NIST-SUPPORTED STANDARD ADOPTED BY RosettaNet E-COMMERCE CONSORTIUM.

NIST has been involved in the development of standards for the exchange of electronic component information since co-sponsoring the first U.S. workshop on the subject in 1991. NIST has worked with the Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2) consortium to develop standards in this area and the latest work on "QuickData" has recently migrated to RosettaNet. RosettaNet is a consortium of more than 350 of the world's leading information technology, electronic components and semiconductor manufacturing companies working to create and implement industry-wide, open e-business standards. For more information on RosettaNet, visit www.rosettanet.org.

NIST is helping the electronics industry take advantage of emerging Web-based electronic commerce technologies through this work with RosettaNet. To facilitate electronic commerce, NIST has developed a reference implementation for the RosettaNet Partner Interface Process (PIP) 2A9 Query Electronic Component Technical Information standard. This standard, formally the QuickData standard of Si2, allows for the exchange of component information between electronics industry customers and suppliers using the Extensible Markup Language (XML). Along with pricing information, the standard allows other information, such as timing diagrams, data sheets and simulation files, to be exchanged electronically. Engineers can "try before they buy" electronic components for use in their designs. NIST's reference implementation has been made freely available to the electronics industry, and is being used by several private companies as a basis for commercial products. Standards that help to quickly locate and evaluate the best c omponents at the minimum cost are key to enabling companies to get products to market more rapidly. This standard is also being considered for use in the area of "virtual" electronic components (software representations of components for System-on-a-Chip designs) that could be bought and sold directly over the Internet.