RTL Signoff is certainly one of the hot topics in chip design circles lately, and one that is garnering great interest and concern. I chatted recently with Piyush Sancheti, VP of Marketing at Atrenta, on what it is, why it’s a design imperative, and how it should be done.
Liz: Piyush, thanks for taking the time out to chat with me today on this vital topic…RTL Signoff.
Piyush: No problem, Liz
Liz: So, to start out, what is RTL Signoff?
Piyush: “RTL Signoff” gained momentum as an established concept in 2013. While the concept is not new, a commonly-accepted definition did not exist in the past, which is now beginning to emerge. Here’s what I think RTL Signoff is: a comprehensive series of well-defined MUST-pass requirements for your RTL before you commit the design to downstream implementation such as synthesis and physical layout. In addition to this complete set of RTL Signoff requirements, you need tools and methodologies to meet the requirement, along with tangible metrics to measure your pass/fail criteria.
