Advanced analysis techniques for cross-product coverage

Coverage analysis is used to monitor the quality of the verification process. Reports provided by coverage tools help users identify areas in the design that have not been adequately tested. Because of their sheer size, the analysis of large coverage models can be an intimidating and time-consuming task. This paper presents two new techniques for coverage analysis. The first technique, coverage query, allows users that concentrate on a single uncovered event to find larger phenomena (e.g., hole) that contains this event. The second technique, quasi-hole analysis, automatically identifies large areas in the coverage space that are lightly covered. The proposed techniques provide additional means for extracting relevant, useful information, thereby improving the quality of the coverage analysis. A number of examples are provided showing how the proposed method improved the verification of actual designs.