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The SPB16.3 release is now available (actually, it was available last week from the Cadence software downloads site at - http://downloads.cadence.com/).

Where has the year gone! It seems like only yesterday I was blogging about all the cool new SPB16.2 features - and now the SPB16.3 release will add additional improvements and efficiencies to your design process.

Over the next several weeks, I'll be writing about key new…

A professional gambler confidently place bets because she know the odds, but she would be crazy to play at a table that didn’t use a full deck because the odds change in an unknown way.  If you use a simulator that doesn’t enable low-power verification in every test run, you are just as crazy.

Why? Let’s take a look at what gives the verification engineer confidence – finding bugs.  If we have a power…

By now, you've surely heard the news.  And if you haven't yet, you have now.  Virtuoso IC 6.1.4 is now available!  Huzzah, huzzah! 

I was (and still am) planning to do my next series of "Things You Didn't Know" about ADE XL, but for now I feel I'd be remiss if I didn't pause and devote a few posts to the new features in IC 6.1.4.  Those are very likely "things you don't know" since they are brand…

Specmaniacs rejoice: today is the 1st anniversary of the launch of this blog!!!  To commemorate the occasion, allow us to highlight the top 5 posts (out of 72 total!) from the past year, AND give a shout out to the Specmaniac websphere with a roll-up of Specman and e language oriented online resources.  Without further adieu, in ascending order of web hits and comments received …

#5 – Tech Tip - Double Wall…

What a terrific event last Wednesday! The SPB16.3 Virtual Conference was attended by more than 600 customers.

If you could not attend the live session, the web based event is still open for the next 4 months (until April 2, 2010) - so please open your browser, step into the virtual conference from the convenience of your desktop and explore all of the rich content you may have missed or would like to see again.

I attended…

[Team Specman welcomes guest blogger Alex Chudnovsky of Specman R&D]

As we are all creatures of habit, sometimes it's hard to adapt to new work flows no matter how beneficial the change may be. Clearly this is the case in the transition of the Specman GUI from Specview to SimVision; so allow me to share with you some quick tips to ease the transition process and/or make you more productive with SimVision. …

Today, we're going to take on the somewhat daunting topic of the ViVA Calculator. But first, as usual, a digression.  This time a trip down memory lane, or for most of you, more likely a history lesson...

Back in the days just after man discovered fire, my teacher brought something to class that looked like this.  What an amazing thing!  You could hold it in the palm of your hand and do math problems on it.  Too bad I…

Submitted By MDV Team Member - Paul Carzola
Lead Consulting Engineer, Verification

If you're looking for a really easy way to create an executable verification plan, you need take a look at Enterprise Planner, which is a licensed feature of Incisive Enterprise Manager.  Enterprise Planner allows you to easily create, edit and maintain verification plans, either starting from scratch, or by linking and tracking…

Specmaniacs rejoice: Cadence has uploaded the OVM e Scoreboard Infrastructure Package to OVM World. Here are the highlights from star guest blogger Efrat Shneydor of Methodology R&D:

The OVM Scoreboard provides a substantial scoreboard framework, applicable to many kinds of systems and checking requirements. With this framework you can define a scoreboard unit, connect it to the environment monitor(s), and customize…

This is a first for me, basically writing about the same topic. But, the SPB16.3 Virtual Conference is an event you'll all want to attend and it's tomorrow! Don't delay - register today!

You can read my detailed blog post here - What's Good About the SPB16.3 Release? Join The Virtual Conference 12/02/09 and See!

Jerry "GenPart" Grzenia

There is a new free, open source (FOSS) e language project out there called “CFS Vision” that’s been getting very positive reviews from Specman users as well as our own Application Engineers.  For example, their latest release is a really useful “eChart eVC” (actually a mix of e and Java) which allows you to draw charts directly from the verification environment.  Given all of this positive…

A few months ago we introduced the Sequences API in OVM e in the post “OVM e Sequence API Brings Increased Flexibility”.

As described in that post, the Specman docs, and in code examples, one can use the API to create interesting complex scenarios – layering, priorities, accelerating performance, and more. While there are many who dove right in and explored the wide range of benefits that sequences…

Over 125 Verification engineers honored us this past Tuesday by attending the annual "ClubT" in Hertzelia. Here are some of the highlights (and if you were an attendee please post your feedback or follow-up questions in the comments below):

• Main themes:

• There was high interest in latest updates delivered in recent versions, with particular interest on the 9.2 version that just came out. (Apparently…

As you may recall I was involved in producing several events this past fall. Allow me to share a few nuggets from the experience:

Specialization Is Accelerating
As industries advance, there is always a natural trend toward increasing specialization since the given technologies evolve beyond the ability of any single person to handle the wealth of growing knowledge. For example, 100 years ago a doctor could be trained in…

Click on a frame for slideshow view. Enjoy!

• Databahn DDR-PHY
• Databahn DRAM Memory Controller IP
• DDR-PHY.ORG

You will NOT want to miss this event! The first ever Virtual Trade Show for the SPB products will take place on December 2, 2009. Mark your calendars and register ASAP!

The event opens at 11:00am EST. All the Cadence® SPB16.3 products will be covered - Allegro® and OrCAD®, PCB and IC packaging/SiP design technology.

To attend this event - simply register here

You can read more about this from the main Cadence…

Okay, so I really have no idea how to tie those 2 things together, but I ran across this little widget the other day and just had to share it (slide the slider until it's about 2/3 of the way across).  I know we've all seen electron microscope images of those transistors we're fiddling with, but do you really have any idea how small they are?  Maybe you do, but I don't think I realized that the length of the…

Welcome to the first TeamMDV blog. We are excited to bring you information, tips, tricks and recommendations all centered around Metric Driven Verification (MDV). To start, here is an interview with Dylan Dobbyn, the verification manager at Teradyne, about their first time experience in implementing MDV. Check out Dylan's recent Chip Design article on "Metric-Driven Verification: The Key to Achieving…