Chakravarthy Surapaneni

Seasoned Pre & Post-Silicon Validation Engineer with 6 years of experience in high-speed memory validation, signal integrity analysis, power management testing, and debugging across DDR (DDR4, DDR5, LPDDR4/LPDDR5), PCIe (Gen3 to Gen5), and SD host controller interfaces. Adept at developing and executing validation test plans, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and optimizing performance for cutting-edge memory and storage solutions. Proven expertise in SDHC, eMMC, SPI, I2C, UART, and low-speed protocol validation. Proficient in validation methodologies, automation frameworks, and advanced debugging tools.

ARM SOC based DDR & PCIe Validation

• Validated DDR4/DDR5 memory controllers and PCIe interfaces on ARM-based SoCs, ensuring compliance with JEDEC and PCI-SIG standards.
• Debugged firmware-related memory failures using JTAG, Lauterbach TRACE32, and GDB.
• Worked closely with firmware and hardware teams to resolve memory initialization and training issues in low-power modes.

PCIe Gen5 Compliance & Signal Integrity Validation

• Conducted LTSSM state analysis, link equalization testing, and PCIe stress testing using FPGA-based prototyping and post-silicon setups.
• Utilized JTAG and PCIe protocol analyzers to debug link failures and PHY-layer timing mismatches.
• Implemented real-time trace log analysis, reducing issue resolution time by 40%.
• Optimized equalization parameters, reducing bit error rate (BER) by 25%.

DDR5 Memory Training & Power Management Validation

• Developed C-based firmware algorithms for memory training. Used DSO & power monitors to evaluate self-refresh and deep power-down impact on power savings.
• Identified timing skews using high-resolution oscilloscope and fixed DDR4-to-DDR5 migration issues.
• Reduced boot-time memory failures by 30%, optimized power management states for 15% lower power consumption.

SD Host Controller Validation & eMMC Testing

• Automated register read/write verification with Python scripting.
• Validated high-speed mode switching, card initialization, and voltage switching sequences.
• Used JIRA for issue tracking and collaborated with silicon teams for bug fixes.
• Improved test execution speed by 20%, identified critical timing violations that caused intermittent data corruption.

SPI, I2C,I3C, and UART Validation & Debugging

• Led a team of validation engineers, managing test execution and debugging tasks for SPI, I2C, and UART interfaces.
• Acted as a technical liaison between validation, firmware, and silicon teams, ensuring smooth issue resolution via JIRA.
• Tested and optimized bus contention, clock stretching, and noise susceptibility using JTAG, logic analyzers, and oscilloscopes. Validated UART in half-duplex and full-duplex modes across multiple baud rates.
• Spearheaded Python-based automation for I2C timing characterization and SPI waveform analysis, reducing debug time by 30%.

• Awarded Gold medal in MBA
• Recognized for optimizing DDR4 and PCIe validation processes, reducing validation cycle time by 15%.
• Awarded for contributions to memory controller and PCIe interface validation projects, ensuring first-silicon success.