Verification is a field that has emerged as its own discipline, no longer being relegated to an activity led by the design team, and to which time is allocated as long as it doesn’t get in the way of designing. Chip companies that want to have predictable product release cycles have realized that it is a false choice to...
I will address this topic with two blog posts: validation (i.e. post silicon) -- Part 1, and verification (pre-silicon) -- Part 2. 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 that other system companies...
It can be a high wire walk to be able to keep your leverage in negotiating with a chip supplier while also committing to be single sourced on a custom silicon component. In an ideal world, one could have multiple sources for a custom chip. But in reality the engineering team’s time is a highly priced asset for your...
Custom silicon can be the right solution for your system for a lot of different reasons, but whatever they may be in your case, there are some basic steps that should always be taken to start on the path towards a successful custom silicon project. Here are five basic steps: 1. Decide where to integrate each type of circuit. By ‘where’...
