A method and apparatus for generating a waveform file

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention provides a waveform file generation method and apparatus, which relate to the technical field of chip testing. The above method includes: obtaining a waveform file generated during the simulation of a chip under test, and obtaining each debugging information generated during the simulation of the chip under test and the first timestamp when each debugging information is generated; respectively determining a second timestamp in the waveform file that is close to each first timestamp; based on the recording positions of the second timestamps close to the first timestamps in the waveform file, respectively writing the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip under test. Since the waveform generated by applying the solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention contains debugging information, applying the generated waveform file to test the chip can improve the debugging efficiency during the chip testing process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of chip testing, and particularly to a waveform file generation method and device. Background Art

[0002] In order to test whether the functions of a chip can achieve the designed purpose, it is necessary to use ATE (Automatic Test Equipment) to perform functional tests on the chip. When using ATE to test the chip, ATE analyzes the VCD (Value Change Dump) waveform file used for chip testing to obtain an excitation signal, and then inputs the excitation signal into the pins of the chip. If the output signal of the chip is the expected signal, it means that the chip has achieved the preset function and can achieve the designed purpose, and the test passes.

[0003] During the process of using ATE to test the chip, it may occur that the output signal is not the expected signal. At this time, it can be considered that the chip cannot achieve the preset function and needs to be debugged. However, since the output signal is a timing signal and cannot intuitively reflect the specific processing performed at each moment during the process of the chip processing the input signal, it is difficult to locate the position where the chip has problems during debugging, and the debugging efficiency is low. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a waveform file generation method and device to generate a waveform file. The specific technical solutions are as follows:

[0005] In a first aspect, the embodiments of the present invention provide a waveform file generation method, and the method includes:

[0006] Obtain the waveform file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested, and obtain each debugging information generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested and the first timestamp when each debugging information is generated;

[0007] Respectively determine the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp;

[0008] Based on the recording positions of the second timestamps close to each first timestamp in the waveform file, write the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file respectively to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip to be tested.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present invention, the step of based on the recording positions of the second timestamps close to each first timestamp in the waveform file, writing the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file respectively to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip to be tested includes:

[0010] Write the debug information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file in the following manner to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip under test:

[0011] If the target timestamp is not earlier than the first timestamp, write the debug information corresponding to the first timestamp into the position adjacent to and before the recording position of the target timestamp in the waveform file, where the target timestamp is: the second timestamp close to the first timestamp in the waveform file;

[0012] If the target timestamp is earlier than the first timestamp, write the debug information corresponding to the first timestamp into the position adjacent to and after the data position of the waveform data corresponding to the target timestamp in the waveform file.

[0013] In one embodiment of the present invention, writing the debug information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file includes:

[0014] Write the debug information corresponding to the first timestamp into the waveform file according to the target format, where the target format is: the debug information corresponding to the first timestamp is located between a preset first debug information start identifier and a preset first debug information end identifier.

[0015] In one embodiment of the present invention, respectively determining the second timestamp close to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file includes:

[0016] Parse the waveform file to obtain the second timestamp recorded in the waveform file and the time unit of the second timestamp;

[0017] Based on the time unit of the second timestamp and the time unit of the first timestamp, respectively determine the second timestamp close to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file.

[0018] In one embodiment of the present invention, based on the time unit of the second timestamp and the time unit of the first timestamp, respectively determining the second timestamp close to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file includes:

[0019] If the time unit of the second timestamp is inconsistent with the time unit of the first timestamp, unify each first timestamp and each second timestamp to the same time unit;

[0020] Based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp after unifying the time units, respectively determine the second timestamp close to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file.

[0021] In one embodiment of the present invention, obtaining each piece of debugging information generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested and the first timestamp at which each piece of debugging information is generated includes:

[0022] Obtaining a log file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested;

[0023] Identifying each debugging information identifier recorded in the log file;

[0024] For each debugging information identifier recorded in the log file, after the debugging information identifier in the log file, identifying a timestamp identifier, a preset second debugging information start identifier, and a preset second debugging information end identifier corresponding to the debugging information identifier;

[0025] Determining the information between the second debugging information start identifier and the second debugging information end identifier in the log file as each piece of debugging information, and determining the timestamp after the timestamp identifier in the log file as the first timestamp at which the debugging information is generated.

[0026] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a waveform file generation device, and the device includes:

[0027] A file and information acquisition module, configured to acquire a waveform file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested, and acquire each piece of debugging information generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested and the first timestamp at which each piece of debugging information is generated;

[0028] A timestamp determination module, configured to respectively determine a second timestamp close to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file;

[0029] A debugging information writing module, configured to write the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file based on the recording positions of the second timestamps close to each first timestamp in the waveform file, so as to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip to be tested.

[0030] In one embodiment of the present invention, the debugging information writing module is specifically configured to:

[0031] Write the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file in the following manner to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip to be tested:

[0032] If the target timestamp is not earlier than the first timestamp, write the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp into a position adjacent to and before the recording position of the target timestamp in the waveform file, where the target timestamp is: the second timestamp close to the first timestamp in the waveform file;

[0033] If the target timestamp is earlier than the first timestamp, write the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp to a position adjacent to and after the data position of the waveform data corresponding to the target timestamp in the waveform file.

