With as much as 70% of System IC design effort now applied to design verification rather than implementation, S3 Group's unique system, RTL and pre-silicon verification capabilities are adapted to the specific requirements of each System on Chip (SoC) design we undertake. This ensures the delivery of silicon that precisely meets client specifications and schedules right-first-time. S3 Group has published widely in this area and partners with key technology suppliers and EDA Vendors to ensure access to best in class tools.
S3 Group has a wealth of verification experience which is primarily driven by customer requirements. Our methodology uses a three pronged approach built on top of our proprietary in-house design flow, Nanoflow™. Our experience ranges from using standard self-checking testbenches, to more sophisticated verification environments like Specman and the use of directed and constrained-random verification testing. Co-verification of mixed signal environments is a common requirement in many of our engagements. Coverage driven verification utilizes code coverage metrics at block level and functional coverage through the use of assertions, while writing use-cases in C and running these on a platform processor achieves the highest possible verification coverage. These approaches can be used in isolation or in combination. S3 Group's experience typically helps choose the most suitable verification methodology.
FPGA based Emulation and Validation
We use the latest FPGA technologies to emulate system critical components in line with our 'FPGA Aware' approach to System on Chip (SoC) design. In addition, clients can access single module to complete SoC design emulation systems. Our Silicon Validation phase rigorously ensures every IC operates effectively within defined application scenarios and to specified functional and performance requirements.
