PVTW: Extending Silicon Characterization From PVT To Real-World Workload

For decades, silicon characterization has been built around Process, Voltage, and Temperature, or PVT. We characterize devices across process variation, sweep voltage and frequency, control temperature, generate SHMOO plots, and establish the operating envelope of the silicon. That methodology remains fundamental. But today’s high-performance processors are increasingly systems in their own right. An AI accelerator may contain thousands of compute elements, distributed SRAM, high-speed SerDes, P