Bridging the IP Divide


IP reuse enabled greater efficiency in the creation of large, complex SoCs, but even after 20 years there are few tools to bridge the divide between the IP provider and the IP user. The problem is that there is an implicit fuzzy contract describing how the IP should be used, what capabilities it provides, and the extent of the verification that has been performed. IP vendors have been trying to... » read more

Making Way For Register Specification Software


No one gives much thought to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning registers in the house –– typically, two in each room, one for supply, the other for return. That is, until the lever in each needs to be manually adjusted to modulate the temperature to be hotter or colder, or the seasons change and the filters with them. Alas, registers in hardware design seem to have gotten the... » read more

UVM Register Layer: The Structure


I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to the day where we won’t even have to go to the doctor’s office for an exam. Instead, we will all have scanners in our homes that will transmit full digital models to our doctors who can then poke, prod, and examine us remotely. This is essentially what the UVM register layer allows and does. The UVM register layer acts similarly by mod... » read more

Verification Facing Unique Inflection Point


The Design and Verification Conference and Exhibition (DVCon) attracted more than 1,100 people to San Jose last week, just slightly less than last year. While a lot of focus, and most of the glory, goes to design within semiconductor companies, it is verification where most of the advancements are happening and thus the bigger focus for DVCon. The rate of change in verification and the producti... » read more

UVM: It’s Organized And Systematic


One of the reasons I like using UVM is its tendency toward an organized structure and uniformity. Some may find it annoying to adhere to such a strict format in UVM, but I think it’s a good way to keep the basics of UVM engrained in your brain. You always want a good foundation and development of strong fundamentals in any endeavor. Verification is no different and UVM hammers the fundamental... » read more

Still Time to Blow Up UVM


Blowing up UVM is something I ran on my own blog a few years ago. Considering not much has changed with respect to UVM – that it continues to dominate verification circles – I figured it’s a discussion worth re-starting. In my mind, it’s not too late to take a few steps forward by blowing up UVM. A little history… the idea to blow up UVM was motivated by a slide snapshot posted to ... » read more

Beyond UVM Registers — Better, Faster, Smarter


Adoption of SystemVerilog UVM is growing stronger. Verification teams are expanding their knowledge with respect to UVM features and capabilities. These verification teams are using the UVM Register layer with good success. But the UVM Register layer has many moving parts and intricate details. It can be difficult to adopt and it can be difficult to model complex registers. It is a complex syst... » read more

Verification Grows Up


Semiconductor Engineering sat down with a group of verification experts to see how much progress has been made in solving issues associated with the profession. Panelists included Mike Baird, President of Willamette HDL; Jin Zhang, VP marketing and customer relations for [getentity id="22147" comment="Oski Technology"] and Lauro Rizzatti, a marketing consultant and previously the general manage... » read more

A History of (Premature) Optimization


I saw some material shared from DVCon Europe last month that suggested a competition brewing between shift left and agile in semiconductor development. As someone who’s been following shift left writing and been advocating for agile development, this kind of comparison is more than a little odd to see. It’s a comparison between two as yet amorphous development strategies, neither of which i... » read more

U.V.M. Spells Relief


Verification can be a challenging endeavor. As designs grow in size and complexity, engineers are having difficulty confirming their designs behave properly. This is where UVM may provide some relief. UVM aims to deliver an easier and more flexible way of creating robust test environments so that you can verify those difficult designs effortlessly. So what is UVM? UVM is a verification meth... » read more

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