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Contents


Foreword ix

About the authors x


Acknowledgements xi


Preface xii



Chapter 1. Overview of Front-End Tools
Circuit Design Can Be A Risky Business 1
The Front to Back Design Route 2
Handling Design Changes 5
Summary 6


Chapter 2. Code and Rule Checking in the Design Flow

HDL Capture Tools 7
Text Editors 8
Linters 8
Graphical Editors 9
Rule-based Checkers 10
Rule Checking and the Design Hierarchy 13


Chapter 3. Introduction to Coverage Analysis
The Origins of Coverage Analysis 17
Applying Coverage Analysis Techniques to HDL 18
Modern Hardware Design Tools 19
Typical Capabilities of Coverage Analysis Tools 20
How Coverage Analysis Tools Operate 20
Analyzing the HDL source code 21
Collecting coverage data from the simulation 21
Presenting the results to the user 22
Command Line and Batch Mode 22



Chapter 4. Coverage Analysis in the Design Flow
Current ASIC Design flow 23
Coverage Analysis in the Design Flow 26
IP in the Design Flow 29


Chapter 5. Practical Value of Coverage Analysis
HDL Verification Problem 33
Coverage Analysis and HDL Verification 34
Project Management With Coverage Analysis 35
Functional Coverage 36
Regression Testing 36
Gate Level Testing 37


Chapter 6. Coverage Analysis Measurements
Structural and Functional Testing 40
Statement Coverage 40
Branch Coverage 43
How Branch Coverage is Calculated 43
Condition and Expression Coverage 44
Multiple Sub-Condition Coverage 45
Basic Sub-Condition Coverage 46
Directed or Focused Expression Coverage (FEC) 46
Path Coverage 49
Toggle Coverage 52
Triggering Coverage 53
Signal Tracing Coverage 54
Dealing with Information Overload 56
Excluding Code 59
Post-Simulation Results Filtering 60
Summary 64


Chapter 7. Coverage Directed Verification Methodology

Coverage Analysis in the Design Flow 65
Coverage Analysis at Behavioral Level 65
Coverage Analysis at RTL 66
Coverage Analysis and Transient Behavior 68
Coverage Analysis at Gate Level 69
Coverage Analysis and State Machines 70
Practical Guide Lines for Coverage Analysis 72
Coverage Analysis as a Verification Advisor 73
Coverage Measurements and Targets 74
Saving Simulation Time 76
Number of Coverage Analysis Licenses Required 76

Chapter 8. Finte State Machine Coverage

FSM Coverage 79
FSM Path Coverage 80
Reachability Based Path Extraction 81
Manual Path Specification 81
TransEDA's FSM Path Approach 82
Focus On Functionality 82
Supercycle 1 83
Supercycle 2 83
Supercycle 3 84
Simplify Complexity 84
A Complex Example 86
Conclusion 89
Cycles Automatically Extracted by VN-Cover 90
Manually Created Paths for Tap Controller 94


Chapter 9. Dynamic Property Checking

Structural Testing 95
Visual Checking 96
Self-Checking Test Benches 96
Pattern Matching 97
Properties 97
Verification Flow 98
Dynamic Property Checking in Operation 99
Collecting Simulation Results 100
Typical method of implementation 102


Chapter 10. Verification Architecture for Pre-Silicon Validation

Introduction 105
Pre-silicon Validation 107
Concurrency 107
Automated Test Generation 108
Robust, High-quality Verification IP 108
Ease of Use 109
Leveraging Design and Application Knowledge 110
Right Level of Abstraction 110
Debugging 110
Configurability 110
Reusing the Test Environment 110
Machine Cycles Become Less Expensive 111
An Architecture for Pre-silicon Validation 111
Verification components 112
Intelligent Bus Functional Models 112
Intelligent Bus Protocol Monitors 113
Intelligent Test Controller and Data Checker 113
Conclusion 113


Chapter 11. Overview of Test Bench Requirements

Basic Test Bench Construction 115
Coverage Directed Test Benches 117
Test Bench for a Single Module or Single Unit 118
Dealing with Multiple Test Benches 119
Improving Your Testing Strategy 120
Writing Test Benches - Functional Verification of HDL Models 120


Chapter 12. Analyzing and Optimizing the Test Suite

The Test Suite 121
Regression Testing 123
Merging Test Bench Results 125
Optimizing the Test Benches 125
Identifying Test Benches for ECO 129


Appendix A. On-line Resources and Further Reading

Coverage Analysis Tools 132

Verification Navigator 132
Design Rule Checker 132
Verilog and VHDL Simulators 133
Verilog 133
VHDL 133
ModelSim Simulator 133
Verilog Source Files 134
VHDL Source Files 134
References for Further Reading 134
Reuse Methodology Manual for System-on-a-chip Designs 134
Writing Test benches - Functional Verification of HDL Models 134
HDL Chip Design 134


Appendix B. HDL Checking - Worked Examples
Getting Organized 135
Starting the Rule-Based Checker 136
Selecting a Rule Database 137
Selecting the Run Options 138
Running the Rule-Based Checker 139
Viewing the Results 139
Editing the Source Files 142


Appendix C. Verilog Coverage Analysis - Worked Examples
Getting Organized 143
Directory and File Structure 144
Command Line Batch File 144
Parameter File (Global and Local) 145
Collecting Coverage Results 146
Viewing Coverage Results 146


Appendix D. VHDL Coverage Analysis - Worked Examples
Getting Organized 155
Directory and File Structure 156
Getting The Results 156


Appendix E. FSM Coverage - Worked Examples

Directory and File Structure 165
Command Line Batch File 166
Collecting Coverage Results 166
Viewing Coverage Results 167
State Coverage 172
Arc and Path Coverage 172
State Diagram 173
Cycle Information 173



Appendix F. Dynamic Property Checking - Worked Examples

Resources 175
Directory and File Structure 175
Command Line Batch File 176
Description of the Design 177
Collecting Coverage Results 177
Viewing Coverage Results 177


Appendix G. Creating Properties - Worked Examples
Getting Organized 183
Background 184
Overview 184
Circular Tour 185
Looping on S2 186
Counting the number of loops 186
Matching two lower level sequences 186
Using a Signals file 186


Glossary

A glossary of EDA and CAE terms 195


Index
An index of topics in this book 201
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