SyncSilica

From Spec to Silicon — In Sync, On Time

The Problem

Traditional SoC/IP development is plagued by misalignment between specification and implementation, redundant effort across design and validation, and slow iteration cycles. Teams often work in silos with fragile handoffs, leading to late-stage bugs, missed coverage, and delays in silicon success.

EFS addresses this by introducing a specification-driven, automation-ready methodology that unifies architecture, design, and validation workflows. It turns human-readable specifications into machine-executable flows, dramatically reducing debug iterations and enhancing reuse and traceability across the product lifecycle.

Our Mission

To revolutionize semiconductor design by delivering executable, specification-driven automation that bridges architecture to silicon — enabling precision, efficiency, and first-silicon success through intelligent tools that integrate seamlessly across design, validation, and deployment ecosystems.

Why Terraform for Chips?

In cloud infrastructure, Terraform made infrastructure programmable, reusable, and version-controlled. EFS brings that same power to semiconductor design.

  • Specs-as-code: Define flows in human-readable syntax
  • Reusable components: Across validation and design teams
  • Versioned and traceable: Like Git for hardware specs
  • Automation-native: Built for integration with existing EDA tools
  • Toolchain-agnostic: Works across Synopsys, Cadence, Mentor

What is EFS?

EFS (Executable Flow Specification) enables SMART SoC/IP development:

The EFS syntax is modular, readable, and toolchain-agnostic. It captures high-level behaviors using a domain-specific language embedded within PlantUML and maps to design elements through structured exports. This format supports:

  • Message and Signal behavior with value tracking
  • Register access and validation
  • HW-FW interactions
  • Flow-dependent test stimulus generation
  • Structured exception and timeout handling

The system leverages YAML/JSON intermediates to bridge flow specifications and implementation artifacts. Checkers are dynamically generated to validate sequence, timing, protocol compliance, and system-wide feature correctness.

Validation is made efficient through database-backed signal mapping and FSDB analysis. Post-silicon integration uses signal trackers to analyze behavior captured in waveform traces or log databases.

Benefits:

  • Reduces design-debug iterations through spec-driven validation
  • Provides reusable artifacts across product variants
  • Ensures traceability of design decisions
  • Seamless integration with industry-standard tools (Synopsys, Cadence, Mentor)
  • Supports agile and derivative development