DOMAINS

Silicon Interfaces^® teams are skilled in several Domains, both Vertical and Lateral, includes the following:

Vertical Domains:

• Data Communications
• Serial/Parallel & High-Speed Serial Communication: Silicon Interfaces’ VLSI Designers work on creating circuits that conform to the specifications of protocols, including signal timing, error correction, and data packet handling and implement different types of communication. Designers work on creating circuits that conform to the specifications of these protocols, including signal timing, error correction, and data packet handling. Designing circuits for high-speed communication involves managing high-frequency signals, ensuring low latency, and minimizing power consumption.
• Data Link Layer Design: In this layer, the focus is on error detection and correction mechanisms are implemented, such as cyclic redundancy checks (CRC) and checksums. The VLSI Designs team ensuring reliable communication and retransmitting data in case of errors.
• Clock and Data Recovery (CDR): In high-speed communication systems, ensuring that the data and clock signals remain synchronized after transmission is critical. Silicon Interfaces’ VLSI Designers develop circuits for clock recovery and data alignment.
• Encryption/Decryption Hardware: For secure data transmission, Silicon Interfaces’ VLSI Designer includes hardware-based encryption and decryption mechanisms. These are crucial in fields like secure communication, cloud computing, and financial transactions.

Worked on protocols like SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface), I2C/I3C, UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter), or high-speed interfaces like USB, and Bluetooth.


• Networking
• MAC Layer Design: The Medium Access Control (MAC) layer in wireless networking governs how devices access the communication medium (e.g., the radio frequency spectrum). Silicon Interfaces’ VLSI Designers implement MAC layer functions like packet transmission, collision detection, and access control for standards like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Designers develop transceivers and PHY (Physical Layer) components that are capable of handling data rates ranging from megabits per second to gigabits per second.
• Ethernet and Wi-Fi Integration: In networking applications, VLSI designers implement Ethernet or Wi-Fi modules, which are critical for networked systems. This includes physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) layer designs to enable devices to connect to wired or wireless networks.
• Routers and Switches: The heart of a NoC is the router or switch, which is responsible for directing traffic between different cores or modules. Silicon Interfaces VLSI Designers work on creating low-latency, high-throughput routers that efficiently manage traffic while minimizing congestion.
• Topologies: NoC designers choose appropriate topologies (like fabric, mesh, tree, or ring) to organize the communication network on-chip/on-board. The topology impacts the performance, scalability, and fault tolerance of the network.

Worked on protocols like Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11, Etc


• Interconnect
• On-chip/board Communication Networks: On-chip communication, such as buses and interconnects (e.g., PCIe, AXI, AHB, CHI), is critical for data transfer between different blocks (CPU, memory, peripherals) in a VLSI system. Silicon Interfaces’ Designers work on efficient routing of data and minimizing latency in communication between cores or components on the chip.

Worked on protocols, like PCIe, Amba, AXI, Etc

Lateral Domains:

• Low Power
• Silicon Interfaces has been extensively working on low power designs since 2020 and has skills on various domains
• Low-Power Design Techniques – Clock/Power Gating, Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS), Multi-VDD (Multiple Voltage Domains)
• Low-Power Design Methodologies - Energy-Efficient Design Strategies & Simulation and Verification
• Power Estimation Tools - Power Analysis Tools to estimate and optimize power consumption at various stages of chip design
• Energy Harvesting and Ultra-Low Power Circuits - Energy Harvesting and Ultra-Low Power Components
• Thermal Management - heat dissipation and using thermal analysis design techniquesIEEE 1801 (UPF - Unified Power Format) for power-aware design - power domains, power states, and power management mechanisms, versions supported extensively are 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0
• SPI, I2C, and Low Power implementation of PCIe


• Fault Simulation
• Fault simulation is a critical process in various fields such as electrical engineering, hardware design, and safety analysis. It involves modeling and simulating faults or errors in systems to assess their behavior, impact, and recovery mechanisms. Silicon Interfaces has been working extensively on Fault Simulation since 2018 and rich experience on the following:
1. Simulation Tools and Software
• Fault Simulation Software: Familiarity with tools used for fault injection and simulation, such as Synopsys® Z01X, VC-Z01X, Siemens® Austemper (especially SafetyScope & Kaleidoscope), or specific fault simulation frameworks for hardware or software.
• Automation Tools: Ability to use automation scripts for running simulations multiple times to identify weaknesses in systems.


