Feature: Embedded design


Verification innovations that complement the design flexibility of RISC-V


By Kevin McDermott, VP of Marketing, and Aimee Sutton, Director of Product Engineering, Imperas Software


W


hile processor verification is not entirely new, it was considered a specialist


activity, suitable for just a small number of IP designers. Processor verification is also significantly different from a regular design verification (DV) due to the complexity of the various operational states, but also because the wide variety of application software and operating systems dramatically increase the number of test cases. While testing methods and standards have developed to support SoC verification (e.g., System Verilog methodologies such as UVM), processor verification has not – that is until RISC-V, which is lowering the barriers to innovation with new design choices, allowing any team to consider and evaluate new processor design optimisations. RISC-V is an open standard processor


verification specification, which not only encourages innovations and


18 May 2023 www.electronicsworld.co.uk


RISC-V is an open standard processor verification specification, which not only encourages innovations and design flexibility, but also leads to its wide market adoption


design flexibility, but also leads to its wide market adoption. Its instruction set architecture (ISA) has a modular structure, with many extensions and configuration options, but also the choice to add custom instructions. A growing ecosystem around RISC-V already exists, further supporting innovations based on it; developers now have a broad range of options to select processor IP, open-source projects, and


various implementation for a target application. Depending on the end application and


project plans, the RISC-V verification quality is another set of choices for development teams. A research or proof-of-concept test chip may not merit the full verification quality requirements of a design destined for high-volume production or use in a high-reliability application such as automotive or aerospace. As part of the design plan, a


typical verification plan outlines the requirements to test the design features and functions to a certain level, and remains a crucial guide to the design’s progress until its sign-off to prototype manufacture. Although hardware and software projects have development- stage similarities, hardware design involves the commitment to design to manufacture that also requires a significant investment and, also, unlike with software projects, the impact of bugs, errors and late-stage design changes is much greater.


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