Siemens’ Innexis Suite Advances Shift Left for Faster, Earlier IC Development

At Siemens’ Shift Left event, industry leaders discuss Siemens’ new Innexis product suite’s potential to reshape IC development with early software-hardware co-design and digital twin technology

Siemens Digital Industries Software recently announced its Innexis product suite, extending the capabilities of its popular Veloce™ hardware-assisted verification platform. This new suite introduces a comprehensive set of tools designed to move IC development earlier in the design cycle, addressing the need for faster, software-driven development. The Innexis suite integrates virtual platforms, hybrid emulation, and digital twin technology to facilitate a shift-left approach, empowering teams to test, debug, and optimize software and hardware months ahead of traditional schedules.

The Shift Left event featured Jean-Marie Brunet from Siemens, alongside industry experts from Samsung, Arm, and AWS. Each presenter provided insights into how Innexis has impacted their workflows and accelerated their shift-left journey in IC and SoC design, validation, and deployment.

Jean-Marie Brunet: Siemens’ Vision for Shift Left in IC Development

Jean-Marie Brunet, Vice President and General Manager of Hardware-Assisted Verification at Siemens, kicked off the event by discussing the origins of Siemens’ shift-left philosophy. He explained how the rapid evolution of integrated circuits has led to increasingly software-defined products, from SoCs to complex embedded systems in automotive, aerospace, and telecommunications. Traditional hardware-driven verification approaches struggle to keep pace with today’s high-demand software workloads, so Siemens developed Innexis to address this gap, shifting software testing, validation, and debugging to earlier stages of the development cycle.

“Veloce has set a new standard in hardware-assisted verification, but the industry demands a deeper integration of software from the very start of IC development,” Brunet stated. “Innexis helps developers achieve this by offering a single platform that spans virtual, hybrid, and full-RTL verification, enabling teams to reuse the same software workload across every stage of the process.”

Brunet emphasized the importance of Innexis’ architecture, which offers multiple modes of operation. Starting from virtual simulations, it enables seamless transition to hybrid and finally full RTL models. This flexibility means teams can identify and resolve hardware-software conflicts earlier, thus avoiding costly last-minute changes and improving time-to-market. He underscored how Innexis allows designers to move complex software testing to the earliest phases, creating a more streamlined development experience.

Siemens Innexis offers customers the opportunity for a significant shift-left software development experience.

Dale Chang: Samsung’s Real-World Application of Shift Left with Innexis

Dale Chang, Principal Engineer of Emulation Infrastructure at Samsung, presented a detailed case study on how Samsung has integrated Innexis into its Exynos SoC development. As Samsung’s Galaxy line increasingly relies on software performance to differentiate in the marketplace, Samsung sought to bring their software verification process earlier in the cycle. Chang highlighted that with Innexis, they were able to co-design software and hardware simultaneously, enabling parallel development paths that save both time and resources.

“Previously, we had to wait until the full RTL model was ready to begin meaningful software testing. With Innexis Developer Pro, we’re able to integrate high-speed virtual platforms with hybrid simulation in the same environment,” Chang explained. “This lets us load and execute entire Android workloads within 10 minutes—compared to 20 hours on traditional emulation platforms. This speed gives our team a huge advantage, allowing us to identify issues early.”

Chang emphasized the impact of the Innexis hybrid mode, which enables Samsung to bring complex hardware IP blocks, like their custom GPUs and memory controllers, into the environment well before RTL finalization. Chang shared how Innexis Developer Pro has transformed their software integration processes by allowing them to combine custom IP components with standard ARM-based elements, effectively mirroring the SoC’s operational environment. Samsung also benefited from the high-performance debug and visualization tools within Innexis, which allowed developers to track power, performance, and interaction bottlenecks with precise detail.

Christopher Rumph: ARM’s High-Speed Virtual Platforms and Cloud-Driven Testing

Christopher Rumph, Senior Director of Automotive at Arm, shared Arm’s perspective on how Innexis aligns with its strategy of providing end-to-end compute solutions across cloud and edge environments. Rumph emphasized that Arm’s CSS (Compute Subsystems) models have evolved to meet the demands of high-performance applications in automotive and data center sectors, where early software-hardware co-design is critical.

“The Innexis Architecture Native Acceleration (ANA) platform is a game-changer because it allows us to leverage ARM-based cloud servers for high-speed simulations. Our customers can test their software directly on Arm infrastructure, achieving near real-time performance for software workloads that typically require complex and time-consuming simulations,” Rumph said.

Rumph highlighted how ANA, running on AWS Graviton servers, offers a scalable cloud solution that enables ARM customers to develop and validate software long before physical hardware is available. By running natively on ARM servers, the platform achieves substantial performance gains over traditional instruction set simulators. “The cloud-native support in Innexis lets us mirror our physical and virtual platforms, providing an ISA-parity experience for our customers. This has been essential in our work with digital twins, where we need to replicate the SoC’s full operational environment to catch potential issues early.”

