Topics for Innovation in Verification

Topics for Innovation in Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 12-21-2021 at 6:00 am

signpost min

Paul, Raúl and I are having fun with our Innovation in Verification series, and you seem to be also, judging by the hit rates we’re getting. We track these carefully to judge what you find most interesting and what seems to fall more under the category of “Meh”. Paul and others also get informal feedback in client meetings but it would… Read More


Learning-Based Power Modeling. Innovation in Verification

Learning-Based Power Modeling. Innovation in Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 11-23-2021 at 6:00 am

Innovation New

Learning-Based Power Modeling. Innovation in Verification

Is it possible to automatically generate abstract power models for complex IP which can both run fast and preserve high estimation accuracy? Paul Cunningham (GM, Verification at Cadence), Raúl Camposano (Silicon Catalyst, entrepreneur, former Synopsys CTO) and… Read More


Memory Consistency Checks at RTL. Innovation in Verification

Memory Consistency Checks at RTL. Innovation in Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 10-28-2021 at 6:00 am

Innovation New

Multicore systems working with shared memory must support a well-defined model for consistency of thread accesses to that memory. There are multiple possible consistency models. Can a design team run memory consistency checks at RTL? Paul Cunningham (GM, Verification at Cadence), Raúl Camposano (Silicon Catalyst, entrepreneur,… Read More


An ISA-like Accelerator Abstraction. Innovation in Verification

An ISA-like Accelerator Abstraction. Innovation in Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 09-29-2021 at 6:00 am

Innovation New

A processor ISA provides an abstraction against which to verify an implementation. We look here at a paper extending this concept to accelerators, for verification of how these interact with processors and software. Paul Cunningham (GM, Verification at Cadence), Raúl Camposano (Silicon Catalyst, entrepreneur, former Synopsys… Read More


Side Channel Analysis at RTL. Innovation in Verification

Side Channel Analysis at RTL. Innovation in Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 08-26-2021 at 6:00 am

Innovation New

Roots of trust can’t prevent attacks through side-channels which monitor total power consumption or execution timing. Correcting weakness to such attacks requires pre-silicon vulnerability analysis. Paul Cunningham (GM, Verification at Cadence), Raúl Camposano (Silicon Catalyst, entrepreneur, former Synopsys CTO)… Read More


Instrumenting Post-Silicon Validation. Innovation in Verification

Instrumenting Post-Silicon Validation. Innovation in Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 07-28-2021 at 6:00 am

Instrumenting Post-Silicon Validation

Instrumenting post-silicon validation is not a new idea but here’s a twist. Using (pre-silicon) emulation to choose debug observation structures to instrument in-silicon. Paul Cunningham (GM, Verification at Cadence), Raúl Camposano (Silicon Catalyst, entrepreneur, former Synopsys CTO) and I continue our series on research… Read More


Neural Nets and CR Testing. Innovation in Verification

Neural Nets and CR Testing. Innovation in Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 06-29-2021 at 10:00 am

Instrumenting Post-Silicon Validation

Leveraging neural nets and CR testing isn’t as simple as we first thought. But is that the last word in combining these two techniques? Paul Cunningham (GM, Verification at Cadence), Raúl Camposano (Silicon Catalyst, entrepreneur, former Synopsys CTO) and I continue our series on research ideas. As always, feedback welcome.… Read More


Fuzzing to Validate SoC Security. Innovation in Verification

Fuzzing to Validate SoC Security. Innovation in Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 05-26-2021 at 6:00 am

Innovation image 2021 min

Fuzzing is to software verification what randomization is hardware verification. Can a fuzzing approach improve hardware security testing? Paul Cunningham (GM, Verification at Cadence), Raúl Camposano (Silicon Catalyst, entrepreneur, former Synopsys CTO) and I continue our series on research ideas. As always, feedback… Read More


Agile and Verification, Validation. Innovation in Verification

Agile and Verification, Validation. Innovation in Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 04-27-2021 at 6:00 am

Innovation image 2021

Agile methods in hardware design are becoming topical again. What does this mean for verification? Paul Cunningham (GM, Verification at Cadence) and I continue our series on research ideas. We’re also honored this month to welcome Raúl Camposano to our blog as a very distinguished replacement for Jim Hogan. As always, feedback… Read More


Cadence Underlines Verification Throughput at DVCon

Cadence Underlines Verification Throughput at DVCon
by Bernard Murphy on 03-10-2021 at 6:00 am

Verification Throughput min

Paul Cunningham, CVP and GM of the System Verification Group at Cadence gave the afternoon Keynote on Tuesday at DVCon and doubled down on his verification-throughput message. At the end of the day, what matters most to us in verification is the number of bugs found and fixed per dollar per day. You can’t really argue with that message.… Read More