Process · Verification & Validation
Bring-up
The first phase of post-silicon work, in which a new part is powered on for the first time and taken step by step through power sequencing, clocking, reset, boot ROM execution and basic interface training.
Success is usually measured in whether it boots at all.
- Also known as
- Silicon bring-up, Board bring-up
- Type
- Process
- Domain
- Verification & Validation, Post-silicon validation
- Also relevant to
- General Industry
Notes
Teams rehearse bring-up on emulation and prototypes so the lab sequence is already scripted when parts arrive.
Overview
Bring-up is the first stage of work on a new chip once real silicon arrives, in which engineers power the part for the first time and take it step by step to a working state. They check power, clocks and reset, get the processor to run its boot code, and bring the main interfaces and memory to life. The first goal is simply to show that the chip works well enough for deeper validation to begin.
How it works
Preparation starts months before silicon. Teams design bring-up boards with test points and spare connectors, write low-level test code and firmware, and often rehearse on an emulator or FPGA prototype so that software is ready when chips arrive. Debug access, usually through a JTAG port, is planned into the chip so engineers can halt processors and read registers.
When the first parts arrive, engineers apply power cautiously, watch supply currents for shorts, confirm that clocks and phase-locked loops start, and release reset. They then try to execute the boot ROM, load code over the debug port, and test on-chip memories. Interfaces follow one by one: DRAM training, high-speed links, peripherals and analogue blocks. Each failure is narrowed down to the board, the package, the software or the silicon, and silicon bugs are logged for workarounds or a later revision.
Bring-up hands over to post-silicon validation, characterisation and software development once the chip is stable. Its speed matters, because every week spent bringing up a chip delays samples to customers.
Examples
- Powering a new SoC on its evaluation board and seeing the boot ROM print its first message on a serial port.
- Finding that a chip draws excessive current at power-on and tracing it to a board assembly fault rather than the silicon.
- Training the DRAM interface for the first time and adjusting timing settings until memory tests pass.
- Loading firmware through the JTAG port because the external flash interface is not yet working.
- A bring-up checklist rehearsed weeks earlier on an FPGA prototype of the same design.
Why it matters
Bring-up is when the result of years of design work is first seen, and it decides how quickly samples, software and production can follow. Silicon bring-up engineers, board engineers, firmware engineers and validation engineers work closely through it, often in shifts.
In the chip lifecycle, bring-up begins at first silicon, runs alongside early characterisation and errata gathering, and feeds the decision on whether a new revision is needed before production.
Related terms
Part of the Verification & Validation glossary, with every term in the topic and the lifecycles, tools and standards that use them.
Where it appears on the Hub
Used on 168 pages of the Hub. In each group, the pages that mention it most come first.
Lifecycle stages and gates
- Silicon Bring-up & Characterisation (FPGA chip lifecycle)
- Bring-up with the Software Stack (AI accelerator lifecycle)
- First silicon (AI accelerator lifecycle)
- Bring-up on First Silicon (Firmware and software lifecycle)
- First designs running on silicon (FPGA chip lifecycle)
- First silicon (FPGA chip lifecycle)
- and 40 more
Roles
Skills
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Last reviewed . Written by The Semiconductor Hub editorial team. The full glossary