[0034] In one embodiment of the present invention, the debugging information writing module is specifically configured to write the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp into the waveform file according to a target format, where the target format is that the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp is located between a preset first debugging information start identifier and a preset first debugging information end identifier.

[0035] In one embodiment of the present invention, the timestamp determination module includes:

[0036] A waveform file parsing sub-module, configured to parse the waveform file to obtain a second timestamp recorded in the waveform file and the time unit of the second timestamp;

[0037] A timestamp determination sub-module, configured to respectively determine the second timestamp similar to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file based on the time unit of the second timestamp and the time unit of the first timestamp.

[0038] In one embodiment of the present invention, the timestamp determination sub-module is specifically configured to, if the time unit of the second timestamp is inconsistent with the time unit of the first timestamp, unify each first timestamp and each second timestamp to the same time unit; based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp after the time unit is unified, respectively determine the second timestamp similar to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file.

[0039] In one embodiment of the present invention, the file and information acquisition module includes:

[0040] A file acquisition sub-module, configured to acquire a waveform file and a log file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested;

[0041] A first identifier recognition sub-module, configured to recognize each debugging information identifier recorded in the log file;

[0042] A second identifier recognition sub-module, configured to, for each debugging information identifier recorded in the log file, after the debugging information identifier in the log file, recognize the timestamp identifier corresponding to the debugging information identifier, a preset second debugging information start identifier, and a preset second debugging information end identifier;

[0043] An information determination sub-module, configured to determine the information between the second debug information start identifier and the second debug information end identifier in the log file as each piece of debug information, and determine the timestamp after the timestamp identifier in the log file as the first timestamp when each piece of debug information is generated.

[0044] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device, including: a processor and a machine-readable storage medium, where the machine-readable storage medium stores machine-executable instructions that can be executed by the processor, and the processor is prompted by the machine-executable instructions to: implement the waveform file generation method described in the first aspect above.

[0045] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, storing machine-executable instructions, which, when called and executed by a processor, prompt the processor to: implement the waveform file generation method described in the first aspect above.

[0046] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer program product containing instructions, which, when running on a computer, enables the computer to implement the waveform file generation method described in the first aspect above when executed.

[0047] As can be seen from the above, when generating a waveform file by applying the solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention, for the first timestamp corresponding to each piece of debug information, a second timestamp similar to the first timestamp recorded in the waveform file is determined. Based on the recording position of the second timestamp in the waveform file, the debug information corresponding to the first timestamp can be written into the waveform file, and a new waveform file can be successfully generated.

[0048] Furthermore, since the waveform file generated by applying the solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention carries debug information, when using ATE and testing the chip based on the above new waveform file, if an abnormal output signal is found during the test, the timestamp when the abnormal signal is generated can be matched with the timestamps recorded in the new waveform file, and the debug information recorded at the timestamp matched in the new waveform file can be used to analyze the problems that occur during the chip test, which is convenient for locating the above problems, and then the chip can be debugged for the above problems, thereby improving the debugging efficiency during the chip test.

[0049] Of course, when implementing any product or method of the present invention, it is not necessarily required to achieve all the above advantages at the same time. Description of the Drawings

[0050] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the accompanying drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other embodiments can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0051] Figure 1 It is a schematic flowchart of the first waveform file generation method provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0052] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the content of a waveform file provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0053] Figure 3 It is a schematic flowchart of the second waveform file generation method provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0054] Figure 4 It is a schematic structural diagram of the first waveform file generation device provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0055] Figure 5 It is a schematic structural diagram of the second waveform file generation device provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0056] Figure 6 It is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device provided by the embodiment of the present invention. Specific embodiments

[0057] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on this application belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0058] First, the application scenario of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0059] The solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to the chip test scenario. Specifically, it is applied to the scenario of locating problems that occur during the ATE test of the chip.

[0060] When using ATE to test the chip, ATE analyzes the VCD waveform file used for chip testing to obtain the excitation signal, and then inputs the excitation signal into the pins of the chip. If the output signal of the chip is the expected signal, it means that the chip has achieved the preset function, can achieve the design purpose, and the test passes. If the output signal of the chip is not the expected signal, it means that the chip has not achieved the preset function, the test fails, and the chip needs to be debugged.

[0061] To facilitate quickly locating the problem positions of a chip during debugging and improve the debugging efficiency, an embodiment of the present invention provides a waveform file generation solution. By applying the waveform file generation solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention, a waveform file carrying debugging information can be generated. Thus, when an ATE tests the chip based on the generated waveform file, if an abnormal signal output is found during the test, the time stamp of the abnormal signal generation can be matched with the time stamps recorded in the generated waveform file. According to the debugging information recorded at the time stamp matched in the generated waveform file, the problems occurring during the chip test can be analyzed to facilitate locating the above problems, and then the chip can be debugged for the above problems, thereby improving the debugging efficiency during the chip test process.

[0062] The execution subject of the solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

[0063] The execution subject of the solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention can be any electronic device with data processing capabilities.

[0064] The waveform file generation method provided by the embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below.

[0065] See Figure 1 , Figure 1 which is a schematic flowchart of the first waveform file generation method provided by the embodiment of the present invention. The above method includes the following steps S101 - S103.

[0066] Step S101: Obtain the waveform file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested, and obtain each piece of debugging information generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested and the first time stamp when each piece of debugging information is generated.

