is described. “Cross license” indicates that the payment method of the license macro described in the macro name is based on a cross license agreement.

The restriction column includes a payment period column, a technology column, an area ratio column, and a sales ratio column.
In the payment period column, the payment period of the license macro described in the macro name column is described. “No restriction” indicates that there is no payment deadline for the license macro described in the macro name, and the deadline is written for those that have a deadline.

  In the technology column, the license macro process technology described in the macro name column is described. “No restriction” indicates that there is no restriction on the size of the process technology of the license macro described in the macro name.

  In the area ratio column, whether or not there is a restriction due to the area of the license macro described in the macro name column is described. “No restriction” indicates that the license macro area ratio described in the macro name is not considered in the calculation of the license fee, and “With restriction” indicates that the license macro described in the macro name is not included. It shows that the area ratio is taken into account for the calculation of license fees.

  In the sales ratio column, whether there is a restriction on the ratio of the license fee to be paid for the sales of the license macro described in the macro name column is described. “No restriction” indicates that the sales ratio of the license macro described in the macro name is not considered in the calculation of the license fee, and the ratio is described for those with restrictions.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a product sales list.
The product sales list 221 includes a product name column, a technology column, a sales date column, and a sales amount (thousand yen) column, and the information arranged in the horizontal direction of each column is associated with each other. It has been.

The technology column describes the technology required by the product listed in the product name column.
In the sales date column, the date of sale of the product described in the product name column is described.

In the sales amount column, the amount when the product described in the product name column is sold on the sales date is described.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a payment license fee list.

The payment license fee list 231 includes a macro name column and a license fee (1,000 yen) column, and pieces of information arranged in the horizontal direction of each column are associated with each other.
In the license fee column, the license fee of the license macro described in the macro name column is described.

Next, processing of the license fee management apparatus 100 will be described.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing of the license fee management apparatus.
First, the license macro extraction unit 110 performs a license macro extraction process (step S1). Specifically, based on the net list stored in the net list storage unit 140, the master selection information stored in the master selection information storage unit 150, the macro gate master list 161, and the macro license master list 171. Then, a macro related to the license macro is extracted, and an adopted license macro list 181 is created.

  Next, the aggregation process start determination unit 120 performs an aggregation process start determination process (step S2). Specifically, it is determined whether or not to start the aggregation process based on the created adopted license macro list 181 and the determination threshold value in the aggregation determination threshold list 201.

  Next, the license fee totaling unit 130 performs a license fee totaling process (step S3). Specifically, the payment license fee list 231 is created based on the created adopted license macro list 181, the totaling condition list 211, and the product sales list 221.

The process ends here.
Next, the license macro extraction process performed by the license macro extraction unit 110 will be described in detail.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the license macro extraction process.
First, macros and cell names are extracted from the net list (step S11).
Next, a parent-child relationship of macros is created (step S12).

Next, the extracted macro name is associated with the macro name in the macro gate master list 161 (step S13).
Next, the macro license master list 171 is referred to and it is determined whether or not a license macro exists in the macro gate master list 161 (step S14).

If it does not exist (No in step S14), the process ends. In this case, the processing after the counting processing start determination processing is not performed.
On the other hand, if it exists (Yes in step S14), if the extracted macro type is “soft”, the total number of installed gates of all the hard macros under it is calculated, and the adopted license macro list 181 is created ( Step S15).

This completes the license macro extraction process.
Next, the aggregation process start determination process performed by the aggregation process start determination unit 120 will be described in detail.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the totalization process start determination process.
First, the products listed in the adopted license macro list 181 are searched from the product name column in the profit plan list 191 and information on the customer, the negotiation, the negotiation scale, and the risk in the corresponding column is extracted (step S21).

Next, the total judgment threshold list 201 is searched, and judgment threshold values corresponding to the customer, the negotiation, the negotiation scale, and the risk extracted in step S21 are extracted (step S22).
Next, it is determined whether or not the extracted determination threshold is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (step S23).

If it is less than the threshold value given in advance (No in step S23), the process is terminated. In this case, the license fee aggregation process is not performed.
On the other hand, if it is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value (Yes in step S23), the license fee totaling unit 130 is instructed to start the license fee totaling process (step S24).

This completes the aggregation process start determination process.
Next, the license fee totaling process performed by the license fee totaling unit 130 will be described in detail.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the license fee totaling process.
First, with respect to the license macros described in the adopted license macro list 181, the aggregation condition list 211 and the product sales list 221 are referred to and it is determined whether or not the license macro has technology requirements (step S31).

If the requirement is not satisfied (No in step S31), the process is terminated.
If the requirement is satisfied (Yes in step S31), the totaling condition list 211 and the product sales list 221 are referred to, and it is determined whether or not the license macro has a payment period requirement (step S32).

