Emulation-based functional qualification

A method for functional qualification of an integrated circuit design, the method comprising:

• receiving, at one or more computer systems, an integrated circuit design having one or more mutations;
• programming, with one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, a prototype board according to the integrated circuit design and a verification module;
• storing, with one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, a set of test patterns and response generated by a simulation of the integrated circuit using the set of test patterns in a memory of the prototyping board;
• and
• receiving, at the one or more computer systems, mutation information from the verification module based on the set of test patterns stored in the memory of the prototyping board.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for functional qualification of an integrated circuit design, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

• code for receiving an integrated circuit design having one or more mutations;
• code for programming a prototype board according to the integrated circuit design and a verification module;
• code for storing a set of test patterns and response generated by a simulation of the integrated circuit using the set of test patterns in a memory of the prototyping board;
• and
• code for receiving mutation information from the verification module based on the set of test patterns stored in the memory of the prototyping board.