[0067] Chip testing usually consists of two steps: simulation and hardware testing.

[0068] The above simulation is to use a simulation tool to run the design file of the chip to simulate the actual operation of the chip. During the simulation process, a waveform file will be generated, and the waveform file records the waveform data generated during the simulated operation of the chip and the time stamps when the waveform data is generated. In some cases, in addition to generating a waveform file during the above simulation process, a log file can also be generated, and the log file records each piece of debugging information generated during the simulation process and the first time stamp when each piece of debugging information is generated.

[0069] Among them, the above simulation tools can be simulation tools such as VCS, XRUN, Questasim, etc. According to different simulation tools, the above waveform files can be VCD files, WLF (Wave Log File) files, etc. It can be seen that when obtaining waveform files by applying the solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention, it does not depend on a specific simulation tool, achieving complete decoupling from the simulation tool and having a wide range of applications.

[0070] The chip will be actually manufactured only after simulation, and devices such as ATE need to be used to further perform hardware tests on the chip. If the test passes, it is considered that the chip meets the design purpose, and then mass production can be carried out. The above ATE device is a device for detecting whether the functions of the chip meet the design purpose.

[0071] The above chip to be tested is the chip that needs to undergo the above tests.

[0072] Specifically, the waveform file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested can be obtained in the following ways.

[0073] In one implementation, a simulation tool can be called to simulate the chip to be tested, so that the waveform file generated during the simulation can be obtained.

[0074] In another implementation, a pre-stored waveform file can be obtained. For example, the chip to be tested can be pre-simulated and the waveform file generated during the simulation can be stored. In this case, the above pre-stored waveform file can be obtained. It can be seen that the waveform file obtained in the embodiment of the present invention can be pre-stored, and there is no need to re-use the simulation tool to simulate the chip to be tested, which can save the time consumed for simulating the chip to be tested, and thus reduce the time for generating the waveform file by applying the solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

[0075] The following describes the methods for obtaining the above-mentioned various debugging information and the first time stamps when generating the various debugging information.

[0076] When using a simulation tool to simulate the chip to be tested, an instruction for outputting debugging information can be pre-added to the simulation environment of the chip to be tested. In this way, when using the simulation tool to run the design file of the above chip to be tested, corresponding debugging information can be output according to the pre-added instruction, and the time stamp when the debugging information is generated can be output.

[0077] Specifically, according to different output methods of the above debugging information and the time stamps when generating the debugging information, the following two methods are described.

[0078] In one implementation, during the process of using a simulation tool to perform a simulation run on a chip under test, the device running the simulation tool can call the console to output the above-mentioned debugging information and the first timestamp at which the debugging information is generated. In this way, the debugging information and the first timestamp at which the debugging information is generated can be obtained from the information output by the console.

[0079] In another implementation, during the process of using a simulation tool to perform a simulation run on a chip under test, in addition to generating a waveform file, a log file can also be generated. The above-mentioned debugging information and the first timestamp at which the debugging information is generated can be recorded in the log file. In this case, the various debugging information recorded in the log file and the first timestamp at which each debugging information is generated can be extracted. For the specific implementation details, see Figure 3 the steps S301 - S304 shown in the embodiments, which will not be elaborated here for the time being.

[0080] Step S102: Respectively determine the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp.

[0081] Specifically, the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp can be determined in the following manner.

[0082] In one implementation, the time unit of the first timestamp is the same as the time unit of the second timestamp. In this way, for each first timestamp, the absolute value of the difference between this first timestamp and each second timestamp recorded in the waveform file can be calculated, and the second timestamp with the smallest absolute value of the difference from this first timestamp is determined as the second timestamp close to this first timestamp.

[0083] Specifically, a first list of the first timestamps at which the debugging information is generated can be constructed, and a second list of the second timestamps recorded in the waveform file can be constructed. In this way, each first timestamp in the first list can be traversed, and the second timestamp in the second list that is close to this first timestamp can be determined by calculating the absolute value of the above-mentioned difference.

[0084] Among them, when calculating the absolute value of the difference between this first timestamp and each second timestamp recorded in the waveform file, if the absolute value of the difference between a certain second timestamp and this first timestamp is 0, it indicates that this second timestamp is the same as this first timestamp. Then this second timestamp is the second timestamp close to this first timestamp. Therefore, the calculation of the absolute value of the difference between other second timestamps and this first timestamp can be stopped subsequently.

[0085] In another embodiment, the time unit of the first timestamp is different from that of the second timestamp. For example, the time unit of the second timestamp is nanoseconds, and the time unit of the first timestamp is femtoseconds. In this case, the first timestamps and the second timestamps can be unified to the same time unit, and then based on the first timestamps and the second timestamps after the time unit is unified, the second timestamps recorded in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp are determined respectively.

[0086] After the time units of the first timestamp and the second timestamp are unified, since the units of the two timestamps are the same, for each first timestamp, the absolute value of the difference between the first timestamp and each second timestamp recorded in the waveform file can be directly calculated, and the second timestamp with the smallest absolute value of the difference from the first timestamp is determined as the second timestamp close to the first timestamp.

[0087] Among them, unifying the first timestamps and the second timestamps to the same time unit can be converting the time unit of the first timestamp to the time unit of the second timestamp, or converting the time unit of the second timestamp to the time unit of the first timestamp.