If the requirement is not satisfied (No in step S32), the process is terminated.
If the requirement is satisfied (Yes in step S32), the total number of mounted gates (of the total area) of the product is calculated (step S33).

Next, with reference to the total condition list 211, it is determined whether or not there is a restriction on the area ratio of the license macro (step S34).
If there is no area ratio restriction (No in step S34), the process proceeds to step S36.

  On the other hand, if there is an area ratio restriction (Yes in step S34), the area ratio of the license macro is calculated (step S35). Specifically, the number of license macros installed gates / the total number of products installed gates × 100 is calculated.

Next, the sales ratio of the license macro is extracted from the totaling condition list 211, and the sales amount of the product is extracted from the product sales list 221 (step S36).
Next, a license fee is calculated (step S37). Specifically, the product sales amount × area ratio (only when there are restrictions) × license macro sales ratio (only when there are restrictions).

This completes the license fee aggregation process.
Next, specific examples of each process will be described.
In the specific example, a case where the license fee for the license macro included in the product MB1 is obtained will be described as an example.

First, the license macro extraction unit 110 extracts a parent-child relationship of macros related to the product MB1 from the net list.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a parent-child relationship of macros extracted from the netlist.

  The extracted macro has a so-called “tree structure”. That is, branches and leaves are spread with the product MB1 as a root node. The process technology of the product MB1 is 0.13 μm.

  The macro of the product name “MB1” is shown to have macro A, macro a, and macro B. Note that “(soft)” in parentheses of the block indicates that the macro is a soft macro, and “(hard)” indicates that the macro is a hard macro.

In FIG. 16, for example, the macro A is shown to have a macro X1 and a macro b. In this case, when viewed from the macro A, the macro X1 and the macro b are “children”.
The license macro extraction unit 110 extracts the number of gates of the macro f, macro a, macro d, macro c, and macro X3 located in the leaf node with reference to the macro gate master list 161.

Next, referring to the macro license master list 171, it is determined whether or not a license macro exists in the macro gate master list 161.
In this specific example, macro X1 and macro X3 exist. Therefore, the payment license fee list 231 for the macro X1 and the macro X3 is created.

Next, a specific example of calculating the total number of mounted gates will be described.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of calculating the total number of mounted gates.
The adopted license macro list 181 is listed while maintaining the tree structure of the products acquired from the net list. For this reason, in FIG. 17, the macro located at the upper part is closer to the root node, and the macro located at the lower part is closer to the leaf node.

  Here, the number of mounted gates of macro A is the number of mounted gates of macro X1 + the number of mounted gates of macro b. The number of mounted gates of the macro X1 is the number of mounted gates of the macro f + the number of mounted gates of the macro a + the number of mounted gates of the macro d.

Therefore, the number of mounted gates of the macro X1 is 40 + 130 + 20 = 190. The number of mounted gates of the macro A is 190 + 30 = 220.
The number of mounted gates of macro B is the number of mounted gates of macro c + number of mounted gates of macro d + number of mounted gates of macro X3.

Therefore, the number of mounted gates of the macro B is 40 + 20 + 80 = 140.
Next, a specific example of license fee aggregation processing will be described.
First, it is determined whether or not the macro X1 and the macro X3 as license macros described in the adopted license macro list 181 have process technology requirements.

  Regarding the macro X1, referring to the product sales list 221, “0.09 μm” is described in the technology column required for the product MB1. On the other hand, referring to the aggregation condition list 211, “0.13 μm or less” is described in the technology column of the macro X1. For this reason, this requirement is satisfied.

  For the macro X3, referring to the product sales list 221, “0.09 μm” is described in the column of technology required for the product MB1. On the other hand, referring to the aggregation condition list 211, “no constraint” is described in the technology column of the macro X3. For this reason, this requirement is satisfied.

Next, it is determined whether or not the target period requirement is satisfied.
For the macro X1, referring to the product sales list 221, “2007/3/9” is described in the sales date column of the product MB1. On the other hand, referring to the aggregation condition list 211, “no constraint” is described in the payment period column of the macro X1. For this reason, this requirement is satisfied.

  As for the macro X3, referring to the product sales list 221, “2007/3/9” is described in the sales date column of the product MB1. On the other hand, referring to the aggregation condition list 211, “2004/4/1 to 2010/3/31” is described in the payment period column of the macro X3. This requirement is met because it is within the payment period.

  Next, the total number of mounted gates is calculated. The total number of mounted gates of the product MB1 is the number of mounted gates of macro A + the number of mounted gates of macro a + the number of mounted gates of macro B. Accordingly, the total number of gates mounted on the product MB1 is 220 + 130 + 140 = 490.

