Synopsys White Paper

Benchmark Before You Build

Traditional verification methods, static analysis, RTL simulation and emulation have long depended on constrained-random or targeted test suites to confirm that a design operates as intended. However, none of these approaches accurately reproduce how real users will interact with the silicon once it’s deployed in phones, datacenters, or embedded systems. To stay competitive, the semiconductor industry must validate real applications on pre-silicon platforms, ensuring that final products meet their specifications before release.

True software-stack readiness goes well beyond simply booting an operating system, you must run and benchmark the actual applications. Pre-silicon application benchmarking will soon become a mandatory sign-off criterion. If your application can’t execute and hit its targets, then you cannot ship. Enabling this requires high-speed execution platforms and new industry skills and methodologies for identifying hotspots, orchestrating tests, and optimizing system behavior even when full application execution isn’t yet feasible.

This white paper discusses how Synopsys ZeBu-200 paired with Virtualizer Native Execution provides a hybrid environment that meets performance and accuracy metrics needed for one-day turnaround methodologies, rather than weeks it used to take.