Logic Debugging in Microprocessor Development

Armin Biere looks for bugs in hardware designs of electronic components to ensure that robotic vacuum cleaners don’t suddenly lose their orientation and start spinning around aimlessly and that mobile phones work even when hundreds of apps are installed – he searches for errors in the chip before it goes into production. This preliminary examination is necessary so that various end devices can function reliably. At present, debugging in integrated circuits is still performed with human help, but automatization is making progress here as well. So-called SAT solvers detect logical contradictions from among hundreds of millions of variables. In the video, Biere explains how automated debugging in hardware designs for microelectronics works and what prospects for development he still sees for his award-winning KISSAT system.

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