DVClub Toronto – February 21, 2020 – Guest Speakers: Neil Johnson (Mentor), Cliff Cummings (Sunburst Design)

Please join us for DVClub Toronto’s 2020 kickoff event on February 21, 2020 at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North Hotel & Suites.

We are pleased to have two guest speakers at this even:  Neil Johnson, a longtime verification engineer at Mentor, a Siemens Business, and Cliff Cummings, President of Sunburst Design will be presenting.

• 11:30am — Doors Open / Networking


• 12:00pm — Lunch / Presentations by Neil Johnson and Cliff Cummings
  


• 1:30pm   — Networking

Presentation #1

 “Remain Agile Under Pressure with Test-Driven Development” by Neil Johnson (Mentor, a Siemens Business)

Test-driven development (TDD) is used by Agile software development teams to improve the robustness of applications and systems by reducing functional defect rates.  We’ll take a quick look at agile development practices in general, then dive into why and how design verification engineers can do TDD with SVUnit using a step-by-step example.

• Neil Johnson is a long time verification engineer with a history in product development as both a full-timer and a consultant, now working with Mentor as a product engineer focused on SystemVerilog language support and performance within QuestaSim.

Presentation #2

“SystemVerilog Assertions – Bindfiles & Best Known Practices for Simple SVA Usage” by Cliff Cummings (Sunburst Design, Inc.)

SystemVerilog Assertions (SVA) can be added directly to the RTL code or be added indirectly through bindfiles. Best known practices suggest that it is better to add most assertions using bindfiles. This paper will explain why adding assertions directly to the RTL code can be problematic and why bindfiles solve many of the problems. This paper also explains how to use bindfiles efficiently and why engineers should generally use concurrent assertions while avoiding immediate assertions. This paper will also give assertion coding guidelines and styles that help reduce assertion coding effort, assertion coding mistakes and encourage designers to be more proactive in adding assertions to their designs.

• Cliff Cummings is President of Sunburst Design, Inc., a company that specializes in world-class SystemVerilog, Synthesis and UVM Verification training. Cliff has presented hundreds of SystemVerilog seminars and training classes and has been a featured speaker at multiple world-wide SystemVerilog and Assertion Based Verification seminars. Cliff has been an active participant on every IEEE Verilog and SystemVerilog committee, and has presented more than 50 papers on Verilog & SystemVerilog related design, synthesis, and OVM/UVM verification techniques, including more than 20 that were voted “Best Paper.” Cliff holds a BSEE from Brigham Young University and an MSEE from Oregon State University.

RSVP and invite some of your colleagues!