Functional flaws in our everyday electronics are annoying. Internet routers can suddenly stop working, or our smart phones can suddenly freeze. For safety-critical systems such as the airplane engine control system, functional flaws can be catastrophic, and can lead to fatalities of all passengers. For both consumer-type and safety-critical systems, ASIC/FPGA teams strive to minimize functional flaws to the best of their abilities using their verification prowess with the help of EDA tools. The more the budget the better the resource they have for minimizing functional flaws.
I just attended the webinar about the results of the Wilson Research Group & Mentor’s 2018 Functional Verification Study, and I can say that I’m not surprised with the results regarding root causes of functional flaws – this is what my team and I come across with frequently when we talk to our prospective customers and verification community.
