Co-Verification Tool Gains Analysis

June 1, 2003

One of the important elements of a system-level design methodology is the co-verification of both hardware and software subsystems. The goal of Mentor Graphics' latest version of Seamless is to address this challenge. This version even goes one step further by incorporating system-performance analysis capabilities. Accurate hardware/software co-verification requires a significant amount of system knowledge and data. This information can be leveraged to characterize and improve system-performance bottlenecks. By using the performance data gleaned from Seamless Version 5, designers should be able to optimize their systems. Essentially, they can tune their designs to meet performance metrics while verifying hardware and software interfaces in a single environment.

The Seamless Version 5 product is available now on Solaris, HP/UX, and RedHat Linux platforms. It is included as a maintenance upgrade for current Seamless licensees at no additional cost. For new licensees, pricing starts at $40,000.

Mentor Graphics, 8005 S.W. Boeckman Rd., Wilsonville, OR 97070-7777; (800) 547-3000, www.mentor.com.

About the Author

John Blyler

John Blyler has more than 18 years of technical experience in systems engineering and program management. His systems engineering (hardware and software) background encompasses industrial (GenRad Corp, Wacker Siltronics, Westinghouse, Grumman and Rockwell Intern.), government R&D (DoD-China Lake) and university (Idaho State Univ, Portland State Univ, and Oregon State Univ) environments. John is currently the senior technology editor for Penton Media’s Wireless Systems Design (WSD) magazine. He is also the executive editor for the WSD Update e-Newsletter.

Mr. Blyler has co-authored an IEEE Press (1998) book on computer systems engineering entitled: ""What's Size Got To Do With It: Understanding Computer Systems."" Until just recently, he wrote a regular column for the IEEE I&M magazine. John continues to develop and teach web-based, graduate-level systems engineering courses on a part-time basis for Portland State University.

John holds a BS in Engineering Physics from Oregon State University (1982) and an MS in Electronic Engineering from California State University, Northridge (1991).