Application of co-verification tools to the testing of IC designs
View Patent ↗An IC design is tested on a workstation through a hardware simulator. The workstation includes a co-verification software tool that executes IC firmware to operate the IC design and test the IC design and IC firmware. The co-verification software tool further operates to supply test stimuli to the IC design and to receive responses for analysis. The test stimuli are written in a programming language, which permits ease of testing and analysis of the IC design.
1. A process of testing an IC design described in HDL code in conjunction with a hardware simulator and a co-verification tool on a workstation, wherein the co-verification tool provides both firmware control of the IC design via a modeled processor bus, and test stimuli of the IC design via a modeled system interface that is either an industry standard or a proprietary interface, the process comprising steps of:
a) operating the co-verification tool in the workstation to execute IC firmware associated with the IC design;
b) operating the IC design through the modeled processor bus using the executed IC firmware; and
c) operating the co-verification tool in the workstation to supply test stimuli through the modeled system interface to the IC design, the test stimuli being compatible to the industry standard or proprietary interface and the IC design being responsive to the test stimuli to provide responses to the workstation so that the workstation is used to analyze the responses of the IC design.
2. The process of claim 1 , further including:
d) operating the co-verification tool in the workstation to analyze the IC design using the responses.
3. The process of claim 2 , wherein step c) is performed by executing the co-verification software and test software on the workstation, the process further including steps of:
e) testing the IC firmware, and
f) testing operation of the IC design.
4. The process of claim 3 , wherein the test software is written in a programming language compatible with the workstation, rather than in HDL.
5. The process of claim 3 , wherein the test stimuli are associated with a peripheral device with which the fabricated IC chip is intended to operate.
6. The process of claim 2 , wherein the test stimuli are associated with a peripheral device with which the fabricated IC chip is intended to operate.
7. The process of claim 1 , further including steps of:
g) testing the IC firmware, and
h) testing operation of the IC design.
8. The process of claim 7 , wherein the test stimuli are associated with a peripheral device with which the fabricated IC chip is intended to operate.
9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the modeled system interface simulates a channel associated with the peripheral device between the workstation and the IC design to perform tests on the IC design based on test stimuli.
10. The process of claim 9 , wherein the channel is selected from the group consisting of fibre channels and SCSI buses.
11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the test stimuli are associated with a peripheral device with which the fabricated IC chip is intended to operate.
12. A computer useable medium having a computer readable program embodied therein for testing an IC design described in HDL code in a hardware simulator, the computer readable program comprising:
a first computer readable program comprising:
computer readable program code for causing the hardware simulator to model a processor bus that processes IC firmware, and
computer readable program code for causing the hardware simulator to model a system interface that is either an industry standard or a proprietary system interface;
a second computer readable program comprising:
computer readable program code for causing the computer to execute IC firmware associated with the IC design, and
computer readable program code for causing the computer to operate the IC design through the modeled processor bus in the hardware simulator using the executed IC firmware; and
a third computer readable program comprising computer readable program code for causing the computer to supply test stimuli compatible to the industry standard or proprietary interface through the modeled system interface to the IC design and to receive responses to the test stimuli.
13. The computer useable medium of claim 12 , wherein the third computer readable program further comprises:
computer readable program code for causing the computer to analyze the IC design using the responses.
14. The computer useable medium of claim 13 , wherein the second computer readable program comprises:
co-verification and test software for causing the computer to test the IC firmware and test operation of the IC design.
15. The computer useable medium of claim 14 , wherein the test software is written in a programming language compatible with the workstation, rather than HDL.
16. The computer useable medium of claim 12 , wherein the second computer readable program comprises:
co-verification and test software for causing the computer to test the IC firmware and test operation of the IC design.
17. The computer useable medium of claim 16 , wherein the test software is written in a programming language compatible with the workstation, rather than HDL.