In the early 1980s, when computer-aided engineering (CAE), the precursor to modern electronic design automation (EDA), was just taking shape, my professional trajectory shifted in a way that would prove foundational. I joined Teradyne, the Boston-based leader in automated test equipment (ATE), and I encountered for the first time the world of logic and fault … Read more
For the past decade, the semiconductor industry has been moving in one direction: shift-left, specifically, shifting more validation into the pre-silicon phase. The idea was straightforward: if software ultimately determines how a system behaves, then software should become a primary vehicle for verification. The industry responded by investing heavily in virtual platforms, emulation systems, and … Read more
Hardware emulation arose as a necessity out of the needs of the eighties. By the mid-1980s, semiconductor designs had outgrown the practical limits of gate-level simulation. Gate-level simulation delivered accuracy, but at glacial pace; silicon prototypes performed at real-speed but arrived far too late. The industry needed a new instrument, a verification engine capable of … Read more
FPGA prototyping and hardware emulation originated from two independent demands that emerged at roughly the same time, namely, the necessity to implement digital designs in reconfigurable hardware. This was conceivable given the newly introduced field programmable gate array (FPGA) device. Yet from the very beginning they were driven by different motivations. Hardware emulation emerged from … Read more
The 40-Year Evolution of Hardware-Assisted Verification — From In-Circuit Emulation to AI-Era Full-Stack Validation For more than a decade, Hardware-Assisted Verification platforms have been the centerpiece of the verification toolbox. Today, no serious semiconductor program reaches tapeout without emulation or FPGA-prototyping playing a central role. HAV has become so deeply embedded in the development flow … Read more
The competitive landscape of hardware-assisted verification (HAV) has evolved dramatically over the past decade. The strategic drivers that once defined the market have shifted in step with the rapidly changing dynamics of semiconductor design. Design complexity has soared, with modern SoCs now integrating tens of billions of transistors, multiple dies, and an ever-expanding mix of … Read more