2. Fault Injection, Fault Campaigns, Fault StatusAnalysis, Fault Coverage/Grading& Unified DB
• Fault Injection: Experience on methods to inject faults into a system to observe the behaviour under failure conditions (e.g., bit-flipping, delay insertion, random faults, transient faults).
• Fault Campaigns: Define and Create the fault campaign and use the Compiler to unroll all locations (if wild-cards are used) and optimizes the fault campaign. Faults are pruned out if untestable and faults having the same effect are collapsed together, so that only one prime fault needs to be qualified while the result is applied to the collapsed faults and then the required sampling on fault locations, vector bits and, injection times for transient faults.
• Fault Status Analysis: Classification of Faults into Groups and different statuses within the groups and interpreting the Stuck@Faults in the circuit
• Fault Coverage/Grading: achieving high Fault Coverage and effectiveness of the injected Faults for ASIL A, B, C and D Certification
• Unified DB: Different fault qualification 'engines', including formal fault reduction, or for fault emulation, work on this Unified Fault Campaign definition and provide the results on faults back into single DB.
• Root Cause Analysis/Troubleshooting: Skill in tracing faults to their origins and understanding the primary causes of failure and ability to trace problems, adjusts parameters, and iterate until the cause of failure is resolved.
3. Programming and Scripting
• Programming Languages: Proficiency in languages like Shell Scripting, Python, Etc. for automating fault simulations, writing custom fault models, or working with simulation environments and to automate simulation processes and test a large number of fault conditions in parallel.
4. Understanding of Safety Standards
• Safety Regulations: Knowledge of industry-specific safety standards (e.g., ISO 26262 for automotive systems that guide fault simulation to ensure system safety.
5. Documentation and Reporting
• Report Writing: Ability to document the results of simulations, including the nature of the fault, its impact on the system, and suggested improvements.
• Clear Communication: Ability to communicate findings to team members, management, or stakeholders effectively.
6. Understanding of High Performance Computing & Distributed Systems
• Concurrency and Synchronization Issues: In software fault simulation, understanding concurrency issues, synchronization problems, and how to simulate errors in multi-threaded or distributed systems is crucial
• Utilization of High Performance Computer (HPC) farms with Distributed and Parallel Computing
• Portable Stimulus
• Portable Stimulus is a methodology and standard, primarily used in semiconductor design and verification, aimed at creating reusable and portable testbenches for hardware and software systems. It enables the creation of complex verification environments while ensuring that tests are portable across different tools and environments. To effectively work with Portable Stimulus, several skills are required. Here are the key skills:
1. Understanding of Verification Methodologies
• Functional Verification: A solid understanding of functional verification processes for hardware systems, particularly the challenges related to verifying complex designs such as System on Chips (SoCs).
• <>bVerification Planning: Ability to create and implement verification plans using Portable Stimulus. This includes defining how to generate tests, check coverage, and manage test results.
2. Proficiency in Portable Stimulus Language (PSL)
• PSL Syntax: Knowledge of the Portable Stimulus Language, a standard language used to specify stimulus in a platform-independent way. Familiarity with PSL’s syntax and constructs (like actions, sequences, constraints, etc.) is essential.
• Test Specification: Ability to write and organize test specifications that describe the desired stimulus to be applied to the design under test (DUT).
3. Tool Knowledge and Integration
• EDA Tools: Familiarity with Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools that support Portable Stimulus, such as Cadence, Synopsys, Mentor Graphics, and others. Understanding how these tools interact with PSL is crucial for practical usage.
• Integration with Simulation Environments: Proficiency in integrating Portable Stimulus into existing simulation and verification environments. This involves using it alongside simulation tools like VCS, ModelSim, or Questa.
• Verification Frameworks: Knowledge of how to integrate Portable Stimulus within broader verification environments such as UVM (Universal Verification Methodology) or SystemVerilog testbenches.
4. Hardware Design and Architecture Knowledge
• Digital Logic and Circuit Design: Understanding digital design concepts, hardware architecture (CPU, memory, interconnects), and how these elements are verified.
• SoC Design: Familiarity with the design and verification of System on Chips (SoCs), which are commonly tested using Portable Stimulus.
• Registers and Memory Mappings: Knowledge of how to define and interact with registers, memory-mapped I/O, and other hardware components that are involved in stimulus generation.
5. Advanced Knowledge of Verification and Coverage Metrics
• Functional Coverage: Understanding coverage models and how to define and collect functional coverage to measure the quality of the tests being generated and executed.
• Assertion-based Verification: Familiarity with writing assertions in SystemVerilog or other languages to validate behavior and performance during the verification phase.
• Randomization and Constrained Random Testing: Proficiency in creating constrained random test scenarios to ensure wide coverage of different use cases and corner cases.
6. SystemVerilog / UVM Expertise
• SystemVerilog: Expertise in SystemVerilog, as it is commonly used in conjunction with Portable Stimulus in testbenches and simulations.
• UVM (Universal Verification Methodology): Understanding of UVM as it integrates with Portable Stimulus for complex verification environments, including stimulus generation, scoreboarding, and coverage tracking.
7. Automation and Scripting
• Scripting Languages: Familiarity with scripting languages like Python or TCL, which are often used to automate verification workflows and manage the execution of testbenches.
• Test Execution Management: Ability to manage and automate large-scale test executions across multiple simulation runs and platforms, ensuring repeatability and scalability of tests.
8. Cross-Platform Portability
• Platform-Independent Test Development: Understanding how to write tests and verification environments that are platform-independent and portable across different simulation tools and hardware platforms.
• Tool Interoperability: Ability to create tests that can be executed across different EDA toolchains, ensuring compatibility between different verification tools and environments.
9. Debugging and Failure Analysis
• Debugging Skills: Strong debugging skills to diagnose and resolve issues in complex verification environments. This includes identifying mismatches between the expected and actual behavior in the DUT.
• Failure Root Cause Analysis: Ability to analyze failures from the simulation logs and figure out where and why the failure occurred.
10. Knowledge of Standardized and Industry-Specific Protocols
• Communication Protocols: Knowledge of industry-standard protocols (like AXI, AMBA, PCIe, Ethernet, etc.) for verifying interfaces and communication between components in a system.