[0088] Of course, it is also possible to judge the magnitudes of the time units of the first timestamp and the second timestamp, and convert the time unit of the timestamp with the larger time unit to the time unit of the timestamp with the smaller time unit, which can avoid errors when converting the time unit of the timestamp with the smaller time unit to the time unit of the timestamp with the larger time unit.

[0089] For example, the time unit of the first timestamp is femtoseconds, and the time unit of the second timestamp is nanoseconds. At this time, if the time unit of the first timestamp is converted to the time unit of the second timestamp, errors may occur during the conversion process. For example, a certain first timestamp is 8293500000 femtoseconds, and converting the time unit of this first timestamp to nanoseconds is 8294 nanoseconds. It can be seen that errors occur after the time unit conversion.

[0090] Specifically, when judging whether the time units of the first timestamp and the second timestamp are the same, the waveform file can be parsed, and based on the parsing result, the time unit of the second timestamp recorded in the waveform file is obtained, and then it is judged whether the time units of the first timestamp and the second timestamp are the same.

[0091] In this way, in the case of inconsistent time units, by unifying the time units of the first timestamp and the second timestamp, numerical operations can be directly performed based on the unified time unit, which is more convenient for determining the second timestamp close to each first timestamp.

[0092] As can be seen from the above, when determining the second timestamp close to each first timestamp, the time units of the first timestamp and the second timestamp are also taken into account, so that the second timestamp close to each first timestamp can be determined more accurately based on the time units of the first timestamp and the second timestamp.

[0093] Step S103: Based on the recording positions of the second timestamps close to the respective first timestamps in the waveform file, write the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file respectively, so as to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip under test.

[0094] In an embodiment of the present invention, the above waveform file may be a VCD waveform file. First, taking the VCD waveform file as an example, the data recording method of the waveform file will be described below.

[0095] See Figure 2 , which is a schematic diagram of the content of a waveform file provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The part of "# + number" in the figure is the second timestamp recorded in the waveform file, and the "0" or "1" adjacent to and after the second timestamp is the waveform data corresponding to the second timestamp. From Figure 2 It can be seen that the second timestamps in the waveform file are recorded in the waveform file in ascending order of the size of the timestamps. Each second timestamp has corresponding waveform data, and the waveform data is adjacent to the second timestamp and after the second timestamp.

[0096] Next, the method of writing the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file will be described.

[0097] Specifically, the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp can be written into the waveform file in the following way.

[0098] In one implementation manner, for each first timestamp, after determining the recording positions of the second timestamps close to the respective first timestamps in the waveform file, the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp can be written into the positions adjacent to the recording positions of the second timestamps in the waveform file respectively. For example, the above positions may be the positions adjacent to the recording positions of the second timestamps and before the above recording positions, or the positions adjacent to the recording positions of the second timestamps and after the above recording positions.

[0099] In another implementation manner, based on the magnitude relationship between the second timestamps close to the respective first timestamps and the first timestamps, different methods can be used to write the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the above waveform file respectively. The specific implementation manners are described in detail in the subsequent embodiments and will not be elaborated here for the time being.

[0100] After writing the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file, a waveform file for hardware testing the chip to be tested can be generated. The debugging information in the generated waveform file serves as an interface for information interaction between the staff and the simulation process. Furthermore, when performing hardware testing on the chip to be tested based on the generated waveform file, it is convenient for the staff to analyze the results of the hardware testing according to the above-mentioned debugging information.

[0101] As can be seen from the above, when generating a waveform file using the solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention, for each first timestamp corresponding to the debugging information, a second timestamp similar to the first timestamp recorded in the waveform file is determined. In this way, based on the recording position of the second timestamp in the waveform file, the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp can be written into the waveform file, and a new waveform file can be successfully generated.

[0102] Furthermore, since the waveform file generated using the solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention carries debugging information, when using ATE and testing the chip based on the above new waveform file, if an abnormal output signal is found during the testing process, the timestamp of the abnormal signal can be matched with the timestamps recorded in the new waveform file. According to the debugging information recorded at the timestamp matched in the new waveform file, the problems occurring during the chip testing process can be analyzed, which is convenient for locating the above problems. Furthermore, the chip can be debugged for the above problems, which can improve the debugging efficiency during the chip testing process.

[0103] The following uses Case 1 and Case 2 to illustrate the method of writing the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file based on the size relationship between the second timestamp similar to each first timestamp and the first timestamp.

[0104] Case 1: If the target timestamp is not earlier than the first timestamp, write the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp into the position adjacent to and before the recording position of the target timestamp in the above waveform file.

[0105] Wherein, the above target timestamp is: the second timestamp similar to the first timestamp in the above waveform file.

[0106] The target timestamp is not earlier than the first timestamp, that is, the target timestamp is equal to or later than the first timestamp. In this case, in order to ensure that the debugging information written into the waveform file is adjacent to the recording position of the target timestamp recorded in the waveform file and does not damage the corresponding relationship between the target timestamp and the waveform data, the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp can be written into the position adjacent to and before the recording position of the target timestamp in the above waveform file.

[0107] To facilitate the description of the writing position of the debugging information in this case, the following is combined with Figure 2 and specific examples are given for introduction.

