[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 4, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9812-9813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5249]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and 
Production Act of 1993; VSI Alliance

    Notice is hereby given that, on November 29, 1996, pursuant to 
Sec. 6(a) of the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 
1993, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 4301 et seq.. (``the Act''), the VSI Alliance 
(``VSI'') has filed written notifications simultaneously with the 
Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission disclosing (1) the 
identities of the parties and (2) the nature and objectives of the 
venture. The notifications were filed for the purpose of invoking the 
Act's provisions limiting the recovery of antitrust plaintiffs to 
actual damages under specified circumstances. Pursuant to Sec. 6(b) of 
the Act, the identities of the parties are: Advanced RISC Machines 
Ltd., Cambridge, ENGLAND; Cadence Design Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA; 
Fujitsu Limited, Kawasaki, JAPAN; Mentor Graphics Corporation, 
Wilsonville, OR; Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JAPAN;

[[Page 9813]]

Synopsys, Inc., Mountain View, CA; and Toshiba Corporation, Kawasaki, 
JAPAN.
    VSI's area of planned activity is to define, develop, ratify, test 
and promote open interface specifications which will facilitate the 
mix-and-match of intellectual property blocks from different sources 
onto a single silicon chip--much like combining various integrated 
circuits or other components onto a printed circuit board. By defining 
``Virtual Socket Interfaces'' (hence the name ``VSI''), VSI hopes to 
enable the use or reuse of intellectual property blocks from different 
sources in the design of ``systems-chips'', thereby shortening the 
design cycle and promoting the growth of the systems-chips industry. 
These open specifications will be designed to allow the mix-and-match 
of system-level-module intellectual property (including analog, 
digital, mixed signal and software intellectual property), as it 
relates to the design and development of systems-chips.
    Membership in the VSI Alliance will be open to any individual or 
entity that is interested in supporting the objectives and goals of VSI 
and subscribes to its bylaws and membership agreements.
Constance K. Robinson,
Director of Operations, Antitrust Division.
[FR Doc. 97-5249 Filed 3-3-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-11-M