The use of Innexis allows Arm’s automotive and IoT customers to run simulations of entire subsystems, leveraging Arm’s instruction set parity and high-speed virtual models. Rumph demonstrated how this approach supports Arm’s “Cloud to Edge” strategy, ensuring that the same software libraries, configurations, and drivers perform consistently, regardless of deployment location.

Dr. Ravi Poddar: AWS’ Cloud-Native Shift Left for Large-Scale IC Verification

AWS’ Dr. Ravi Poddar presented on the advantages of using cloud-native shift-left approaches in IC development. He outlined how AWS, one of the largest users and designers of Arm-based silicon, has integrated Innexis into its cloud-based workflows to enhance verification for AWS Graviton processors. With the Innexis ANA solution, AWS can run digital twins and complex simulations on-demand, taking advantage of Arm’s compatibility with Graviton instances.

“Traditional, data center-based IC verification setups are resource-constrained and create bottlenecks in the development flow. By shifting to the cloud with Innexis ANA, we can scale our testing to meet our needs, eliminating queuing delays and accelerating our time-to-market,” Poddar stated. He explained that with Innexis, AWS has reduced software verification cycles for its own chips by enabling early software validation, defect identification, and high-speed testing of software workloads that run natively on Arm servers.

Poddar shared an example from the automotive sector, highlighting Volvo’s use of AWS Graviton with Innexis ANA to run ECU (engine control unit) simulations. Volvo used the platform to replicate a vehicle’s entire control system architecture in a virtual twin, running simulations in real-time to test control systems, safety features, and power efficiency. By leveraging ANA, Volvo was able to complete a level of testing previously impossible without physical prototypes, allowing early-stage validation for safety-critical applications.

Scott Morrison: Innexis Developer Pro, Innexis ANA, and Innexis VSI—Siemens’ Complete Shift-Left Solution

Scott Morrison, Vice President of Shift Left Software Product Management at Siemens, presented a deep dive into the architecture of the Innexis suite, breaking down its components and how they support the Shift Left methodology.

1. Innexis Developer Pro: Morrison detailed how Innexis Developer Pro offers an interconnected development flow from virtual to hybrid to full RTL. The tool allows companies to begin software development months ahead of RTL completion by combining virtual and hybrid modes to support software workloads across different simulation environments. “Developer Pro’s hybrid mode enables us to merge high-speed virtual platforms with RTL models, achieving power and performance analyses at the earliest stages possible,” Morrison explained.
2. Innexis Architecture Native Acceleration (ANA): Morrison described ANA as the cornerstone of early-stage, high-speed virtual testing. ANA uses ARM-native Graviton servers to deliver exceptionally fast performance, enabling teams to boot entire Linux-based systems within seconds rather than hours. ANA also offers cloud-based scalability, allowing IC teams to access and test software remotely with browser-based tools and manage workloads dynamically across multiple servers.
3. Innexis Virtual System Interconnect (VSI): Morrison highlighted VSI’s ability to create comprehensive digital twin models for highly complex systems, including software-defined vehicles and aerospace systems. VSI connects multiple behavioral models within a single virtual backplane, incorporating both physical and virtual elements into a unified simulation. “By integrating multi-behavioral subsystems and connecting models across different levels of the development flow, VSI allows us to create a high-fidelity digital twin, supporting end-to-end testing and pre-silicon validation,” Morrison shared.

The Innexis VSI feature enables IC developers to create an accurate virtual model of the entire system, simulating real-world operational conditions and supporting various communication protocols. This functionality has been particularly valuable in automotive applications, where high-speed simulations and system-level models are required to test complex subsystems, such as infotainment, engine control, and autonomous driving systems.

Innexis’ Role in the Future of Shift Left IC Development

Start software development earlier, using realistic workloads, to identify issues as early as possible​. Quantify power and performance earlier​. Reduce overall product development timeline.

The Siemens Shift Left event showcased the power and flexibility of the Innexis product suite, illustrating its impact on various sectors of IC development, from mobile and automotive to data center and aerospace. With virtual platforms, hybrid emulation, and digital twin capabilities, Innexis transforms how designers and developers work, enabling them to identify issues earlier, achieve faster time-to-market, and maintain consistent software workloads across each development phase.

As the presenters shared their insights, it became clear that Innexis is not merely an extension of Siemens’ Veloce platform but a transformative approach that addresses the growing complexity and software-centric nature of IC development. By unifying virtual platforms, hybrid emulation, and digital twin capabilities, Innexis supports teams in identifying issues earlier, ensuring a faster path to market and consistent, reliable performance across each stage of the development cycle. With the Innexis product suite, Siemens is setting a new standard in hardware-software co-development, enabling a proactive shift-left approach that is essential for the next generation of advanced semiconductor and SoC designs across industries.

Tags: digital twin, hybrid emulation, IC development, Innexis, Shift Left, virtual platforms

Category: Siemens

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