SoC Design Verification (Full-Chip, Low Power, GLS, UVM)

A leading semiconductor company developing next-generation GPU/CPU System-on-Chip (SoC) platforms partnered with our engineering team to accelerate the verification of their advanced silicon designs. These SoCs were targeted for high-performance computing, gaming, and mobile platforms, requiring rigorous validation to ensure reliability, performance, and power efficiency.

The project involved comprehensive full-chip verification across multiple subsystems including low-power domains, high-speed interfaces, and complex data processing engines. Our verification experts implemented a scalable UVM-based verification environment and advanced simulation methodologies to ensure functional correctness and achieve complete signoff readiness before tape-out.

Through advanced verification methodologies, automation frameworks, and coverage-driven verification strategies, the team successfully validated complex SoC architectures across RTL and gate-level simulations.

The Challenge

Modern SoC architectures integrate multiple heterogeneous IP blocks, high-speed interfaces, and complex power management domains. The client required a robust verification strategy to validate these complex systems across multiple operating scenarios while maintaining aggressive project timelines.

Key challenges included:

• Verifying a complex GPU/CPU-based SoC architecture integrating multiple IP blocks and subsystems

• Ensuring full-chip verification coverage across power domains, interfaces, and compute clusters

• Implementing low-power verification using UPF to validate power gating and power state transitions

• Validating multiple high-speed interfaces including PCIe, USB, and AVFS

• Building scalable DFT and MBIST verification environments

• Achieving high functional coverage closure using UVM methodologies

• Performing gate-level simulation (GLS) to verify timing behavior and silicon readiness

Additionally, the project required coordinating across distributed engineering teams and maintaining verification productivity while managing multiple design iterations.

Our Solutions

Our verification team established a structured verification framework built on industry-standard methodologies and scalable test environments.

Full-Chip Verification Environment

A comprehensive UVM-based verification infrastructure was developed to validate the entire SoC architecture. The framework enabled reusable verification components and scalable testbench architecture to accelerate verification cycles.

Low-Power Verification

Advanced low-power verification techniques were implemented using UPF to validate power intent, power gating, isolation logic, and state transitions across multiple power domains.

Interface Protocol Verification

Dedicated verification environments were built for critical interface protocols including PCIe, USB, and AVFS to ensure interoperability, protocol compliance, and performance validation.

DFT and MBIST Validation

Verification models and test scenarios were developed to validate DFT logic and MBIST controllers to ensure reliable manufacturing test coverage.

Functional Coverage Closure

Coverage-driven verification techniques were implemented using UVM to systematically close functional coverage across multiple verification scenarios and corner cases.

Gate-Level Simulation

Gate-level simulation and timing-aware verification were performed to validate post-synthesis behaviour and confirm silicon readiness before tape-out.

The Results

• Successful full-chip SoC verification across multiple subsystems
• Comprehensive low-power verification across multiple power domains
• High functional coverage closure using UVM methodology

• Validation across RTL and gate-level simulation environments
• Robust verification infrastructure supporting future design scalability
• Improved verification efficiency through reusable UVM components and automation frameworks

Technologies Used

SystemVerilog
UVM (Universal Verification Methodology)
UPF (Unified Power Format)
Gate-Level Simulation (GLS)
DFT and MBIST Verification
PCIe / USB Protocol Verification
Advanced Simulation Platforms (VCS, Xcelium, Questa)