As an IC designer I absolutely loved embarking on a new design project, starting with a fresh, blank slate, not having to use any legacy blocks. In the early 1980's we really hadn't given much thought to re-using semiconductor IP because each new project typically came with a new process node, so there was no IP even ready for re-use, at least not at the IDM that I worked at. In 2018 by stark contrast we now have a thriving IP economy providing IC designers with everything starting from simple logic functions at the low-end, ...