The Challenge Of RISC-V Compliance


The open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA) continues to gain momentum, but the flexibility of RISC-V creates a problem—how do you know if a RISC-V implementation fits basic standards and can play well with other implementations so they all can run the same ecosystem? In addition, how do you ensure that ecosystem development works for all implementations and that all cores that ... » read more

Mostly Upbeat Outlook For Chips


2019 has started with cautious optimism for the semiconductor industry, despite dark clouds that dot the horizon. Market segments such as cryptocurrencies and virtual reality are not living up to expectations, the market for smart phones appears to be saturated, and DRAM prices are dropping, leading to cut-backs in capital expenditures. EDA companies are talking about sales to China being pu... » read more

Formal Datapath Verification


J.T. Longino, formal verification application engineer at Synopsys, drills down into how to achieve confidence in datapath designs by applying formal solvers and methods to data transformation areas of a design rather than the control path areas. https://youtu.be/n1zO3GxEZVI     See other tech talk videos here. » read more

System-Level Testing – The New Paradigm for Semiconductor Quality Control


Covering the history and trends of system-level test for semiconductors, this solution brief discusses: The increasing complexities of testing advanced semiconductor integrated devices across a span of applications: automotive, mobile computing, wearables, and more; Semiconductor trends driving necessary shifts in testing methodologies including SiP, SoC, 3D finFETs, heterogeneous compo... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Tools OneSpin launched a formal verification tool that integrates with all major simulators, coverage databases and viewers, and chip design verification planning tools to provide a comprehensive view of verification progress. Comprised of two new formal apps, it can identify unreachable coverage points and provide them to the simulator to reduce wasted effort. Synopsys released the latest ... » read more

Reduction In First Silicon Success


Every two years, Harry Foster, chief scientist for Mentor, a Siemens Business, works with Wilson Research to do a verification study. Those studies have influenced many in the industry, indicating where users are experiencing the most pain, spending their time, growing their team sizes and where money would be best spent. However, over the past four years, the ASIC industry has basically been i... » read more

Integrating Results And Coverage From Simulation And Formal


Not so long ago, formal verification was considered an exotic technology used only by specialists for specific verification challenges such as cache coherency. As chips have grown ceaselessly in size and complexity, the traditional verification method of simulation could not keep pace. The task of generating and running enough tests consumed enormous resources in terms of engineers, simulation ... » read more

Improving In-System Test With Tessent VersaPoint Test Point Technology


This paper describes a new versatile test point technology called VersaPoint, which has been developed specifically to work with designs implementing mixed EDT/LBIST methodologies to reduce EDT pattern counts and improve Logic BIST (LBIST) test coverage. VersaPoint test points can reduce compressed pattern counts 2X to 4X beyond compression alone and improve LBIST test coverage beyond what is p... » read more

Planning Out Verification


OneSpin Solutions’ Nicolae Tusinschi talks with Semiconductor Engineering about how to move from specification to signoff in a verification flow. https://youtu.be/2zrgaq2I1SQ » read more

Solving Puzzling Power-Aware Coverage: Getting An Aggregated Coverage Metric


Coverage metrics tell us when a design has been thoroughly verified, or at least exercised to the point of diminishing returns. Rarely can every design artifact or design parameter of a highly complex design be covered 100 percent, but we can use coverage metrics to know the extent to which we have verified the design — enough to be confident that it will function as desired in the end produc... » read more

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