An ASIC Verification Engineer is a professional who specializes in the verification of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). These engineers play a critical role in the development and testing of ASIC designs to ensure their functionality, performance, and compliance with specifications. In this blog post, we will explore the primary responsibilities and the most in-demand hard and soft skills for ASIC Verification Engineers.

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Main Responsibilities of an ASIC Verification Engineer

The following list describes the typical responsibilities of an ASIC Verification Engineer:

Analyze

• Analyze and optimize verification performance and efficiency.

• Analyze functional / code coverage result and identify the coverage holes.

Build

• Build reusable bus functional models, monitors, checkers and scoreboards.

• Build verification environment using SV / UVM methodology.

Collaborate

• Collaborate with architects, designers, and software engineers across sites to accomplish your goals.

• Collaborate with architects, designers, software engineers across sites to accomplish your goals.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including software and hardware engineers.

• Collaborate with design engineers to resolve issues and improve design quality.

• Collaborate with third-party vendors for verification IP and tool evaluations.

• Collaborate with validation teams to ensure seamless transition from verification to validation.

Complete

Complete the verification target at each milestone.

Conduct

• Conduct formal and informal design reviews to identify potential issues.

• Conduct functional verification using simulation tools and methodologies.

• Conduct pre-silicon and post-silicon validation of ASIC designs.

• Conduct regression testing to ensure design stability across iterations.

• Conduct system-level verification of ASIC designs in conjunction with other components.

Consolidate

Consolidate understanding on verification concepts and UVM, SV knowledges.

Contribute to

• Contribute significantly to verification infrastructure development.

• Contribute to verification infrastructure development for complex ASICs.

Create

• Create and execute test benches to validate ASIC designs.

• Create test plans, implement test benches, and write tests to deliver a fully verified design.

• Create the directed and random verification tests.

Debug

• Debug and resolve issues identified during the verification process.

• Debug test failures to determine the root cause.

Deploy

Deploy the advanced verification methodology and infrastructure of the SOC / IP.

Design

• Design and build new test benches and test bench components in SystemVerilog or UVM.

• Design and build new testbenches and testbench components in SystemVerilog or UVM.

Develop

• Develop and maintain test infrastructure, including test benches and verification IP.

• Develop and maintain verification environments and methodologies.

• Develop comprehensive block level verification testplan for DUT.

• Develop testbench and testcases with a mixture of UVM and C++ verification methodology.

• Develop test plan and write tests to verify system IP in IP level or SOC level.

• Develop test plans based on functional requirements, as well as applicable standards requirements.

• Develop test plans, tests and verification infrastructure for verifying high-speed Clocking logic.

• Develop test plans, tests, and verification methodologies to verify the microarchitecture and design.

• Develop verification plans and strategies for ASIC projects.

Drive

Drive coverage driven verification closure.

Execute

• Execute test plans for simulation, c-model, emulation and silicon environments.

• Execute test solution implementation and test system integration and verification.

Implement

• Implement and analyze code coverage metrics to assess verification completeness.

• Implement and execute code coverage analysis to ensure comprehensive testing.

Lead

• Lead a verification team of ~5 full time employee.

• Lead block verification of several system management unit blocks.

Measure

Measure functional and code coverage metrics, and driving towards completion targets.

Mentor

Mentor junior engineers and new hires, and help to guide their growth and development.

Optimize

Optimize verification flow and infrastructure.

Participate in

• Participate in ASIC architecture definition and specification reviews.

• Participate in design reviews and provide feedback on design improvements.

• Participate in the ASIC bringup.

Perform

• Perform bug tracking and manage bug databases.

• Perform formal verification and property-based verification.

• Perform gate-level simulations and timing verification.

Provide

Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior verification engineers.

Read

Read IAS and design specs to understand the design requirement and build corresponding test plan.

Review

Review the test plan with arch / design engineers.

Run

Run verification related flows and fix issues.

Stay updated with

Stay updated with the latest industry trends and advancements in ASIC verification methodologies.

Support

• Support post-silicon validation activities.

• Support sub-system level and / or SOC verification.

Take

Take SOC verification on full chip test environment for IPs.

Test

Test plans at the chip-level for complex ASICs.

Triage

Triage failures in regression and help designer root cause the bug.

Understand

• Understand frontend ASIC design flow including RTL design, synthesis and timing analysis.

• Understand high level system features of the design and how it is used in various platforms.

• Understand the design spec from architecture perspective.

Utilize

Utilize assertion-based verification techniques for bug detection.

Validate

Validate ASIC designs against industry standards and specifications.

Verify

Verify complex ASIC functionalities, such as power management and security features.

Work with

• Work with architects, designers and post-silicon teams.

• Work with Architects, Designers, and SW engineers to undertand the design motivation and details.

• Work with design engineer to improve the coverage score.

• Work with RTL and firmware engineers to resolve design defects and correct any test issues.

• Work with RTL designers and others to debug the failed tests.

Write

• Write and review verification documentation, including test plans and reports.

• Write test cases and test scripts for functional and performance testing.

Most In-demand Hard Skills

The following list describes the most required technical skills of an ASIC Verification Engineer:

1. SystemVerilog and VHDL

2. Universal Verification Methodology (UVM)

3. Verilog or VHDL coding for ASIC design

4. Scripting languages such as Perl, Python, or TCL

5. Advanced verification methodologies, such as OVM or VMM

6. Simulation tools, like Mentor Graphics ModelSim or Cadence Incisive

7. Formal verification tools, such as JasperGold or Questa Formal

8. Code and functional coverage methodologies

9. Assertion-based verification languages, such as SVA or PSL

10. Gate-level simulations and timing analysis

11. Low-power verification techniques

12. SystemC modeling and verification

13. Emulation and prototyping platforms

14. Assertion-based verification methodologies

15. Hardware description languages (HDLs)

16. Debugging tools and methodologies

17. Simulation acceleration and FPGA prototyping

18. Static timing analysis (STA) tools

19. Assertion-based formal verification

20. ASIC design principles and methodologies

Most In-demand Soft Skills

The following list describes the most required soft skills of an ASIC Verification Engineer:

1. Problem-solving and analytical thinking

2. Strong communication and interpersonal skills

3. Teamwork and collaboration

4. Attention to detail

5. Time management and organization

6. Adaptability and flexibility

7. Self-motivation and initiative

8. Continuous learning and curiosity

9. Documentation and report writing

10. Leadership and mentoring capabilities

Conclusion

An ASIC Verification Engineer plays a pivotal role in the successful verification of ASIC designs. They must possess a strong combination of technical skills related to verification methodologies, simulation tools, scripting languages, and hardware description languages. Additionally, soft skills such as problem-solving, communication, teamwork, and time management are crucial for excelling in this role. By fulfilling their responsibilities and leveraging their skills, ASIC Verification Engineers contribute significantly to the development of reliable and efficient ASIC designs.