Mentor Graphics Questa functional verification platform selected by Cypress

WILSONVILLE, USA: Mentor Graphics Corp. announced that Cypress Semiconductor Corp. has selected the Questa functional verification platform for all of its functional verification needs.

During testing on a number of designs across multiple technologies, the Questa platform demonstrated faster performance, higher reliability and better support of industry standards than other functional verification solutions.

Other deciding factors were integration of the Questa Power Aware capability as well as seamless integration of the Questa digital simulation engine inside the Questa ADMS mixed-signal simulation environment. Cypress Semiconductor had previously standardized on the Questa ADMS solution for mixed-signal simulation as well as the Questa-Power Aware technology for UPF-based, low-power design verification.

“As a world class provider of high performance, low-power, mixed-signal, programmable solutions that are integrated into the end applications of thousands of worldwide customers, we must extensively verify our designs against a wide variety of potential scenarios in ever reducing cycle times,” said Andrew Wright, Cypress’s VP of Design. “We have chosen to standardize on Mentor’s Questa platform because of its best-in-class performance and capabilities as well as the world-class support we have received.”

The Questa functional verification platform and the Open Verification Methodology (OVM) promote efficient functional verification from Electronic System Level (ESL) to gate-level descriptions. As the design moves from high-levels of abstraction to gate-level implementation, the built-in, multi-lingual features of the Questa platform give users a smooth and seamless transition between abstraction levels, resulting in significantly reduced errors and increased productivity.

“Working with Mentor’s Questa team and the Mentor consulting organization, we are deploying an OVM-based verification methodology to enable Cypress to effectively verify and deliver robust solutions,” said Dragomir Nikolic, CAD Director at Cypress. “The first complete deployment of the Questa and OVM methodology will take place in a next-generation, PSoC-based, touchscreen device scheduled for release this year. We felt that Questa's capabilities, as well as Mentor's excellent support, were the best choice for Cypress going forward.”

“The increasing complexity of functional verification means customers have to adopt new techniques,” said John Lenyo, General Manager, Mentor Graphics. “We’ve built both the tools and an organization that can help customers accelerate adoption. Working side by side with Cypress, we identified opportunities for improved productivity and partnered to quickly ramp up deployment.”

Questa functional verification platform
The Questa functional verification platform combines high performance and high capacity with the most comprehensive verification capabilities in the industry. Assertion-based Verification (ABV), intelligent testbench automation, Multi-view Verification Components (MVCs), and Coverage-driven Verification (CDV) are supported natively by the Questa platform’s high-performance assertion engine; a modern, high-performance constraint solver; and extensive functional coverage features, including verification management leveraging the Unified Coverage Database (UCDB).

Verification of low-power design intent can be proven in an RTL environment with power-aware functional verification. This full set of advanced verification functionality, enhanced by a flexible Open Verification Methodology (OVM), delivers unrivaled language and feature support in any design and verification flow.