Applying Lessons Of Mass Production To Verification

By Larry Vivolo - 12 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

I’ve recently been experiencing that time-honored tradition of helping an elderly family member as they go through one surgery after another attempting to restore worn-out, miscellaneous body parts. What’s most surprising, beyond the costs, is that shopping for a knee or disc replacement is much like shopping for a car. Do you go for the high-performance knee, which maybe hasn’t been test... » read more

Is Your IP-Verification Environment Trying To Kill You?

By Larry Vivolo - 15 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

I was watching an old episode of The Office the other night. It was the one where a GPS guided the lead characters into a lake. While we've all fallen victim to a GPS gone bad. Most of us are fortunate enough not to trust technology blindly enough to drive into a lake (or in my case, onto the tarmac at Ft. Lauderdale International). Yet, it's surprisingly easy to find parallels in real life whe... » read more

Taking The Mystery Out Of IP, SoC And Automotive System Debug

By Larry Vivolo - 09 Oct, 2014 - Comments: 0

I recently had to take my car to the dealership because the gas-saving "auto-shut-off-while-stopped" feature wasn't working. The dealer explained that the reason it took two days to debug was because it "touched on many systems" in the car. In the end, they realized the battery wasn't fully charged and blamed it on my short 10-mile commute. Whether that was an honest answer or an example of ... » read more

IP/SoC Verification With Assertions

By Larry Vivolo - 07 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 1

There's been a lot of excitement here in Silicon Valley these past weeks with the opening of the new 49ers stadium. I've always found it amazing to see how so many complex, fundamentally different technologies — mechanical, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, audiovisual, food catering, etc. — can be put together to create a functioning ballpark. It all but takes a mastermind to bring all these eng... » read more