Simulation Progress Reporter Unit for Real-Time Lock-Up Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current IC design verification processes lack a standard method for generating progress reports during simulations, leading to inefficiencies in identifying and resolving defects, as users often have to re-run simulations from the beginning after detecting issues, wasting time and resources.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for generating a functional simulation progress report in real-time, utilizing a testbench with a stimulus generation unit, component identification, message processing, condition identification, action processing, and log generation units to monitor and report on component progress and lock-up conditions, allowing for timely action and report generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If real-time progress monitoring is implemented during simulation, then defect identification time is reduced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a progress reporter unit as an intermediary component that collects progress messages from various simulation components and generates standardized progress reports. This mediator architecture allows real-time monitoring without significantly complicating the core simulation engine, as the reporting functionality is separated into a dedicated module that interfaces with existing components through standardized message protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback loops where progress messages are collected from simulation components, processed by the progress reporter unit, and fed back as standardized progress reports. This feedback mechanism enables real-time defect identification by continuously monitoring simulation progress and comparing it against expected progress patterns, allowing early detection of lock-up conditions without requiring complex system restructuring.
2Loss of information
If comprehensive progress reporting is implemented, then simulation visibility is improved, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential progress information from simulation components through standardized progress messages, rather than reporting all possible data. The progress reporter unit selectively collects and processes only the most relevant progress indicators, reducing processing overhead while maintaining sufficient visibility into simulation progress for effective defect identification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms detailed simulation component data into standardized progress report parameters with consistent formats and structures. By changing the representation parameters of simulation progress data into a unified reporting format, the system achieves comprehensive visibility while reducing processing complexity through parameter standardization and aggregation.
3Reliability
If lock-up condition detection is implemented, then simulation reliability is improved, but measurement difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The progress reporter unit implements continuous feedback monitoring of simulation component progress messages, comparing actual progress against expected progress patterns. This feedback mechanism automatically detects lock-up conditions by identifying deviations from normal progress trajectories, improving simulation reliability through automated anomaly detection without requiring complex manual analysis procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables simulation components to self-report their progress status through standardized progress messages, and the progress reporter unit automatically analyzes these messages to detect lock-up conditions. This self-service approach allows the system to monitor its own health and detect reliability issues autonomously, reducing the difficulty of measurement by distributing the monitoring burden across all simulation components rather than requiring centralized complex analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to system(s) and method(s) for generating a functional simulation's progress report simultaneously when the simulation is in progress. The system comprises a testbench and a DUV/SUV connected to the testbench. The testbench generates a set of input data/packets in order to simulate and verify the DUV/SUV. The system is configured to identify one or more components, from a set of components in the testbench. Furthermore, the system receives one or more current progress messages from the one or more components and identifies one or more component Lock-Up conditions based on the processing of the one or more current progress messages and one or more previous progress messages. Further, the system executes one or more actions to resolve the one or more component Lock-Up conditions. Furthermore, the system generates a simulation progress report, simultaneously at runtime, during the simulation.