A case for runtime validation of hardware

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Increasing hardware design complexity has resulted in significant challenges for hardware design verification. The growing "verification gap" between the complexity of what we can verify and what we can fabricate/design is indicative of a crisis that is likely to get only worse with increasing complexity. A variety of methodology and tool solutions have been proposed to deal with this crisis, but there is little optimism that a single solution or even a set of cooperative solutions will be scalable to enable future design verification to be cost effective. It is time we reconcile ourselves to the fact that hardware, like software, will be shipped with bugs in it. One possible solution to deal with this inevitable scenario is to provide support for runtime validation that detects functional failures at runtime and then recovers from such failures, Such runtime validation hardware will increasingly be used to handle dynamic operational failures caused by reduced reliability of devices due to large process variations as well as increasing soft errors. Expanding the use of such hardware to deal with functional design failures provides for an on-chip insurance policy when design errors inevitably slip through the verification process. This paper will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this form of design validation, some possible forms this may take, and implications on design methodology.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationHardware and Software, Verification and Testing - First International Haifa Verification Conference, Revised Selected Papers
Pages30-42
Number of pages13
DOIs
StatePublished - 2006
Event1st International Haifa Verification Conference on Hardware and Software, Verification and Testing - Haifa, Israel
Duration: Nov 13 2005Nov 16 2005

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume3875 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Other

Other1st International Haifa Verification Conference on Hardware and Software, Verification and Testing
Country/TerritoryIsrael
CityHaifa
Period11/13/0511/16/05

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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