The Quest for Bugs: “Verification is a Data Problem!”

The Quest for Bugs: “Verification is a Data Problem!”
by Bryan Dickman on 10-04-2023 at 10:00 am

The Quest for Bugs Verification is a data problem

Verification Data Analytics

Hardware Verification is a highly data-intensive or data-heavy problem. Verification Engineers recognise this and spend much of their time dealing with large and complex datasets arising from verification processes.

In “The Dilemmas of Hardware Verification” we explored the key challenges … Read More


The Quest for Bugs: “Shift-Left, Right?”

The Quest for Bugs: “Shift-Left, Right?”
by Bryan Dickman on 08-10-2021 at 10:00 am

Quest for Bugs Shift Left EDA

Shift-left, why?

Shift-left testing is an approach to software and system testing which is performed earlier in the lifecycle (that is, moved left on the project timeline). It is the first half of the “Test early and often” maxim that was coined by Larry Smith in 2001.

It’s now an established idea, much talked about … Read More


The Quest for Bugs: “Correct by Design!”

The Quest for Bugs: “Correct by Design!”
by Bryan Dickman on 07-04-2021 at 6:00 am

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In this article we take an objective view of Virtual Prototyping from the engineering lens and the “quest to find bugs”. In this instance we discuss the avoidance of bugs in terms of architecting complex ASICs to be “correct by design”.

AI Challenges

It is not surprising to find out that other areas of human endeavour, beyond semiconductor… Read More


The Quest for Bugs: Bugs of Power

The Quest for Bugs: Bugs of Power
by Bryan Dickman on 05-16-2021 at 10:00 am

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Shooting beyond the hill…

In former times (think WW1 before GPS and satellites), an artillery battery trying to shell targets out of sight behind a hill would have to rely on an approximate grid reference and a couple of soldiers on top of the hill (who could see the target) to tell them where the shots were landing. These range finders… Read More


The Quest for Bugs: “Deep Cycles”

The Quest for Bugs: “Deep Cycles”
by Bryan Dickman on 04-04-2021 at 6:00 am

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Verification is a resource limited ‘quest’ to find as many bugs as possible before shipping. It’s a long, difficult, costly search, constrained by cost, time and quality. For a multi-billion gate ASIC,

The search space is akin to a space search; practically infinite

In this article we talk about the quest for bugs at the system-level,Read More


The Quest for Bugs: Dilemmas of Hardware Verification

The Quest for Bugs: Dilemmas of Hardware Verification
by Bryan Dickman on 02-28-2021 at 6:00 am

The Quest for Bugs Dilemmas of Hardware Verfication

Functional Verification for complex ASICs or IP-Core products is a resource limited ‘quest’ to find as many bugs as possible before tape-out or release. It can be a long, difficult and costly search that is constrained by cost, time and quality. The search space is practically infinite, and 100% exhaustive verification is an unrealisticRead More