Efficient debugging workflow in chip circuit verification: A targeted simulation approach

Chip circuit verification is a vital to the semiconductor industry, ensuring that integrated circuits meet design specifications and quality standards. During the verification process, engineers aim to identify and resolve potential design flaws or violations before the chip goes into production. To meet tight tape-out deadlines, verification simulations need to be as fast as possible, as there can be many iterations of these runs. However, that is only part of the challenge. IC designers need to quickly identify circuit issues, but fixing them requires debug data. Traditional approaches either sacrifice speed by including all debug data in the main verification run or compromise debug capabilities by omitting crucial data to expedite the process. Balancing the need for fast verification with the necessity of detailed debug information presents a dilemma.

What you'll learn:

• Why verification engineers are forced to trade off verification run time and the ability to debug effectively.
• How to better balance verification speed with detailed debug.
• How to obtain debug data for Calibre PERC point-to-point results from the Calibre RVE debug environment.

Who should read this:

• IC verification engineers looking for more efficient circuit verification and debug.
• IC designers interested in reducing verification time and achieve on-time tapeout.