IBIS Open Forum & Parser Information

IBIS Open Forum

The IBIS Open Forum is the industry organization responsible for the management of the IBIS specifications and standards including IBIS, ICM, and Touchstone. The Open Forum meets every three weeks by teleconference. Membership is open to all interested companies. Meeting minutes are available here. The Open Forum conducts itself according to its Policies and Procedures document.

Paid member companies may cast votes regarding specification changes and approvals, financial matters, election of officers and other organizational issues involving the Open Forum. Dues are US $900 per year. Membership dues go directly to maintain the organization's web site, pay for specification balloting, legal and bookkeeping services and the like as provided by our parent organization, SAE International.

The Open Forum also holds IBIS Summits several times per year around the world, to give our members an opportunity to meet face-to-face and exchange technical information and elect officers. Summit announcements and presentations are posted on our web site; summit activities are also financed through member dues and sponsorships.

The IBIS Open Forum is an official subcommittee under SAE International and conducts its operations according to the AEROSPACE COUNCIL of the SAE Technical Standards Board Organization and Operating Procedures (R).

If you are interested in joining the IBIS Open Forum, please contact the IBIS Open Forum Chair or any of the IBIS Officers.

IBIS 6.0 and IBISCHK6

The IBIS Open Forum is responsible for the ibischk series of IBIS Golden Parsers to validate IBIS models developed according the the latest IBIS Version 6.0. The Golden Parser is a syntax checking program to aid the development and verification of IBIS data files. Executable code, compiled for a variety of operating systems, are available free of charge at ibischk6.

The Open Forum also makes the source code of the ibischk6 available through a paid license. Licenses are separate from Open Forum membership; member and non-member companies alike may purchase a parser license at the same cost. The current cost of a parser license in US $2500. A parser license entitles the purchaser to receive and use the source code in their own products. A license also entitles the purchaser to both the current parser code and all minor revisions within the same major revision of the specification. For example, current purchasers of the ibischk6 parser source code will receive all upgrades to support IBIS 5.1, 5.2 etc. up to but not including the IBIS 6.0 specification.

Parser license fees are used exclusively for development of parser source code upgrades. Parser code development is externally contracted by the Open Forum through an "open bid" process.

The IBISCHK6 SOURCE CODE LICENSE AGREEMENT is available on-line. If you are interested in purchasing a license, please contact the IBIS Open Forum Chair or any of the IBIS Officers for further instructions.

ICM 1.1 and ICMCHK1

The IBIS Open Forum has introduced the IBIS Interconnect Modeling (ICM) Specification Version 1.1, which establishes a standard behavioral means of describing interconnects, such as connectors, cables and printed circuit traces.

An ICM parser, icmchk1, is available. The source code of icmchk1 is available through a paid license. Licenses are separate from Open Forum membership; member and non-member companies alike may purchase a parser license at the same cost. The current cost of a parser license in US $1000. A parser license entitles the purchaser to receive and use the source code in their own products. A license also entitles the purchaser to both the current parser code and all minor revisions within the same major revision of the specification. For example, current purchasers of the icmchk1 parser source code will receive all upgrades to support ICM 1.2, 1.3 etc. up to but not including the ICM 2.0 specification.

The ICMCHK1 SOURCE CODE LICENSE AGREEMENT is available on-line. If you are interested in purchasing a license, please contact the IBIS Open Forum Chair or any of the IBIS Officers for further instructions.

Touchstone 2.0 and TSCHK2

The IBIS Open Forum has introduced the Touchstone File Format Specification Version 2.0, which expands the defacto standard Touchstone (1.0) which deals with N-port parameters including S-parameters, and also Y-, Z-, G-, and H-parameters. The IBIS Open Forum has expanded the capabilites to include mixed-mode formatting and selectable reference impedances.

A Touchstone parser, tschk2, is available. The source code of tschk2 is available through a paid license. Licenses are separate from Open Forum membership; member and non-member companies alike may purchase a parser license at the same cost. The current cost of a parser license in US $1000. A parser license entitles the purchaser to receive and use the source code in their own products. A license also entitles the purchaser to both the current parser code and all minor revisions within the same major revision of the specification. For example, current purchasers of the tschk2 parser source code will receive all upgrades to support Touchstone 2.1, 2.2, etc. up to but not including the Touchstone 3.0 Specification.

The TSCHK2 SOURCE CODE LICENSE AGREEMENT is available on-line. If you are interested in purchasing a license, please contact the IBIS Open Forum Chair or any of the IBIS Officers for further instructions.