Using traditional methods, SOC development and validation require so many skilled person-hours, that the costs go beyond the ability of relatively low volume markets to absorb them. Since about 70 percent of the effort is validation, reducing the amount of testing would be a place to look for a solution. However, given the fact that the high-end low volume applications generally require the highest possible levels of reliability, that is not an acceptable solution. The solution must be to automate the development and validation processes as much as possible, in essence replacing project person-hours with investment in automation technology. This investment can then be spread over a large number of projects, resulting in reduced project cost.
Automation provides other benefits in addition to reduced costs.
It reduces program risk and increases the ability to accurately forecast the time and money needed to complete a program. First-pass success can become the rule rather than the exception. The development of design and validation automation technology is not a trivial undertaking. The system development process involves hundreds of interdependent steps, each one of which has the potential of introducing errors that can negatively impact the development program. This technology significantly reduces the time and cost of developing compatible SOC solutions and provides very high levels of assured quality and reliability.