Verification Begins with Understanding the System
What do you currently do at AIO?
I am responsible for product verification for storage solution development projects within the SV (Solution Verification) Team.
My work can be divided into three main areas. The first is developing product verification platforms. I develop tools for reproducing failures and analyzing Logs, while building and enhancing verification environments that integrate test equipment and boards.
The second is product functional verification using these platforms. Based on the eMMC specification, I verify that products operate correctly and analyze issues that arise during customer Qualification from a Host perspective.
The third is protocol analysis between the Host and Device. By analyzing CMD Sequences and Bus Traces, I identify whether the root cause of an issue lies in the Host, Controller, or Firmware. Recently, we have also expanded the scope of verification to include Firmware-level White-box Testing.
What skills or capabilities do you consider most important in your role?
I believe the most important capability is the ability to understand the system as a whole.
Failures in storage products are rarely attributable to a single component such as the Host, Controller, Firmware, or NAND. In most cases, multiple factors interact. It is therefore essential to understand how the entire system operates and analyze the relationships between its components in order to accurately identify the root cause of a problem.
A solid understanding of industry standards provides the foundation for this work. An accurate understanding of the JEDEC eMMC standard is essential for clearly distinguishing normal behavior from failures.
Strong analytical skills and persistence are also important, particularly when tracking failures that are difficult to reproduce. Verification is a continuous process of formulating hypotheses, testing them repeatedly, and identifying the root cause. Automation capabilities are equally important. Repetitive tests should be performed using scripts and automation tools to improve verification efficiency and establish a more accurate and reliable verification system.
What has been your most rewarding experience?
One of my most rewarding experiences was developing a product verification platform.
I established a verification environment that integrates test equipment and boards and developed tools for failure reproduction and Log analysis. One of the most memorable moments was when this platform enabled us to reproduce an intermittent failure that had previously been difficult to reproduce and analyze its root cause.
Failures that occur during customer Qualification are often difficult to reproduce. By creating an environment where the same conditions could be tested repeatedly, however, we were able to reproduce these issues and analyze their causes. It was also highly rewarding to see the verification platform I developed evolve beyond an individual tool and become a standard verification environment used across the entire team.
What would you like to achieve at AIO?
My immediate goal is to successfully complete customer Qualification and ensure stable mass production for the storage solutions currently under development. As a verification engineer, I want to see the process through to completion, ensuring that our products meet customer requirements and are successfully established in the market.
I also want to further advance our verification automation system. By enhancing the verification platform we have already built, I hope to expand test coverage and standardize the entire process from failure reproduction through root cause analysis, turning individual know-how into an organizational capability.
In the long term, my goal is to establish an automated Regression Test system that runs whenever new Firmware is released, creating a verification environment where product quality is ensured through a systematic process rather than relying on individual experience.
What advice would you give to those preparing to join AIO?
I believe the most important qualities in verification are curiosity and persistence—the willingness to keep investigating why a problem occurred until the root cause is identified.
Most failures are not easily reproduced, and their causes rarely become apparent immediately. If you are someone who does not overlook unusual behavior, but instead develops hypotheses and verifies them one by one, I believe you can grow significantly as a verification engineer. The ability to use scripting languages such as Python to automate repetitive tests and analyze Logs is also a strong advantage.
You do not need an extraordinary background or experience to get started. Experience solving a problem with a tool you developed yourself or pursuing a single issue until you find a solution can be an excellent starting point. If you bring that kind of mindset, I believe you can grow significantly at AIO.