What evidence makes a black-box waiver defensible?
From PDVerse PnR Interview Handbook · pdVerse Mentor Guide
Short Answer
The interface must have approved pin identity, timing boundary treatment, logical/physical views required for the next stage, revision, and owner.
Technical Explanation
Treat this as a readiness check. It should produce named objects and a result that another engineer can repeat from the same handoff.
What To Check
• Warning sign: A placeholder links only because a stub was added locally. • Inspect: Compare one named object across the related reports; the same object should tell a consistent story. • Correct: Replace the stub with approved abstraction or return the handoff; archive the waiver only if methodology permits it.
Command Checks & Actions
• report_unbound: lists objects that did not resolve
• report_ref_libs: shows the reference libraries used for linking
Run the commands in order. Each line answers a separate part of the check.Healthy, Suspicious & Hard-stop Results
• Expected: The interface must have approved pin identity, timing boundary treatment, logical/physical views required for the next stage, revision, and owner. • Investigate: A placeholder links only because a stub was added locally. • Stop before floorplanning when required logic or timing coverage is missing or unexplained. Replace the stub with approved abstraction or return the handoff; archive the waiver only if methodology permits it.
Common Mistake
Do not assume the check passed just because ICC2 continued: A placeholder links only because a stub was added locally. Fix or narrowly justify the named objects, then rerun the same command.
What The Interviewer Is Testing
Be ready to explain why this matters before floorplanning: A placeholder links only because a stub was added locally.
Follow-up Question & Model Response
Model response: “I would save the report, inspect one affected object in the correct block and scenario, and make or request this correction: Replace the stub with approved abstraction or return the handoff; archive the waiver only if methodology permits it. Then I would reopen the clean checkpoint and rerun the same evidence.”
Practical Example
Symptom: A placeholder links only because a stub was added locally. Corrective path: Replace the stub with approved abstraction or return the handoff; archive the waiver only if methodology permits it.
Continue practising