Michael Sanie Plays the Synopsys Verification Variations

Michael Sanie Plays the Synopsys Verification Variations
by Paul McLellan on 08-31-2015 at 7:00 am

I met Michael Sanie last week. He is in charge of verification marketing at Synopsys. I know him well since he worked for me at both VLSI Technology and Cadence. In fact his first job out of college was to take over support of VLSIextract (our circuit extractor), which I had written. But we are getting ahead.

Michael was born in Iran and… Read More


Synopsys Software Integrity: Find All the Bugs

Synopsys Software Integrity: Find All the Bugs
by Paul McLellan on 05-29-2015 at 9:30 am

A couple of days ago Synopsys announced that they were acquiring Quotium’s product Seeker. This is an interactive application security testing (IAST) product. Synopsys are acquiring the product and the R&D team, not the whole of Quotium. The Seeker solution is a pioneering solution for IAST that helps businesses find high-risk… Read More


OneSpin Launchpad, the App Store for Formal Verification

OneSpin Launchpad, the App Store for Formal Verification
by Paul McLellan on 05-21-2015 at 7:00 am

Formal verification is qualitatively different from most other verification. A simulation can pass or fail. But while formal verification can prove that the circuit is correct, or incorrect, it can also return “not proven” which means either that the algorithms realized that they were not powerful enough to prove… Read More


HLS Tools Coming into Limelight!

HLS Tools Coming into Limelight!
by Pawan Fangaria on 11-20-2014 at 10:00 pm

For about a decade I am looking forward to seeing more of system level design and verification including high level synthesis (HLS), virtual prototyping, and system modeling etc. to come in the main stream of SoC design. Although the progress has been slow, I see it accelerating as more and more tools address the typical pain points… Read More


How Sonics Uses Jasper Formal Verification

How Sonics Uses Jasper Formal Verification
by Paul McLellan on 11-11-2014 at 7:00 am

The Jasper part of Cadence announced jointly with Sonics a relationship whereby Sonics uses JasperGold Apps as part of their verification. I talked to Drew Wingard, the CTO, about how they use it.

One way is during the day when their design engineers use Jasper as part of their verification arsenal. Interestingly it is the design… Read More


Cadence Acquires Jasper

Cadence Acquires Jasper
by Paul McLellan on 04-21-2014 at 4:06 pm

Cadence announced today that it is acquiring Jasper Design Automation for $170M in an all-cash offer. Jasper has $24M in cash so it is really an acquisition for around $145M. i think that is around 4X revenue but I only know rumors about Jasper’s revenue numbers.

All the big 3 already have their own formal technology but the … Read More


Kathryn: "Formal Will Dominate Verification"

Kathryn: "Formal Will Dominate Verification"
by Paul McLellan on 10-23-2013 at 4:16 pm

At the Jasper Users’ Group meeting, Kathryn presented the state of Jasper. The numbers are impressive. The company has grown at a CAGR of over 35% since 2007, which is 6 times faster than EDA as a whole. They have been profitable at 15-20% EBITDA for 14 consecutive quarters.

Jasper is focused on engaging deeply with a small number… Read More


LSI’s Experience With Formality Ultra

LSI’s Experience With Formality Ultra
by Paul McLellan on 08-26-2013 at 5:36 pm

LSI is an early adopter of Formality Ultra, Synopsys’s tool for improving the entire ECO flow. I already wrote about the basic capability of the tool here. ECOs are changes that come very late in the design cycle, after place and route has already been “nearly” completed. They occur either due to last minute spec… Read More


Jasper: Negronis on tap

Jasper: Negronis on tap
by Paul McLellan on 08-22-2013 at 6:26 pm

Did you know that Jasper’s Corner Tap in San Francisco serves Negronis on tap? It’s true. They also have Hanky Panky on tap, which is a Negroni with the Campari replaced with Fernet (which everyone pronounces as Frenet despite it being…well…wrong). And here’s another thing you probably didn’t… Read More


What Do Brazil and Sweden Have in Common?

What Do Brazil and Sweden Have in Common?
by Paul McLellan on 08-06-2013 at 4:55 pm

Well, Sweden is not noted for its carnivals, Brazil is not noted for it’s tall blonde blue-eyed women, Sweden’s climate is not great for growing sugar cane and Brazil’s isn’t great for reindeer. Both countries speak languages with odd-sounding vowels but they are not the same language. But, ding, Jasper… Read More