Network-Bridged Circuit Emulation for Native-Speed Peripheral Testing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing circuit emulation technologies face challenges such as slow clock speeds, difficulty in testing interoperability with peripherals, and limited accessibility, which hinder efficient validation and testing of circuit designs.
Innovation Solution
A system is implemented where a circuit design is partitioned into two parts, with one part emulated on an emulator and another part located remotely to interact with a real-world peripheral over a network, allowing each part to operate at different frequencies and facilitating easy access and interaction with the peripheral.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the circuit design is emulated using a traditional emulator system, then the circuit design can be tested and validated before fabrication, but the clock speed of the emulated circuit is significantly slower than the intended silicon implementation
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit design is divided into two separate partitions: one partition is implemented in the emulator and another partition is implemented in a remote system. This segmentation allows each partition to operate independently at its optimal speed, with the emulator partition running at emulator clock speeds and the remote system partition running at peripheral-native speeds, thereby resolving the speed mismatch while maintaining validation accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
A bridge circuit is introduced as an intermediary component that couples the emulator partition and the remote system partition. The bridge circuit facilitates communication between the two partitions, enabling data and control signals to be exchanged while allowing each side to operate at different clock speeds without directly constraining each other, thus maintaining both validation fidelity and operational speed.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the emulator is implemented as an enterprise-scale system within a data center, then comprehensive emulation capabilities are achieved, but physical accessibility to the emulator and its peripherals is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into a centralized emulator component and a distributed remote system component. The remote system can be physically located in different positions and accessed by different personnel independently of the main emulator system. This spatial segmentation allows test personnel to access and interact with the remote system and its peripherals at convenient locations while the emulator maintains its comprehensive emulation capabilities in the data center.
3Productivity
If the circuit design is partitioned across multiple ICs of the emulator, then large-scale circuit designs can be emulated, but the number of nets crossing between ICs increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The interface circuit that handles peripheral communication is extracted from the emulator ICs and implemented separately in the remote system. This extraction removes the complex peripheral interface logic from the emulator partitions, reducing the number of nets that need to cross between emulator ICs and simplifying the inter-IC connectivity requirements while still enabling large-scale circuit emulation.
Data Source
AI summary
Emulating a circuit design in communication with a peripheral includes an emulator including at least a portion of the circuit design. The portion of the circuit design includes a processor circuit and a first bridge circuit coupled to the processor circuit. The first bridge circuit is configured to receive first data from the processor circuit, generate packetized first data from the first data, and convey the packetized first data over a network to a peripheral. The peripheral is remotely located from the emulator and is controlled by signals derived from the packetized first data.