Chapter 8 - The Verification Plan

Abstract

This chapter discusses the importance of the verification plan in electronic design. The verification plan is a large document or set of documents with many detailed sections. It requires input from many groups within the project, and it has sections that can be extremely detailed and time-consuming to create. As a result, there is sometimes a tendency to try to skip or shorten sections of this document. Because the verification plan is a critical component of the overall project flow, it is important to ensure that the plan is complete and thorough. The verification plan is often a central component to the organization of the verification project, and critical to creating an accurate estimate of the time and cost requirements of the project. A solid verification plan will not only provide a guide to the scheduling effort, but will also ensure that the system being designed is verified in an optimal fashion within the resource constraints of the project. This in turn maximizes the likelihood of a functional system when the tape-out decision is made.