Verifying really complex systems: on earth and beyond

Functional verification is a major part of the effort to design electronic systems. Over the years, EDA has developed a suite of tools and methods to address the verification challenges by a patchwork of approaches. However, as the system complexity continues to increase, traditional methods may not be adequate to ensure flawless behavior. In this educational panel, we will explore how complex systems are validated in other areas. Four speakers will cover the verification challenges in airplane design, complex Mars exploration missions, modeling and rendering of movie animations, and the design of continent-wide national power grids. Using real-life examples, each speaker will introduce the general topic, outline the specific verification challenges, and discuss how they are approached in their specific domain. The following discussion will analyze commonalities and differences between the areas and explore lessons to be learned from them for EDA.