Author's Latest Posts


Trust Assurance And Security Verification of Semiconductor IPs And ICs


Connected autonomous vehicles, 5G networks, Internet-of-things (IoT) devices, defense systems, and critical infrastructure use ASIC and FPGA SoCs running artificial intelligence algorithms or other complex software stacks. Vulnerable or tampered ICs can compromise the safety of people and the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive information. This paper analyzes the trust... » read more

ISO 26262:2018 Fault Analysis In Safety Mechanisms


Authors: Jörg Grosse1, Mark Hampton1, Sergio Marchese1, Jörg Koch2, Neil Rattray1, Alin Zagardan2 1OneSpin Solutions, Munich, Germany 2Renesas Electronics Europe, Duesseldorf, Germany ISO 26262-5 requires the determination of hardware safety metrics, including SPFM and LFM. Latent and residual diagnostic coverage are also important metrics to assess the effectiveness of safety mechanisms... » read more

Scaling Formal Connectivity Checking To Multi-Billion-Gate SoCs With Specification Automation


Connectivity checking is a popular formal verification application. Formal tools can automatically generate assertions using a specification table as input and prove them exhaustively. Simulation-based verification, on the other hand, requires significantly more effort while providing a fraction of the coverage. However, chip complexity is rapidly increasing. ASICs and FPGAs for heterogeneous c... » read more

Assuring the Integrity of RISC-V Cores and SoCs


The open RISC-V processor architecture is shaking up the intellectual property (IP) and system-on-chip (SoC) worlds. There is great interest and much industry activity underway. However, successful RISC-V core providers will have to verify all aspects of integrity for their designs: functional correctness, safety, security, and trust. SOC developers evaluating potential RISC-V need to check tha... » read more

Complete Formal Verification of RISC V Processor IPs for Trojan-Free Trusted ICs


RISC-V processor IPs are increasingly being integrated into system-on-chip designs for a variety of applications. However, there is still a lack of dedicated functional verification solutions supporting high-integrity, trusted integrated circuits. This paper examines an efficient, novel, formal-based RISC-V processor verification methodology. The RISC-V ISA is formalized in a set of Operational... » read more

When Correct Is Not Enough: Formal Verification of Fault-Tolerant Hardware


Once upon a time, hardware functional verification was all about ensuring that a circuit would perform its specified functions under all legal input stimuli. Today, though, gaining confidence that a hardware design is correct is often not enough. Several industries, including automotive, medical, and aerospace, rely on safety-critical hardware to keep people safe. Other systems, for example, in... » read more

Shifting the Burden of Tool Safety Compliance from Users to Vendor


The security, safety and performances of autonomous vehicles, railways, aerospace, nuclear power plants and medical devices rely on electronic systems and their hardware components. Engineers use advanced software tools to develop complex hardware. Tools may malfunction, generate erroneous output and ultimately introduce or fail to detect systematic hardware faults that could cause hazardous ev... » read more

The Rise and Fall of Synthesis Bugs in Safety-Critical FPGAs


For standards IEC 61508 / ISO 26262 / EN 50128 / DO-254. FPGAs are the dominant hardware platform in low-volume, safety-critical applications, including aerospace, and nuclear power plants. Modern FPGAs allow for the implementation of high performance designs with integrated safety mechanisms. This is driving adoption in additional industries, including automotive. Functional safety standard... » read more

Design Verification Is All About Good Hygiene


Design verification has a lot in common with human hygiene practices. The goal of both activities is to remove all dirt, grime, and bugs through an active process of establishing good hygiene. If this process is not followed properly, the result is viruses, infections, and other illnesses. Good verification hygiene is as important in semiconductor development as human hygiene is for a healthy b... » read more

Embracing ISO 26262: Efficient Verification Of Safety-Critical Hardware


Automotive technology has come a long way since the days of the Ford Model T. Today's smart vehicles not only assist their drivers with tasks such as parking, lane management, and braking, but also function as a home away from home, with WiFi hotspots and sophisticated entertainment systems. All of these features have been made possible by increasingly complex electronic systems. Welcome though... » read more

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