Formal Verification of Complex Data Paths: An Industrial Experience
Paper in proceeding, 2021

After caches, most transistors in a modern microprocessor are devoted to wide data-paths. Due to performance and power requirements, these data-paths often use complex implementations of sophisticated algorithms. As Intel experienced in 1994, a bug in a data-path can be extremely expensive and thus needs to be avoided at almost any cost. At the same time, simulation based verification is extremely poor at verifying data-paths due to the vast data space and thus formal verification is almost a requirement. In this paper a retrospective is given of the formal verification of complex data-paths that took place at Intel from the mid 1990 s until very recently. The technology that made the effort possible, the tools developed that made it feasible, and the methodology created that made it practical will all be discussed. Finally, a few examples that illustrates the approach will be presented as well as a concluding discussion on what the goal of using formal verification should be.

Circuit visualization

Symbolic trajectory evaluation

Functional languages

Model checking

Formal verification

Author

Carl-Johan Seger

Chalmers, Computer Science and Engineering (Chalmers), Functional Programming

Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

03029743 (ISSN) 16113349 (eISSN)

Vol. 13047 LNCS 697-716
9783030908690 (ISBN)

24th International Symposium on Formal Methods, FM 2021
Virtual, Online, ,

Octopi: Säker Programering för Sakernas Internet

Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) (RIT17-0023), 2018-03-01 -- 2023-02-28.

Subject Categories

Other Computer and Information Science

Computer Science

Computer Systems

DOI

10.1007/978-3-030-90870-6_38

More information

Latest update

1/18/2022