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OneSpin says its VLSI design tool on cloud is secure

Date: 15/05/2013
VLSI software expert OneSpin Solutions is offering its EDA tools over Cloud Computing system. OneSpin says it has solved the security worry by leveraging the operational nature inherent in OneSpin’s Formal Verification (FV) software. The end product is simple to use, easy to adopt in a flow and has significant verification performance implications. No upfront investment is required to use the tools, made available on a pay-per-use basis.

“The EDA industry reached for the Cloud before, but this is the first solution that assures design security,” says Dr. Raik Brinkmann, OneSpin Solutions’ president and chief executive officer. “Users with no formal verification knowledge can simply plug-in the technology and receive an instant, significant verification impact. This business model has implications right across the EDA industry.”

The functionality of OneSpin’s 360 DV-Inspect and 360 DV-Verify products, as well as additional prove engines for parallel processing, have been made available Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace.

OneSpin says application in a simulation-only environment is an easy plug-and-play operation requiring no formal verification knowledge. A free local client is downloaded and interacts with the cloud server for transparent, secure operation. Powerful 360 DV-Inspect design checks for a broad range of issues are automatically generated and run securely in the cloud, with the result debugged locally, adds OneSpin. Powerful integration tests included in the IP can be run without a formal tool purchase. Similarly, Verification Service Providers can run assertion analysis without requiring their customers to purchase the tools.

“OneSpin’s cloud-based business model offers a level of flexibility that will be a refreshing change for companies looking to introduce this powerful verification technology at their own pace, without learning curve and investment barriers,” notes Holger Soukup, head of R&D Hi-Tech Electronics at Tieto Embedded Systems. “Additionally, this approach will be attractive for us as a system development service provider to individually enrich our verification coverage on a per-customer/per-project-basis. This new cloud-based business option confirms OneSpin as one of the most innovative companies in EDA.”

Experienced formal verification users also benefit. OneSpin’s 360-DV Verify product for assertion-based verification and coverage can be run on-demand, with a charge for just the resources required. Verification also can be run with parallel engines, allowing for an instantly accessible, dramatic performance improvement that leverages the scalable Amazon system.

How it Works (as explained by OneSpin)
OneSpin created a simple use model in cooperation with AWS, giving users control of the Cloud servers. The user downloads and licenses a freely available client tool, OneSpin 360-CS, from the OneSpin website that operates on the local machine. This tool includes a FreeLint capability that checks the design on the local machine before extracting the data for the Cloud servers. Cloud servers extend the functionality of 360-CS to include capabilities of 360-DV Inspect or 360-DV Verify and perform formal analysis. In addition, the Cloud solution can be used to add prove engines that operate in parallel with OneSpin’s existing products.
The OneSpin Cloud Computing model provides users with on-demand flexibility and budgeting, reducing up-front investment based on unpredictable needs, eliminating license redundancy and providing budget flexibility.
The need for proprietary design code to leave the office has been eliminated, significantly reducing security concerns. OneSpin’s technology analyzes the design code locally and only transmits an encrypted mathematical abstraction of the verification problem with all descriptive details stripped. After processing, results are returned to the local machine whereupon descriptive details are reapplied. No data is retained in the cloud.
The design IP cannot be recreated from the stripped mathematical abstraction.

Pricing and Availability: OneSpin’s cloud solution is in Beta now. The trial for approved project teams will start Monday, June 3, and run until Friday, August 30, 2013. During this trial period, the cloud servers will be freely available, less a minimal charge to Amazon for the cloud service, for a restricted set of project teams, with general availability in September.
Pricing starts from $25 per hour for running OneSpin 360 Inspect in the Cloud. Payment is made through AWS Marketplace.