Accellera

Accellera Systems Initiative is a non-profit industry standards organization that develops and promotes specifications used in electronic design automation (EDA). Its activities aim to improve interoperability among design tools, IP blocks, and verification methodologies used in semiconductor design and system engineering. Members include semiconductor companies, EDA vendors, design services firms, and academic institutions. Accellera organizes working groups, plugfests, and meetings to advance standards.

Origin and scope: Accellera traces its roots to the 2000 merger of Open Verilog International and VHDL International. It adopted the name Accellera to reflect a broader focus on system-level design and verification. The organization maintains technical committees that draft specifications, define conformance criteria, and coordinate IP policies. It collaborates with other standards bodies, notably with the IEEE Standards Association.

Notable standards: SystemC, a C++-based language and library for system-level modeling and simulation; UVM (Universal Verification Methodology), used with SystemVerilog for reusable verification components; and IP-XACT, an XML-based standard for describing IP blocks, packaging, and integration in SoC flows. Accellera standards are designed to be adopted by tool vendors and IP providers to enable interoperability across ecosystems.

Governance and membership: Accellera is governed by a board of directors and managed by a volunteer leadership drawn from member organizations. It operates through technical committees and working groups. Membership is open to companies, research institutions, and individuals under specified terms, with dues supporting standards development, test suites, and events.