[0108] See Figure 2 , taking the debugging information 2 in the figure as an example. If the first timestamp when the debugging information 2 is generated is 3500 nanoseconds, the target timestamp in the waveform file close to this first timestamp is 3720 nanoseconds, and the waveform data corresponding to the target timestamp is "0". At this time, the target timestamp is not earlier than the first timestamp. Then, as can be seen from the figure, the debugging information 2 can be written to a position adjacent to and before the recording position of 3720 nanoseconds in the waveform file. This not only makes the debugging information 2 written to the waveform file adjacent to the recording position of the target timestamp 3720 nanoseconds in the waveform file, but also does not destroy the corresponding relationship between the target timestamp 3720 nanoseconds and the waveform data "0".

[0109] Case 2: If the above target timestamp is earlier than this first timestamp, then write the debugging information corresponding to this first timestamp to a position adjacent to and after the data position of the waveform data corresponding to the above target timestamp in the above waveform file.

[0110] In this case, to ensure that the debugging information written to the waveform file is close to the recording position of the target timestamp in the waveform file and does not destroy the corresponding relationship between the target timestamp and the waveform data, the debugging information corresponding to this first timestamp can be written to a position adjacent to and after the data position of the waveform data corresponding to the above target timestamp in the above waveform file.

[0111] To facilitate the description of the writing position of the debugging information in this case, the following is combined with Figure 2 and specific examples are given for introduction.

[0112] See Figure 2, taking the debug information 1 in the figure as an example, if the first timestamp when the debug information 1 is generated is 1300 nanoseconds, the target timestamp in the waveform file close to this first timestamp is 1220 nanoseconds, and the waveform data corresponding to the target timestamp is "0". At this time, the target timestamp is earlier than the first timestamp. If the debug information 1 is written to a position adjacent to the record position at 3720 nanoseconds in the waveform file and after the above record position, it will cause the debug information 1 to be written between the second timestamp 1220 nanoseconds and the waveform data "0", which obviously destroys the correspondence between the second timestamp and the waveform data "0". Therefore, it can be seen from the figure that in fact, the debug information 1 is written to a position adjacent to the data position of the waveform data "0" corresponding to 3720 nanoseconds in the waveform file and after the above data position. This not only makes the debug information 1 written to the waveform file close to the record position of the target timestamp 1220 nanoseconds recorded in the waveform file, but also does not destroy the correspondence between the target timestamp 1220 nanoseconds and the waveform data "0".

[0113] As can be seen from the above, based on the size relationship between the target timestamp and the first timestamp, the debug information corresponding to each first timestamp is written into the waveform file in different ways, which not only makes the debug information written into the waveform file close to the record position of the target timestamp recorded in the waveform file, but also avoids the debug information being written between the target timestamp and the waveform data corresponding to the target timestamp, thereby preventing the waveform data recorded in the waveform file from being affected.

[0114] Specifically, the debug information corresponding to the first timestamp can be written into the waveform file according to the target format, where the target format is: the debug information corresponding to the first timestamp is located between a preset first debug information start identifier and a preset first debug information end identifier.

[0115] In one implementation, the above preset first debug information start identifier and first debug information end identifier can be keywords preset according to the format of the waveform file. For example, when the above waveform file is a VCD file, as Figure 2 shown, the above first debug information start identifier can be "$comment", and the above first debug information end identifier can be "$end". It can be understood that the above example is only one implementation of setting the first debug information start identifier and first debug information end identifier, and the embodiments of the present invention do not limit the format and content of the first debug information start identifier and first debug information end identifier.

[0116] Writing the debug information corresponding to the first timestamp into the waveform file according to the target format in this way can facilitate the staff to identify the above debug information from the waveform file.

[0117] In one embodiment of the present invention, before determining the second timestamps close to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file, the file header of the waveform file may be parsed first, and at least one of the time unit, generation date, version number, and other information of the waveform file may be obtained based on the parsing result. Whether the waveform file is a valid waveform file is determined according to the above information. For example, in one case, if the time unit, generation date, and version number are successfully parsed from the file header of the waveform file, the above waveform file may be considered a valid file. In another case, if the time unit of the above waveform file is the expected time unit, the above waveform file may be considered a valid file. In yet another case, if the generation date of the above waveform file is the expected date, the above waveform file may be considered a valid file. In still another case, if the version number of the above waveform file is the preset version number, the above waveform file may be considered a valid file.

[0118] After ensuring that the above waveform file is a valid file, the step of determining the second timestamps close to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file is performed. This ensures that the waveform file is a valid file, and further ensures that the new waveform file generated by writing the debugging information into the above waveform file is also a valid file.

[0119] In Figure 1 Based on the shown embodiment, when obtaining each debugging information and the first timestamp for generating each debugging information, a log file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested may also be obtained, and then each debugging information recorded in the above log file and the first timestamp for generating each debugging information are extracted. Based on the above situation, an embodiment of the present invention provides another method for generating a waveform file. Specifically, refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 which is a schematic flowchart of the second method for generating a waveform file provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The above method includes the following steps S301 - S306.

[0120] Step S301: Obtain the waveform file and the log file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested.

[0121] The above method for obtaining the waveform file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested has been described in step S101 of the foregoing Figure 1 shown embodiment and will not be elaborated here.

[0122] As can be seen from the foregoing description, during the simulation of the chip to be tested, not only can a waveform file be generated, but also a log file can be generated. The generated log file may record the debugging information generated during the simulation and the first timestamp for generating the debugging information. Therefore, in order to obtain the above debugging information and the first timestamp for generating the debugging information, the log file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested may be obtained.