Next, referring to the total condition list 211, it is determined whether or not there are restrictions on the area ratio of the macros X1 and X3.
Referring to the aggregation condition list 211, since “with restrictions” is described in the area ratio columns of the macro X1 and the macro X3, the area ratio is considered for the macro X1 and the macro X3.

Next, the area ratio of the macro X1 and the macro X3 is calculated.
The area ratio of the macro X1 in the product MB1 is 190/490 × 100 = 38.8%.

The area ratio of the macro X3 in the product MB1 is 80/490 × 100 = 16.3%.
Next, the sales ratio of the macro X1 and the macro X3 is extracted from the totaling condition list 211, and the sales amount of the product adopting the macro X1 and the macro X3 is extracted from the product sales list.

  Referring to the aggregation condition list 211, it can be seen that the sales ratio of the macro X1 is 0.1 (10%). Further, referring to the product sales list 221, it can be seen that the sales amount is “5,000 (thousand yen)”. It can also be seen that the sales ratio of macro X3 is 0.2 (20%). Further, it can be seen that the sales amount is “5,000 (thousand yen)”.

Next, the license fee for the macro X1 is calculated.
The license fee for macro X1 is sales amount × area ratio of macro X1 × sales ratio of macro X1 = 5000 × 0.388 × 0.1 = 194 (thousand yen).

The license fee for macro X3 is sales amount × area ratio of macro X3 × sales ratio of macro X3 = 5000 × 0.163 × 0.2 = 163 (thousand yen).
As described above, according to the license fee management apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the license macro extraction unit 110 executes the license macro extraction process. A macro can be reliably identified.

In addition, since the license fee aggregation unit 130 executes the license fee aggregation process, the license fee for each license macro can be easily calculated.
In addition, since the total area and the area ratio are obtained after determining that the technology requirement and the target period requirement are satisfied in the license fee aggregation processing, the processing can be simplified.

  In the present embodiment, the total number of installed gates and the area ratio of the product are obtained in the license fee totaling process, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be obtained in the license macro extraction process.

In this embodiment, the area ratio is used for counting the license fees. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the number of installed license macros can be used instead of the area ratio.
The license fee management program and the license fee management method of the present invention have been described based on the illustrated embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the configuration of each part has the same function. Any configuration can be substituted. Moreover, other arbitrary structures and processes may be added to the present invention.

In addition, the present invention may be a combination of any two or more configurations (features) of the above-described embodiments.
The above processing functions can be realized by a computer. In this case, a program describing the processing contents of the functions that the license fee management apparatus 100 should have is provided. By executing the program on a computer, the above processing functions are realized on the computer. The program describing the processing contents can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a magnetic recording device, an optical disk, a magneto-optical recording medium, and a semiconductor memory. Examples of the magnetic recording device include a hard disk device (HDD), a flexible disk (FD), and a magnetic tape. Examples of the optical disc include a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a DVD-RAM (Random Access Memory), a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), and a CD-R (Recordable) / RW (ReWritable). Examples of the magneto-optical recording medium include MO (Magneto-Optical disk).

  When distributing the program, for example, a portable recording medium such as a DVD or a CD-ROM in which the program is recorded is sold. It is also possible to store the program in a storage device of a server computer and transfer the program from the server computer to another computer via a network.

  A computer that executes a license fee management program stores, for example, a program recorded on a portable recording medium or a program transferred from a server computer in its own storage device. Then, the computer reads the program from its own storage device and executes processing according to the program. The computer can also read the program directly from the portable recording medium and execute processing according to the program. In addition, each time the program is transferred from the server computer, the computer can sequentially execute processing according to the received program.

(Supplementary note 1) In the license fee management program that manages the license fee for macros that have a license agreement,
Computer
A macro extracting means for extracting a macro having a license agreement from a macro constituting the product, and extracting the number of mounted gates of the macro extracted from a list prepared in advance;
Based on the sales amount of the product, the ratio of the number of installed gates of the macro that has a license agreement in the total number of installed gates of the product, and the ratio of the license fee to be paid for the sales of the product License fee aggregation means for calculating the license fee for each macro extracted by the extraction means,
A license fee management program characterized by functioning as

  (Supplementary Note 2) The macro extracting means extracts all macros constituting the product from the net list, creates a parent-child relationship of the macro extracted based on the net list, and calculates the total number of gates mounted on the product. The license fee management program according to attachment 1, wherein the license fee management program is calculated.

