Automated stimulus steering during simulation of an integrated circuit design
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorFritz A. Boehm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method is contemplated in which the stimulus to an IC design simulation may be automatically manipulated or steered so that the test environment is altered during subsequent simulations of the IC design based upon the simulation results and/or configuration settings of previous simulations of the IC design. More particularly, a stimulation steering tool may analyze the simulation results and/or the test environment, and manipulate the test environment, which may include the test generator output, and the test bench model, for subsequent simulations.
Claims22
A method comprising:
- simulating, by a computer, an integrated circuit (IC) design on a simulation test bench, wherein the simulation test bench generates a simulation stimulus for the IC design based on a test bench environment that includes a plurality of independently controllable test bench parameters;
- recording simulation results;
- and
- automatically manipulating the test bench environment to change the simulation stimulus during subsequent simulations of the IC design based upon the simulation results.
A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including program instructions for verifying functionality of an integrated circuit (IC) design, the program instructions are executable by a processor to:
- simulate an integrated circuit (IC) design on a simulation test bench, wherein the simulation test bench generates a simulation stimulus for the IC design based on a test bench environment that includes a plurality of independently controllable test bench parameters;
- record simulation results;
- automatically manipulate the test bench environment to change the simulation stimulus on subsequent simulations based upon the simulation results.
A system comprising:
- a memory storing program instructions for verifying functionality of an integrated circuit (IC) design;
- a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor, in response to executing the instructions is configured to:
- simulate an integrated circuit (IC) design on a simulation test bench, wherein the simulation test bench generates a simulation stimulus for the IC design based a test bench environment that includes a plurality of independently controllable test bench parameters;
- record simulation results;
- automatically manipulate the test bench environment to change the simulation stimulus on subsequent simulations based upon the simulation results or previous simulations of the IC design.
A method comprising:
- simulating, using a computer, an integrated circuit (IC) design on a simulation test bench, wherein the simulation test bench generates a simulation stimulus for the IC design based on a test bench environment that includes a plurality of independently controllable test bench parameters;
- recording simulation results;
- analyzing the simulation results;
- and
- automatically manipulating the test bench environment, using the computer, to change the simulation stimulus during subsequent simulations of the IC design to reduce test coverage of a particular portion of the IC design in response to determining that a maximum test coverage threshold value for the particular portion of the IC design has been exceeded.
A method comprising:
- simulating, using a computer, an integrated circuit (IC) design on a simulation test bench, wherein the simulation test bench generates a simulation stimulus for the IC design based on a test bench environment that includes a plurality of independently controllable test bench parameters;
- recording simulation results using the computer;
- analyzing the simulation results using the computer;
- and
- automatically manipulating, using the computer, each of the plurality of independently controllable test bench parameters one at a time and performing a subsequent respective simulation in response to determining that a particular test coverage parameter has been tested a first time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.