Quantum Computing Shows Promise for Device Verification

(HPCWire) Device verification is about making sure that designs execute correctly and reliably. When engineers change a design, they simulate the new behaviors in software to make sure that functionality does not “regress.” Taping out a design can cost millions, so it’s critical that designs be error-free before they are sent to a foundry.
The verification performance challenge will only increase as number of network-connected devices is expected to increase to over 34 billion by 2025 with the global IoT market topping US $1.5 trillion in revenue1. What most of these high-growth applications have in common is complexity. Many involve system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs with tens or even hundreds of millions of gates.
Solving the verification performance challenge is going to require serious breakthroughs. One promising approach is quantum computing. While early in its development, quantum computing is now available on real hardware via the cloud through IBM Q. This radically new type of computing shows promise for particular problems in EDA for which classical computing is ill-suited.