Bare-Metal Execution
ConceptBare-metal execution is a mode in which verification software runs directly on a silicon prototype without an operating system, debuggers, device drivers, or other system software. It is commonly used in post-silicon validation during early bring-up, when prototypes are unstable and cannot yet boot an OS. This execution mode imposes unique constraints on tools—including limited observability, the absence of I/O services, the need for on-platform self-sufficiency, and reliance on lightweight checking methods such as multi-pass consistency checking—and is used by tools such as Threadmill and supported by instruction-accurate simulators like ExactStep.
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Bare-Metal Execution
Definition and Context
In post-silicon hardware validation, bare-metal execution describes a mode in which verification software runs directly on the silicon prototype without the support of an operating system, debuggers, device drivers, or other system software [1]. Because early silicon prototypes are typically unstable and lack a complete software stack, bare-metal execution is often the only option available to bring-up engineers, and tools intended to run in this mode must be deployed "in the very early stages of the post-silicon validation effort when the OS cannot yet be run on the system" [2].
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