Verification

As one of Sarge’s students once said, “FInd bugs is more difficult than writing bugs.”  Even though English was his second language, his point is well made.  Verification is one of the most difficult problems on any ASIC today.  With protocol/design specs thicker than a Harry Potter novel, the verification task has become enormous. 

Sarge was introduced to the coverage driven approach to verification in 2000, and has advocated that methodology ever since.  It is the only way to get a handle on the complexity of today’s designs.

Sarge works in parallel with the RTL design phase to get a behavioral model running, which allows the verification team to work at creating tests while the RTL is being developed.  This way, tests can be run the very same day the RTL is complete.

Sarge has worked with all the major HVLs in production today, and is considered an expert Specman user.  He continues to teach Specman when the need arises, and is a proud member of Cadence’s Verification Alliance. 

Sarge’s Invincible Consulting© 2008