Automated Verification Test Identification Using Finite State Machines
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing verification processes for electronic designs face challenges in efficiently searching and identifying verification tests or solutions that meet specific criteria, such as the order of test actions, concurrency, and time intervals, due to the vast number of accumulated tests.
Innovation Solution
A method and system utilizing a processor to analyze logged execution data and apply finite state machines or graph representations to determine whether tests or solutions satisfy user-defined criteria, automatically identifying and executing tests or generating test code for those that meet the criteria.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual search and identification methods are used to find verification tests meeting specific criteria, then the verification process can be performed, but the time and effort required to search through large sets of tests becomes excessively long and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical search methods with an automated computer-based system that uses finite state machines and log file analysis to automatically identify verification tests meeting specific criteria. The system processes execution logs and automatically determines which tests satisfy user-defined criteria without human intervention in the search process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by automatically analyzing execution logs, applying finite state machines to evaluate test criteria, and identifying suitable verification tests without requiring manual review. The automated system serves itself by processing its own log data and making determination s about which tests meet the specified criteria.
2Measurement precision
If the verification process analyzes detailed execution logs using finite state machines to determine criterion satisfaction, then accurate identification of suitable tests is achieved, but the processing complexity and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces finite state machines as intermediary computational models that mediate between the raw execution log data and the criterion evaluation process. These finite state machines serve as intermediaries that systematically process log events and determine criterion satisfaction, providing a structured approach to the analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The verification system segments the complex analysis task into discrete components: log file parsing, finite state machine construction, criterion evaluation, and test identification. This segmentation allows each component to be processed independently and systematically, managing complexity through modular analysis steps.
3Productivity
If automated analysis using finite state machines is implemented to find verification tests, then the time required to identify suitable tests is reduced, but the initial setup and implementation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters of the verification process by introducing automated finite state machine analysis instead of manual review. This parameter change from manual to automated processing fundamentally alters the productivity and implementation characteristics of the verification system.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for automatically finding a verification test of a plurality of verification tests that were executed in a verification process of a design under test (DUT) that satisfies a criterion, may include using a processor, obtaining from a user a criterion that relates to one or more test actions; using a processor, obtaining a log with logged execution data that includes start and end times for each action of each of the tests of the plurality of verification tests during an execution run of that test; and for each test of the plurality of verification tests, using a processor, determining from the logged data whether that test satisfies the obtained criterion, and if a test of the plurality of verification tests was determined to satisfy the obtained criterion, using a processor, executing that test on the DUT.