[0123] The method for obtaining the above log file will be described below.

[0124] In one implementation, a simulation tool can be called to simulate the chip under test, so that the log file generated during the simulation can be obtained.

[0125] In another implementation, a pre-stored log file can be obtained. For example, the chip under test can be simulated in advance and the log file generated during the simulation can be stored. In this case, the above pre-stored log file can be obtained.

[0126] Step S302: Identify each debugging information identifier recorded in the log file.

[0127] The above debugging information identifier is used to identify the debugging information. The debugging information identifier can be a keyword in a preset format. For example, the above debugging information identifier can be "[add_comments_for_ate]" and so on.

[0128] Specifically, a VEI (VCD with Enhancement Information tool, VCD with enhanced information) tool developed based on Python can be used to identify the above debugging information identifier from the log file.

[0129] Since the log file is a file generated during the simulation of the chip under test, it may contain various types of information including debugging information, such as operation record information, data interaction information, etc.

[0130] In order for the VEI tool to identify the debugging information and the timestamp when the debugging information is generated from the above various types of information, the above debugging information identifier can be identified first, and based on the above debugging information identifier, the debugging information and the timestamp when the debugging information is generated can be further identified.

[0131] Step S303: For each debugging information identifier recorded in the log file, after the debugging information identifier in the log file, identify the timestamp identifier corresponding to the debugging information identifier, the preset second debugging information start identifier, and the preset second debugging information end identifier.

[0132] Each debugging information is corresponding to a timestamp, a preset second debugging information start identifier, and a preset second debugging information end identifier. Among them, the above timestamp identifier is used to identify the second timestamp when the debugging information is generated, and the preset second debugging information start identifier and the preset second debugging information end identifier are used to identify the start and end of the debugging information.

[0133] The above timestamp identifier, the second debug information start identifier, and the second debug information end identifier may be keywords in a preset format. For example, the above timestamp identifier may be "@", the second debug information start identifier may be [commentsbegin], and the second debug information end identifier may be [comments end].

[0134] It should be noted that the second debug information start identifier and the first debug information start identifier may be the same or different, and the second debug information end identifier and the first debug information end identifier may be the same or different. The embodiments of the present invention do not limit this.

[0135] It can be understood that the examples of setting the debug information identifier in the foregoing step S302 and the examples in this step are only one implementation manner of setting the debug information identifier, the timestamp identifier, the second debug information start identifier, and the second debug information end identifier. The embodiments of the present invention do not limit the formats and contents of the debug information identifier, the timestamp identifier, the second debug information start identifier, and the second debug information end identifier.

[0136] Step S304: Determine the information between the second debug information start identifier and the second debug information end identifier in the log file as each debug information, and determine the timestamp after the timestamp identifier in the log file as the first timestamp for generating each debug information.

[0137] Specifically, the first timestamp for generating each debug information can be determined in the following different ways.

[0138] In one implementation manner, after the timestamp identifier recorded in the log file, read the information of a preset number of bytes as the above first timestamp.

[0139] In another implementation manner, read the information between the timestamp identifier recorded in the log file and before the next information end identifier as the above first timestamp.

[0140] In yet another implementation manner, read the information between the timestamp identifier recorded in the log file and before the next information identifier as the above first timestamp.

[0141] Step S305: Respectively determine the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp.

[0142] Step S306: Based on the recording positions of the second timestamps close to each first timestamp in the waveform file, write the debug information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file respectively, to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip to be tested.

[0143] The above steps S305 and S306 and the foregoingFigure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, steps S102 and S103 are the same and will not be elaborated here.

[0144] As can be seen from the above, after obtaining the log file generated during the simulation of the chip under test, the debugging information and the first timestamp when the debugging information is generated can be quickly extracted from the log file according to the identifiers recorded in the log file, improving the efficiency of obtaining the debugging information and the first timestamp when the debugging information is generated.

[0145] Corresponding to the above waveform file generation method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a waveform file generation device.

[0146] See Figure 4 , Figure 4 which is a schematic structural diagram of the first data communication device provided by the embodiment of the present invention. The above device includes the following modules 401-403.

[0147] A file and information acquisition module 401, configured to acquire a waveform file generated during the simulation of the chip under test, and acquire each debugging information generated during the simulation of the chip under test and the first timestamp when each debugging information is generated;

[0148] A timestamp determination module 402, configured to respectively determine a second timestamp close to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file;

[0149] A debugging information writing module 403, configured to respectively write the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file based on the recording position of the second timestamp close to each first timestamp in the waveform file, so as to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip under test.

[0150] As can be seen from the above, when generating a waveform file by applying the embodiment provided by the present invention, for each first timestamp corresponding to the debugging information, a second timestamp recorded in the waveform file and close to the first timestamp is determined. In this way, based on the recording position of the second timestamp in the waveform file, the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp can be written into the waveform file, and a new waveform file can be successfully generated.

[0151] Further, since the waveform file generated by applying the solution provided in the embodiment of the present invention carries debugging information, when using ATE and testing the chip based on the above new waveform file, if an abnormal output signal is found during the test, the timestamp of the abnormal signal generation can be matched with the timestamp recorded in the new waveform file, and the problems occurring during the chip test can be analyzed according to the debugging information recorded at the timestamp matched in the new waveform file, which is convenient for locating the above problems, and then the chip can be debugged for the above problems, thereby improving the debugging efficiency during the chip test.

