Reliability verification in the cloud delivers significant runtime benefits

Design complexities and time-to-market pressures compel companies to find innovative ways to leverage all available resources. Cloud compute environments provide a scalable and sustainable platform that can significantly improve runtimes in Calibre® PERC™ flows and other demanding EDA compute tasks. Running Calibre PERC verification flows on cloud resources to satisfy peak demand usage can increase productivity and expedite turnaround-times. Understanding the cost/benefit relationship of cloud computing helps companies determine the optimal configuration that provides the greatest returns.

Cloud computing provides runtime benefits in reliability verification

In parallel with the continuous drive to smaller process nodes, the complexity and number of reliability checks has grown immensely. Today’s integrated circuit (IC) designs need robust electronic design automation (EDA) solutions that provide automated reliability verification to
have any hope of getting to tapeout on schedule. However, the compute capacity needed to run these solutions in the necessary timeframes is not always available.

One alternative is to use 3rd-party cloud computing to satisfy “peak demand” periods when validating a full chip with foundry rule decks. The memory requirements and runtime profile of Calibre PERC verification flows are well-suited to readily available cloud machine types from cloud providers focusing on EDA-type loads and hardware needs. However, companies should clearly understand the requirements, limitations, and costs of cloud computing to make intelligent cost/benefit decisions when adopting this technology option.