Full chip verification of Ultra Wideband (UWB) Chip

Executive Summary

Our customer is one of the world's largest semiconductor company.

The chip is based on MBOA (MultiBand OFDM Alliance) MAC specification which defines the required functionality for the media access control for accessing UWB wireless media. The chip enables secure data communication by means of DRP (Distributed Reservation Protocol) and PCA (Prioritized Channel Access) based channel access mechanism at the rate of 53-480 Mbps. This chip is being incorporated into notebooks, PCs and consumer electronics like HDTV, Digital Cameras.

Our customer was seeking a suitable verification company that had the right mix of talent and domain understanding and a history of successful verification ventures for global companies. Eventually eInfochips was shortlisted to the task, purely on merit. In the course of the project, eInfochips team developed verification environment for block level, cluster level and full chip level verification. A timely execution and compliance to methodologies and processes ensured the chip an early entrance in the market.

The Customer

Our customer is the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products, and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Founded in 1968 to build semiconductor memory products, introduced the world's first microprocessor in 1971. The customers’ leading products are processors, motherboards, chipsets, Desktop, Notebook, Business PCs, Server, Workstation, Storage, Embedded & Communications, Graphics Technology, Consumer Electronics, Software, Health, and Ethernet.

The Challenge

  • To update the verification environment as per evolutions in RTL specifications
  • Globally dispersed teams and aggressive delivery schedules

The Solution

We offered the following ASIC Verification services:

  • Prepared the Test Plan and Functional Coverage goals for various blocks in the chip
  • Developed Block, Cluster and Full -chip verification environment from scratch in Specman
  • Performed Full Chip verification with the actual firmware

Technology

  • Industry: Communication and Networking
  • Technology: UWB, PCI, USB, AHB, I2C
  • Gate Count: 1 Million
  • Languages: e, Verilog
  • Tools: Specman Elite, V-navigator, Tibet, Verdi, Modelsim, Design Sync

The Benefit

  • Achieved 100% functional coverage and code coverage
  • Found more than 200 bugs in RTL and around 150 bugs in firmware