  (Supplementary Note 3) When the extracted macro is a software macro configured by software, the macro extraction means is the total number of gates of child macros configured by hardware when the software macro is a parent macro. The license fee management program according to appendix 2, wherein the number of installed gates of the soft macro is defined as

  (Additional remark 4) The said license fee totaling means extracts the sales amount of the said product from the list prepared beforehand, and the ratio which the number of mounting gates of the said macro which has concluded the license contract in the total number of mounting gates of the said product occupies. The license fee management program according to appendix 1, wherein the program calculates and extracts a ratio of the product to sales from a list prepared in advance.

  (Additional remark 5) The said license fee totaling means totals a license fee, when the process technology to which the said macro which has concluded the license contract is restricted is below the process technology required for the said product. The license fee management program according to 1.

(Appendix 6) In the license fee management method for managing the license fee of macros that have a license agreement,
The macro extracting means extracts a macro having a license agreement from the macros constituting the product, extracts the number of installed gates of the macro extracted from the list prepared in advance,
The license fee aggregation means, the ratio of the sales amount of the product, the ratio of the number of installed gates of the macro that has a license agreement in the total number of installed gates of the product, the ratio of the license fee to be paid for the sales of the product, Based on the above, the license fee is totalized for each macro extracted by the macro extracting means.
A license fee management method characterized by the above.

(Supplementary note 7) In a license fee management device that manages the license fee of a macro that has a license agreement,
A license macro extracting unit that extracts a macro having a license agreement from a macro constituting the product and extracts the number of installed gates of the macro extracted from a list prepared in advance;
Based on the sales amount of the product, the ratio of the number of installed gates of the macro that has a license agreement in the total number of installed gates of the product, and the ratio of the license fee to be paid for the sales of the product For each macro extracted by the extraction unit, a license fee totaling unit that totals the license fee,
A license fee management apparatus comprising:

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of a license fee management apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the function of a license fee management apparatus. It is a figure which shows a macro gate master list. It is a figure which shows a macro license master list. It is a figure which shows an employ | adopted license macro list. It is a figure which shows a profit plan list. It is a figure which shows the threshold value list for total judgment. It is a figure which shows a total condition list. It is a figure which shows a product sales list. It is a figure which shows a payment license fee list. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a license fee management apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows a license macro extraction process. It is a flowchart which shows an aggregation process start judgment process. It is a flowchart which shows a license fee total process. It is a figure which shows the parent-child relationship of the macro extracted from the net list. It is a figure which shows the specific example which calculates the sum total of the number of mounted gates.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Computer 2 Macro extraction means 3 License fee totaling means 4, 5 List 100 License fee management apparatus 110 License macro extraction part 120 Total process start judgment part 130 License fee total part 140 Net list storage part 150 Master selection information storage part 160 Macro gate Master storage unit 161 Macro gate master list 170 Macro license master storage unit 171 Macro license master list 180 Adopted license macro storage unit 181 Adopted license macro list 190 Profit plan storage unit 191 Profit plan list 200 Aggregation judgment threshold storage unit 201 Aggregation judgment Threshold list 210 Aggregation condition storage unit 211 Aggregation condition list 220 Product sales storage unit 221 Product sales list 230 Payment license fee storage unit 231 Payment license fee Door

Claims (5)

In the license fee management program that manages the license fee for macros that have a license agreement,
Computer
A macro extracting means for extracting a macro having a license agreement from a macro constituting the product, and extracting the number of mounted gates of the macro extracted from a list prepared in advance;
Based on the sales amount of the product, the ratio of the number of installed gates of the macro that has a license agreement in the total number of installed gates of the product, and the ratio of the license fee to be paid for the sales of the product License fee aggregation means for calculating the license fee for each macro extracted by the extraction means,
A license fee management program characterized by functioning as   The macro extracting means extracts all macros constituting the product from a net list, creates a parent-child relationship of the macro extracted based on the net list, and calculates the total number of gates mounted on the product. The license fee management program according to claim 1, wherein:   The license fee aggregation means extracts the sales amount of the product from a list prepared in advance, calculates a ratio occupied by the number of installed gates of the macro having a license contract in the total number of installed gates of the product, 2. The license fee management program according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of the product to sales is extracted from a prepared list.   2. The license fee totaling unit according to claim 1, wherein the license fee is aggregated when the process technology to which the macro having a license contract is restricted is equal to or less than the process technology required for the product. License fee management program. In the license fee management method that manages the license fee of the macro that has a license agreement,
The macro extracting means extracts a macro having a license agreement from the macros constituting the product, extracts the number of installed gates of the macro extracted from the list prepared in advance,
The license fee aggregation means, the ratio of the sales amount of the product, the ratio of the number of installed gates of the macro that has a license agreement in the total number of installed gates of the product, the ratio of the license fee to be paid for the sales of the product, Based on the above, the license fee is totalized for each macro extracted by the macro extracting means.
A license fee management method characterized by the above.

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