1. Purpose and scope
This stage packages a checked block as a versioned release, hands it to the SoC teams, and supports them while they integrate and tape out. It ends at the IP release gate, after which the released version is locked: it no longer changes, and fixes come in a new version.
The release package typically carries the design source or netlist, constraints and power intent, models, verification IP and test plans, test structures and patterns, the integration guide, reference synthesis results and, where a reference hardening is offered, its abstract views, documentation, release notes and errata, a manifest with the quality record, and licence and export information.
Support after release is part of the stage. Integrators raise questions and bugs, the IP team answers, publishes errata, and decides whether a fix needs a new version. When integrators report that the block has worked in fabricated silicon, that use is recorded with the release, which lowers the risk of reuse.
A block is often reused across several SoCs, each with its own configuration and schedule. The release scheme therefore separates the version of the block from the configuration each program uses, so a fix can be traced to every program it affects. Derivative designs, where a block is changed for one program, get their own version line and their own record of what was re-verified, so they do not silently diverge from the main line.
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