[0152] In one embodiment of the present invention, the debugging information writing module 403 is specifically configured to:

[0153] Write the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file in the following manner to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the to-be-tested chip:

[0154] If the target timestamp is not earlier than the first timestamp, write the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp into the position adjacent to and before the recording position of the target timestamp in the waveform file, where the target timestamp is: the second timestamp close to the first timestamp in the waveform file;

[0155] If the target timestamp is earlier than the first timestamp, write the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp into the position adjacent to and after the data position of the waveform data corresponding to the target timestamp in the waveform file.

[0156] As can be seen from the above, based on the size relationship between the target timestamp and the first timestamp, the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp is written into the waveform file in different ways, which not only makes the debugging information written into the waveform file close to the recording position of the target timestamp recorded in the waveform file, but also avoids the debugging information being written between the target timestamp and the waveform data corresponding to the target timestamp, thereby preventing the waveform data recorded in the waveform file from being affected.

[0157] In one embodiment of the present invention, the debugging information writing module 403 is specifically configured to write the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp into the waveform file according to a target format, where the target format is: the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp is located between a preset first debugging information start identifier and a preset first debugging information end identifier.

[0158] Writing the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp into the waveform file according to the target format in this way can facilitate the staff to identify the above debugging information from the waveform file.

[0159] In one embodiment of the present invention, the timestamp determination module 402 includes:

[0160] A waveform file parsing sub-module, configured to parse the waveform file to obtain the second timestamp recorded in the waveform file and the time unit of the second timestamp;

[0161] A timestamp determination sub-module, configured to respectively determine the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp based on the time unit of the second timestamp and the time unit of the first timestamp.

[0162] As can be seen from the above, when determining the second timestamps close to each first timestamp, the time units of the first timestamp and the second timestamp are also considered, so that based on the time units of the first timestamp and the second timestamp, the second timestamps close to each first timestamp can be determined more accurately.

[0163] In one embodiment of the present invention, the timestamp determination sub-module

[0164] Specifically, if the time unit of the second timestamp is inconsistent with the time unit of the first timestamp, it is used to unify each first timestamp and each second timestamp to the same time unit; based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp after the time unit is unified, the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp are respectively determined.

[0165] In this way, in the case of non-uniform units, by unifying the time units of the first timestamp and the second timestamp, numerical operations can be directly performed based on the unified time unit, which is more convenient for determining the second timestamps close to each first timestamp.

[0166] See Figure 5 , Figure 5 which is a schematic structural diagram of the second data communication device provided by the embodiment of the present invention. The above device includes the following modules 501-506.

[0167] A file acquisition sub-module 501, configured to acquire a waveform file and a log file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested;

[0168] A first identifier recognition sub-module 502, configured to recognize each debug information identifier recorded in the log file;

[0169] A second identifier recognition sub-module 503, configured to, for each of the debug information identifiers recorded in the log file, after the debug information identifier in the log file, recognize the timestamp identifier corresponding to the debug information identifier, the preset second debug information start identifier, and the preset second debug information end identifier;

[0170] An information determination sub-module 504 is configured to determine the information between the second debug information start identifier and the second debug information end identifier in the log file as each piece of debug information, and determine the timestamp after the timestamp identifier in the log file as the first timestamp for generating each piece of debug information;

[0171] A timestamp determination module 505 is configured to respectively determine the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp;

[0172] A debug information writing module 506 is configured to respectively write the debug information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file based on the recording positions of the second timestamps close to each first timestamp in the waveform file, so as to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip under test.

[0173] As can be seen from the above, after obtaining the log file generated during the simulation of the chip under test, the debug information and the first timestamp for generating the debug information can be quickly extracted from the log file according to the identifiers recorded in the log file, improving the efficiency of obtaining the debug information and the first timestamp for generating the debug information.

[0174] An embodiment of the present invention further provides an electronic device, as Figure 6 shown, including: a processor 601 and a machine-readable storage medium 602, where the machine-readable storage medium 602 stores machine-executable instructions that can be executed by the processor, and the processor 601 is prompted by the machine-executable instructions to implement the waveform file generation method provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

[0175] The above-mentioned machine-readable storage medium may include a random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), and may also include a non-volatile memory (Non-Volatile Memory, NVM), such as at least one disk memory. Optionally, the memory may also be at least one storage device located far from the aforementioned processor.

[0176] The above-mentioned processor may be a general-purpose processor, including a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), etc.; it may also be a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components.

[0177] In another embodiment provided by the present invention, a machine-readable storage medium is further provided, storing machine-executable instructions, which when called and executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement the waveform file generation method provided by the embodiments of the present invention.

[0178] In another embodiment provided by the present invention, a computer program product containing instructions is further provided, which when running on a computer, causes the computer to execute the waveform file generation method provided by the embodiments of the present invention.

[0179] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present invention are generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (for example, a Solid State Disk (SSD)).

[0180] It should be noted that in this text, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "comprise", "include" or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "comprising an..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the said element.

[0181] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a related manner. For the same or similar parts among the embodiments, reference can be made to each other. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for the embodiments of the device, electronic device and storage medium, since they are basically similar to the method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and reference can be made to the corresponding parts of the method embodiments for the relevant content.

