A flexible 'wrapper' enables secure IP sharing

The growing need for collaboration in the semiconductor industry has created an additional challenge: protection of intellectual property (113) while sharing capabilities in wafer fabs. Concern over IP protection in today's partnerships has inhibited improvements in overall factory effectiveness. To address this problem, a new approach to IP protection has been developed using distributed object-based software that associates security with data content rather than data transmission or storage. The net effect is the ability to integrate security directly into software and manufacturing tools - opening up access, when needed, while protecting IP.