mental improvements during the same period. What is clearly needed in verification techniques and technology is the equivalent of a synthesis productivity breakthrough. In the second edition of Writing Testbenches, Bergeron raises the verification level of abstraction by introducing coverage-driven constrained-random transaction-level self-checking testbenches all made possible through the introduction of hardware verification languages (HVLs), such as e from Verisity and OpenVera from Synopsys. The state-of-art methodologies described in Writing Test benches will contribute greatly to the much-needed equivalent of a synthesis breakthrough in verification productivity. I not only highly recommend this book, but also I think it should be required reading by anyone involved in design and verification of today's ASIC, SoCs and systems. Harry Foster Chief Architect Verplex Systems, Inc. xviii Writing Testbenches: Functional Verification of HDL Models PREFACE If you survey hardware design groups, you will learn that between 60% and 80% of their effort is now dedicated to verification.

mental improvements during the same period. What is clearly needed in verification techniques and technology is the equivalent of a synthesis productivity breakthrough. In the second edition of Writing Testbenches, Bergeron raises the verification level of abstraction by introducing coverage-driven constrained-random transaction-level self-checking testbenches all made possible through the introduction of hardware verification languages (HVLs), such as e from Verisity and OpenVera from Synopsys. The state-of-art methodologies described in Writing Test benches will contribute greatly to the much-needed equivalent of a synthesis breakthrough in verification productivity. I not only highly recommend this book, but also I think it should be required reading by anyone involved in design and verification of today's ASIC, SoCs and systems. Harry Foster Chief Architect Verplex Systems, Inc. xviii Writing Testbenches: Functional Verification of HDL Models PREFACE If you survey hardware design groups, you will learn that between 60% and 80% of their effort is now dedicated to verification.

CHAPTER 6 Architecting Testbenches 221 Reusable Verification Components 221 Procedural Interface 225 Development Process 226 Verilog Implementation 227 Packaging Bus-Functional Models 228 Utility Packages 231 VHDL Implementation 237 Packaging Bus-Functional Procedures 238 240 Creating a Test Harness 243 Abstracting the Client/Server Protocol Managing Control Signals 246 Multiple Server Instances 247 Utility Packages 249 Autonomous Generation and Monitoring 250 Autonomous Stimulus 250 Random Stimulus 253 Injecting Errors 255 Autonomous Monitoring 255 258 Autonomous Error Detection Input and Output Paths 258 Programmable Testbenches 259 Configuration Files 260 Concurrent Simulations 261 Compile-Time Configuration 262 Verifying Configurable Designs 263 Configurable Testbenches 265 Top Level Generics and Parameters 266 Summary 268 CHAPTER 7 Simulation Management 269 Behavioral Models 269 Behavioral versus Synthesizable Models 270 Example of Behavioral Modeling 271 Characteristics of a Behavioral Model 273 x Writing Testbenches: Functional Verification of HDL Models Modeling Reset 276 Writing Good Behavioral Models 281 Behavioral Models Are Faster 285 The Cost of Behavioral Models 286 The Benefits of Behavioral Models 286 Demonstrating Equivalence 289 Pass or Fail? 289 Managing Simulations 292 294 Configuration Management Verilog Configuration Management 295 VHDL Configuration Management 301 SDF Back-Annotation 305 Output File Management 309 Regression 312 Running Regressions 313 Regression Management 314 Summary 316 APPENDIX A Coding Guidelines 317 Directory Structure 318 VHDL Specific 320 Verilog Specific 320 General Coding Guidelines 321 Comments 321 Layout 323 Syntax 326 Debugging 329 Naming Guidelines 329 Capitalization 330 Identifiers 332 Constants 334 334 HDL Specific Filenames 336 HDL Coding Guidelines 336 337 Structure 337 Layout

The first edition of Principles of Verifiable RTL Design offered a common sense method for simplifying and unifying assertion specification by creating a set of predefined specification modules that could be instantiated within the designer's RTL. Since the release of the first edition, an entire industry-wide initiative for assertion specification has emerged based on ideas presented in the first edition. This initiative, known as the Open Verification Library Initiative (www.verificationlib.org), provides an assertion interface standard that enables the design engineer to capture many interesting properties of the design and precludes the need to introduce new HDL constructs (i.e., extensions to Verilog are not required). Furthermore, this standard enables the design engineer to `specify once,' then target the same RTL assertion specification over multiple verification processes, such as traditional simulation, semi-formal and formal verification tools. The Open Verification Library Initiative is an empowering technology that will benefit design and verification engineers while providing unity to the EDA community (e.g., providers of testbench generation tools, traditional simulators, commercial assertion checking support tools, symbolic simulation, and semi-formal and formal verification tools). The second edition of Principles of Verifiable RTL Design expands the discussion of assertion specification by including a new chapter entitled `Coverage, Events and Assertions'. All assertions exampled are aligned with the Open Verification Library Initiative proposed standard. Furthermore, the second edition provides expanded discussions on the following topics: start-up verification; the place for 4-state simulation; race conditions; RTL-style-synthesizable RTL (unambiguous mapping to gates); more `bad stuff'. The goal of the second edition is to keep the topic current. Principles of Verifiable RTL Design, A Functional Coding Style Supporting Verification Processes, Second Edition tells you how you can write Verilog to describe chip designs at the RTL level in a manner that cooperates with verification processes. This cooperation can return an order of magnitude improvement in performance and capacity from tools such as simulation and equivalence checkers. It reduces the labor costs of coverage and formal model checking by facilitating communication between the design engineer and the verification engineer. It also orients the RTL style to provide more useful results from the overall verification process.

Offers users the first resource guide that combines both the methodology and basics of SystemVerilog Addresses how all these pieces fit together and how they should be used to verify complex chips rapidly and thoroughly. Unique in its broad coverage of SystemVerilog, advanced functional verification, and the combination of the two.

Describes a small verification library with a concentration on user adaptability such as re-useable components, portable Intellectual Property, and co-verification. Takes a realistic view of reusability and distills lessons learned down to a tool box of techniques and guidelines.