Scaling the RISC-V Verification Stack

Scaling the RISC-V Verification Stack
by Bernard Murphy on 03-15-2023 at 6:00 am

RISC V verification stack

The RISC-V open ISA premise was clearly a good bet. It’s taking off everywhere, however verification is still a challenge. As an alternative to Arm, the architecture and functionality from multiple IP providers looks very competitive, but how do RISC-V providers and users ensure the same level of confidence we have in Arm? Arm … Read More


Breker Attacks System Coherency Verification

Breker Attacks System Coherency Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 01-31-2022 at 6:00 am

System Coherency min

The great thing about architectural solutions to increasing throughput is that they offer big improvements. Multiple CPUs on a chip with (partially) shared cache hierarchies are now commonplace in server processors for this reason. But that big gain comes with significant added complexity in verifying correct behavior. In… Read More


Podcast EP53: Breker’s New CEO Weighs in on the Company, DAC and the Future of Verification

Podcast EP53: Breker’s New CEO Weighs in on the Company, DAC and the Future of Verification
by Daniel Nenni on 12-17-2021 at 10:00 am

Dan is joined by Dave Kelf, who was recently appointed CEO of Breker Verification Systems. Dave discusses Breker’s unique approach to verification of complex systems, what its future impact will be and what Breker will be doing at DAC.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in these podcasts belong solely to the

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Breker Tips a Hat to Formal Graphs in PSS Security Verification

Breker Tips a Hat to Formal Graphs in PSS Security Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 04-16-2020 at 6:00 am

Breker security tables

It might seem paradoxical that simulation (or equivalent dynamic methods) might be one of the best ways to run security checks. Checking security is a problem where you need to find rare corners that a hacker might exploit. In dynamic verification, no matter how much we test we know we’re not going to cover all corners, so how can it… Read More


Verification, RISC-V and Extensibility

Verification, RISC-V and Extensibility
by Bernard Murphy on 02-05-2020 at 6:00 am

RISC-V

RISC-V is obviously making progress. Independent of licensee signups and new technical offerings, the simple fact that Arm is responding – in fundamental changes to their licensing model and in allowing custom user extensions to the instruction set – is proof enough that they see a real competitive threat from RISC-V.

Which all… Read More


Breker on PSS and UVM

Breker on PSS and UVM
by Bernard Murphy on 05-21-2019 at 5:00 am

When PSS comes up, a lot of mainstream verification engineers are apt to get nervous. They worry that just as they’re starting to get the hang of UVM, the ivory tower types are changing the rules of dynamic verification again and that they’ll have to reboot all that hard-won UVM learning to a new language. The PSS community and tool … Read More