[0182] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention are all included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for generating a waveform file, characterized in that, Including: Obtain a waveform file generated during the simulation of the chip under test, and obtain each debugging information generated during the simulation of the chip under test and the first timestamp when each debugging information is generated. Wherein, the waveform file includes: waveform data generated by the chip under test during the simulation of the chip under test and the second timestamp when the waveform data is generated. The waveform file is used to obtain an excitation signal required for functional testing of the chip under test. The debugging information includes: information for analyzing and locating problems that occur during the chip testing of the chip under test; Respectively determine the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp; Based on the recording positions of the second timestamps close to each first timestamp in the waveform file, write the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file respectively, to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip under test.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The step of based on the recording positions of the second timestamps close to each first timestamp in the waveform file, writing the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file respectively, to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip under test, includes: Write the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file in the following manner to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip under test: If the target timestamp is not earlier than this first timestamp, write the debugging information corresponding to this first timestamp into the position adjacent to and before the recording position of the target timestamp in the waveform file, where the target timestamp is: the second timestamp in the waveform file that is close to this first timestamp; If the target timestamp is earlier than this first timestamp, write the debugging information corresponding to this first timestamp into the position adjacent to and after the data position of the waveform data corresponding to the target timestamp in the waveform file.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The step of writing the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file includes: Write the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp into the waveform file according to the target format, where the target format is: the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp is located between a preset first debugging information start identifier and a preset first debugging information end identifier.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that The step of respectively determining the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp includes: Parse the waveform file to obtain the second timestamps recorded in the waveform file and the time unit of the second timestamps; Based on the time unit of the second timestamp and the time unit of the first timestamp, respectively determine the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The step of based on the time unit of the second timestamp and the time unit of the first timestamp, respectively determining the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp, includes: If the time unit of the second timestamp is inconsistent with the time unit of the first timestamp, unify each first timestamp and each second timestamp to the same time unit; Based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp after unifying the time units, respectively determine the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The obtaining of each debugging information generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested and the first timestamp when each debugging information is generated includes: Obtain the log file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested; Identify each debugging information identifier recorded in the log file; For each debugging information identifier recorded in the log file, after the debugging information identifier in the log file, identify the timestamp identifier corresponding to the debugging information identifier, the preset second debugging information start identifier, and the preset second debugging information end identifier; Determine the information between the second debugging information start identifier and the second debugging information end identifier in the log file as each debugging information, and determine the timestamp after the timestamp identifier in the log file as the first timestamp when each debugging information is generated.

7. A waveform file generation device, characterized in that, Include: A file and information acquisition module, configured to obtain the waveform file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested, and obtain each debugging information generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested and the first timestamp when each debugging information is generated. Among them, the waveform file includes: the waveform data generated by the chip to be tested during the simulation of the chip to be tested and the second timestamp when the waveform data is generated. The waveform file is used to obtain the excitation signal required for the functional test of the chip to be tested. The debugging information includes: information for analyzing and locating problems that occur during the chip test of the chip to be tested; A timestamp determination module, configured to respectively determine the second timestamps in the waveform file that are close to each first timestamp; A debugging information writing module, configured to write the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file based on the recording positions of the second timestamps close to each first timestamp in the waveform file, to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip to be tested.

8. The device according to claim 7, characterized in that, The debugging information writing module is specifically configured to: Write the debugging information corresponding to each first timestamp into the waveform file in the following manner to obtain a waveform file for hardware testing of the chip to be tested: If the target timestamp is not earlier than the first timestamp, write the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp into the position adjacent to and before the recording position of the target timestamp in the waveform file, where the target timestamp is: the second timestamp in the waveform file that is close to the first timestamp; If the target timestamp is earlier than the first timestamp, write the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp into the position adjacent to and after the data position of the waveform data corresponding to the target timestamp in the waveform file.

9. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that, The debugging information writing module is specifically configured to write the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp into the waveform file in a target format, where the target format is: the debugging information corresponding to the first timestamp is located between the preset first debugging information start identifier and the preset first debugging information end identifier.

10. The device according to any one of claims 7-9, characterized in that The timestamp determination module includes: A waveform file parsing sub-module, configured to parse the waveform file to obtain a second timestamp recorded in the waveform file and the time unit of the second timestamp; A timestamp determination sub-module, configured to respectively determine, based on the time unit of the second timestamp and the time unit of the first timestamp, a second timestamp close to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein The timestamp determination sub-module is specifically configured to, if the time unit of the second timestamp is inconsistent with the time unit of the first timestamp, unify each first timestamp and each second timestamp to the same time unit; Based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp after the time unit is unified, respectively determine a second timestamp close to each first timestamp recorded in the waveform file.

12. The device according to any one of claims 7-9, characterized in that, The file and information acquisition module includes: A file acquisition sub-module, configured to acquire a waveform file and a log file generated during the simulation of the chip to be tested; A first identifier recognition sub-module, configured to recognize each debug information identifier recorded in the log file; A second identifier recognition sub-module, configured to, for each debug information identifier recorded in the log file, after the debug information identifier in the log file, recognize a timestamp identifier corresponding to the debug information identifier, a preset second debug information start identifier, and a preset second debug information end identifier; An information determination sub-module, configured to determine the information between the second debug information start identifier and the second debug information end identifier in the log file as each debug information, and determine the timestamp after the timestamp identifier in the log file as the first timestamp for generating each debug information.

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