Sign-off with Bounded Formal Verification Proofs

Formal property verification (also known as model checking) is a powerful methodology that can be used to find corner-case bugs, improve verification efficiency and reduce the verification cycle. However, inconclusive formal analysis results or bounded proofs have been hindering adoption of formal technology in the industry. This paper describes a formal sign-off methodology in the presence of bounded proofs. With an understanding of the design-under-test and a systematic analytical approach, we can qualify the bounded proof depths and use Abstraction Models to achieve the required proof bound for formal sign-off. Keywords—Formal verification; sign-off; abstractions; proof depth; bounded proof; formal coverage