A study in coverage-driven test generation

Author

Benjamin, Mike ; Geist, Daniel ; Hartman, Alan ; Wolfsthal, Yaron ; Mas, Gerard ; Smeets, Ralph

Author_Institution

STMicroelectron., Bristol, UK

fYear

1999

fDate

1999

Firstpage

970

Lastpage

975

Abstract

One possible solution to the verification crisis is to bridge the gap between formal verification and simulation by using hybrid techniques. This paper presents a study of such a functional verification methodology that uses coverage of formal models to specify tests. This was applied to a modern superscalar microprocessor and the resulting tests were compared to tests generated using existing methods. The results showed some 50% improvement in transition coverage with less than a third the number of test instructions, demonstrating that hybrid techniques can significantly improve functional verification

Keywords

automatic test pattern generation; automatic test software; digital simulation; formal verification; logic simulation; logic testing; GOTCHA tool; coverage-driven test generation; formal models; formal verification; functional verification methodology; hybrid techniques; simulation; superscalar microprocessor; test specification; transition coverage; Bridges; Chemical technology; Electronic design automation and methodology; Explosions; Formal verification; Hybrid power systems; Microprocessors; Permission; State-space methods; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Design Automation Conference, 1999. Proceedings. 36th

Conference_Location

New Orleans, LA

Print_ISBN

1-58113-092-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/DAC.1999.782237

Filename

782237