Functional Qualification - An Automated and Objective Measure of Functional Verification Quality
By Mark Hampton, Certess, Inc.
June 26, 2007 -- edadesignline.com
If there were a bug in your design, could the verification environment find it? Functional qualification is the first technology to provide an objective answer to this fundamental question. It is an essential addition to the increasingly challenging task of delivering functionally correct silicon on time and on budget.
As depicted in Figure1, functional qualification encapsulates functional verification, providing an automated and objective measure of the quality of the functional verification. 
Functional verification is a quality control process, the objective of which is to ensure the design quality as efficiently as possible. The functional verification environment is an "instrument" that will measure the design quality. As with any measurement, it is essential to calibrate the instrument.
June 26, 2007 -- edadesignline.com
If there were a bug in your design, could the verification environment find it? Functional qualification is the first technology to provide an objective answer to this fundamental question. It is an essential addition to the increasingly challenging task of delivering functionally correct silicon on time and on budget.
As depicted in Figure1, functional qualification encapsulates functional verification, providing an automated and objective measure of the quality of the functional verification.

1. You can visualize the relationship of Design, Functional Verification, and Functional Qualification in this way.
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