Creative Applications of Formal at Intel

Creative Applications of Formal at Intel
by Bernard Murphy on 12-01-2021 at 6:00 am

formal image min

One of the sessions I enjoyed at the Synopsys Verification Day 2021 was a presentation on applying formal to a couple of non-traditional problem domains. I like talks of this kind because formal can sometimes be boxed into a limited set of applications, under-exploiting the potential of the technology. Intel have built a centralized… Read More


Formal for Post-Silicon Bug Hunting? Makes perfect sense

Formal for Post-Silicon Bug Hunting? Makes perfect sense
by Bernard Murphy on 03-31-2021 at 6:00 am

Bug hunting process for DDR problem min

You verified your product design against every scenario your team could imagine. Simulated, emulated, with constrained random to push coverage as high as possible. Maybe you even added virtualized testing against realistic external traffic. You tape out, wait with fingers crossed for first silicon to come back. Plug it into… Read More


Trust, but verify. How to catch peanut butter engineering before it spreads into your system — Part 1: Validation.

Trust, but verify. How to catch peanut butter engineering before it spreads into your system — Part 1: Validation.
by Raul Perez on 02-01-2021 at 10:00 am

iStock 1071112784

I will address this topic with two blog posts: validation (i.e. post silicon) — Part 1, and verification (pre-silicon) — Part 2 (coming soon!). In this blog post, I will focus on validation.

One of the upsides of using catalog chips that have been in the market for a long time and have ramped in substantial volumes is thatRead More


Auto Introspection

Auto Introspection
by Bernard Murphy on 12-20-2015 at 4:00 pm

It is an indictment of our irrationality that our cars are now more health-conscious than we are. Increasingly safety-conscious readings of the ISO26262 standard now encourage that safety-critical electronics (anti-lock braking control for example) automatically self-test, not just at power-on but repeatedly as the car… Read More


Develop A Complete System Prototype Using Vista VP

Develop A Complete System Prototype Using Vista VP
by Pawan Fangaria on 09-22-2013 at 6:00 pm

Yes, it means complete hardware and software integration, debugging, verification, optimization of performance and power and all other operational aspects of an electronic system in semiconductor design. In modern SoCs, several IPs, RTL blocks, software modules, firmware and so on sit together on a single chip, hence making… Read More