This software is intended to help logic verification teams overcome a host of challenges associated with the dramatic rise in design complexity of sophisticated, next-generation integrated circuits (ICs).
Team-based, cloud-enabled, data-driven and powered by artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Questa Verification IQ looks to help accelerate verification closure, streamline traceability, optimise resources and speed time-to-market.
Logic verification traditionally consumes over 70 percent of the overall IC development cycle and achieving design closure i.e., knowing engineers have done enough of the right kind of verification to ensure your design will work flawlessly, is a growing challenge as each new generation of IC designs introduce higher levels of complexity.
According to a 2022 Wilson Research industry study, verification teams achieving first silicon success has declined from 31 percent in 2014 to just 24 percent in 2022, which represents the lowest level recorded in the past 20 years.
Questa Verification IQ is tightly integrated with Siemens’ Polarion REQUIREMENTS software to deliver a platform that is able to automatically capture all data from every engine run across the life of a project, helping customers manage requirements, coding, testing and release management across the design and verification process. This combination provides a tight digital thread optimised for functional safety compliance tasks, providing a traceable solution from requirements down to verification results and implementation.
Questa Verification IQ unifies coverage data from the formal and simulation engines within Siemens’ Questa platform, OneSpin software, Symphony platform for analogue and mixed-signal simulation, as well as Siemens’ Veloce hardware for emulation and prototyping.
According to Siemens the machine learning functionality in Questa is able to analyse the data to predict patterns and holes, identify root causes, and prescribe solutions to potential issues; thereby helping to improve efficiency and giving teams the information needed to signoff with confidence.
“Companies across the globe on the cutting edge of chip design and verification are leveraging big data to spark innovation, streamline operations and boost efficiencies,” said Abhi Kolpekwar, vice president and general manager of Design Verification Technology for Siemens EDA. “With the launch of Questa Verification IQ, Siemens is transforming IC verification with a state-of-the-art, data-driven verification solution that can speed and simplify the verification process using analytics, collaboration and traceability – especially when married to Siemens’ Polarion REQUIREMENTS software.”
Questa Verification IQ is implemented in a web-based application framework, providing scalable verification management, while achieving device and OS independence.
Supporting public, private and hybrid cloud configurations with native collaboration and centralised data access, Questa Verification IQ will help global engineering teams collaborate in real time to accelerate the verification management process and provide real-time project visibility.
Questa Verification IQ is also fully integrated with popular Continuous Integration (CI) tools such as Jenkins to automate workflows.
