Shift Left and Shift Right Services

As semiconductor designs become increasingly complex, the need for efficient validation processes is paramount. Traditional validation methods often lead to delays and inefficiencies, making it crucial to adopt innovative approaches that enhance productivity and quality. So lot of semiconductor companies are now looking at opportunities to shift left and shift right in their validation processes so that they can gain the maximum out of the testing efforts done in one phase of the product lifecycle and reuse them in the other phases.

Soliton Technologies with its 20+ years of experience in semiconductor validation, provides development services for frameworks or platforms that enable shift left and shift right testing. This approach allows teams to validate chips earlier in the development cycle (shift left) and reuse validation scripts in production or manufacturing (shift right), ensuring a more efficient and effective validation process.

What is Shift Left Testing?

Shift left testing is a methodology that emphasizes early validation in the development process. By integrating validation activities earlier in the design cycle, teams can identify and address issues sooner, reducing the risk of costly rework later on. This approach not only accelerates the validation process but also improves product quality by catching defects early.

How can Soliton help with Shift Left Testing?

Soliton offers development services for frameworks that enable shift left testing by:

Next Generation Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)

Hardware Abstraction Layer is pretty common in testing frameworks, but Soliton help develop HAL's that can be used in both simulation and validation phases. This allows teams to use simulated instruments and devices in the early stages of development, enabling early validation and reducing the need for physical hardware. Then when the hardware is available, the same HAL can be used to validate the hardware, ensuring consistency and reusability across the development lifecycle.

Test Program Development

Soliton helps in developing test programs that can be reused across different phases of the product lifecycle. This includes creating test scripts that can be executed in both simulation and validation.

Device Under Test (DUT) with Emulation Capabilities

Soliton provides development services for creating DUTs that can be emulated in the early stages of development using FPGA emulators. This allows teams to validate their designs without waiting for physical hardware, enabling faster iterations and reducing time to market.

What is Shift Right Testing?

Shift right testing is a methodology that focuses on reusing validation scripts in production or manufacturing. By leveraging the same validation scripts used in the development phase, teams can ensure that the product meets quality standards and is ready for deployment. This approach not only improves efficiency but also enhances product reliability by validating the same tests in production.

How can Soliton help with Shift Right Testing?

Soliton offers consultation and development services that enable development of test assets like drivers, protocol communication libraries and importantly test methods that can be reused in production or manufacturing. Soliton has a deep expertise in developing test frameworks and understands the requirements of validation teams and manufacturing teams – for example,

  • Validation teams wants their test program to be modular so they can swap out the hardware between benches, test speed is not as priority as the accuracy, engineers focus on breaking the device and challenging the design.
  • Whereas manufacturing teams wants their test program to be fast, efficient and reliable than being hardware agnostic so that they can produce the product in large volumes. They focus on ensuring the product is working as expected and no issues in manufacturing process.

These differences in priorities are taken into account while developing the test programs that can be reused in production or manufacturing. Soliton’s expertise in both validation and manufacturing processes ensures that the test programs are optimized for both environments, enabling seamless reuse and improved efficiency.

Interested in learning more about how Soliton Technologies can help you implement shift left and shift right testing methodologies in your semiconductor validation processes?