The Commercial Alternative for Hardware Design Verification

RAVEN (Random Architecture Verification Engine) is a suite of proven software tools for generating random directed tests and identifying functional errors in complex processor designs.
RAVEN is a commercial alternative to the clerical drudgery of writing tens of thousands of directed tests or developing an internal random microarchitectural verification tool.

Why RAVEN? RAVEN is a better alternative to internal verification development for a number of reasons:

• RAVEN finds more bugs -- faster. RAVEN's advanced constraint and knowledge engines can test "corner cases" more likely to cause functional errors. Because you can reach your desired test coverage faster, RAVEN helps you find more bugs in fewer cycles.
• RAVEN helps you fix bugs faster. When RAVEN discovers a functional error, the test generator pauses to record exactly where the problem lies. Unlike with many internal tools, you won't have to look back through hundreds of cycles to locate the errors.
• RAVEN reduces the number of costly spins. Our clients report that RAVEN has helped them reduce the number of manufacturing spins, saving them millions.
• RAVEN leverages the latest technology. Unlike some internal test generators, RAVEN includes the latest technology to verify functionality in the most advanced processors, including multiprocessing and multi-threading designs.
• RAVEN sets engineers free to address higher-level verification tasks. Instead of spending thousands of man-hours writing assembly code, verification engineers can focus on more strategic verification tasks.
• RAVEN is easy to use and reuse. RAVEN's intuitive GUI and automated random test generator means that engineers don't have to be experts on your core to create meaningful tests. The RAVEN software integrates easily with your own instruction set simulator (ISS). And the core engine can be reused to test new processors.
• RAVEN operates from a Command Line or Graphical User Interface (Figure 1. Block Diagram). The intuitive GUI enables rapid development of test templates. A user starts by writing a test plan, and then develops a test template to hit the planned coverage points.

Figure 1. Hardware Verification with RAVEN

Get the Right RAVEN version for Your Processor Architecture. RAVEN supports several standard and proprietary processor architectures, including: