Teaching Functional Verification – Course Organization Design Automation Conference Sunday, June 9, 2002

Course Goals Learn to use verification tools and experiment on actual designs used in industry Verisity Specman, IBM Rulebase Cadence NC-Sim VHDL simulation framework Learn to plan and carry out effective functional verification of a design Learn to work in teams to debug designs

Desired Outcome By the end of the course the student will Have verified three example designs provided by IBM Have an understanding of why verification is important Have an understanding of the complexity of verifying modern computer systems

Grading Grade breakdown (Used at Penn State) Midterm Exam: 20% Final Exam: 20% Verification Projects (~4): 45% (3 Calc Labs + 1 ruleBase) Homework (~3): 15% (VHDL Background Check; e coding; rulebase) Exams replaced with lab-oriented grading at UPitt Final Exam was lab-based at Penn State Note evening midterm - week before spring break - Wednesday night Design intensive class - with semester design project

Prerequisites Hardware description language Use of modern EDA tools VHDL or Verilog (MANDATORY) Use of modern EDA tools simulation, synthesis, validation (Synopsys) schematic capture tools (LogicWorks) Logic design/Computer architecture logical minimization, FSMs, component design, pipelining, ISA design

Prerequisites - Instructors Find a good T.A. Familiar with HDL;willing to explore tools Tools: Licensing Information Interfaced Specman with Mentor Graphics (Pitt, NC State) and Cadence tools (Penn State) Quick Start Specman - CPU tutorial; ebasics slides Rulebase – Buffer tutorial

Course Textbook/Notes Janick’s textbook was used Pitt and Penn State – “e based” Covered first 3 chapters Relied on Specman/Verification Advisor IBM slides for rulebase NCState – “VHDL based” Supplemented with VHDL reference books

Course Outline – Penn State Week 1: What is verification? (Chapt 1 of Janick's book; industry perspective) Week 2: Behavioral VHDL - refresher and writing testbenches – HW1 (VHDL) Week 3: Verification tools; Coverage metrics (Chap 2 of Janick’s book) Week 4: Behind the simulation engine – event and cycle simulation Week 5: Introduction to Specman and e language basics – (ebasics slides) – HW2 (e basics) Week 6: Lab 1 introduction/Specman – CPU tutorial Week 7: Verification plan – strategies/testcases/testbenches (Chap 3; VA) Week 8: Lab 1 solution discussion + Lab 2 introduction + Exam 1 Week 9: More e language constructs Week 10: Modeling structs;I/O blocks; data items– (VA) Week 11: Lab 2 Solutions and Lab 3 discussion Week 12: Modeling input relations/intervals/events – (VA) Week 13: Lab 3 solutions + Introduction to Formal Verification + Lab 4 Week 14: Introduction to Rulebase/ Rulebase lab Week 15: Exam review

Course Outline – Pittsburgh Week 1: What is verification? (Chapt 1 of Janick's book; industry perspective) Week 2: Hardware Functional Verification; review of Modelsim Week 3: Verification tools; Coverage metrics (Chap 2 of Janick’s book) Week 4: Behind the simulation engine – event and cycle simulation Week 5: Introduction to Specman and e language basics – Verisity Tutorial Week 6: Calc 1 Lab Week 7: Verification plan – strategies/testcases/testbenches (Chap 3; VA) Week 8: Calc 1 solution discussion + Calc 2 introduction Week 9: More e language constructs Week 10: Modeling structs;I/O blocks; data items– (VA) Week 11: Calc 2 Solutions and Calc 3 discussion Week 12: Modeling input relations/intervals/events – (VA) Week 13: Calc 3 solutions + Introduction to Formal Verification + Lab 4 Week 14: Introduction to Rulebase/ Rulebase lab Week 15: Rulebase lab

Course Outline – NC State Lectures 1-2 What is Verification? Chapter 1 Lecture 3 Verification Tools Chapter 2 Lectures 4-6 Verification Plan – Strategies/Testcases/Testbenches Chapter 3 Lectures 7-11 Architecting Testbenches Chapter 6 Lecture 12 Lab 1 Solution Discussion / Architecting Testbenches Chapter 6 Lecture 13 EXAM #1 – Chapters 1,2,3,6 Lecture 14 Lab 2 Overview / Stimulus and Response Chapter 5 Lecture 15 Review EXAM #1 Lectures 16-19 Stimulus and Response Chapter 5 Lectures 20,26 Special Topic Day - Online NetSeminar on new verification technologies Lecture 21 Lab 2 Solution Discussion Lectures 22-23 Behavioral HDL Chapter 4 Lecture 24 Lab 3 Overview / Behavioral HDL Chapter 4 Lecture 25 Simulation Management Chapter 7 Lecture 27 EXAM #2 – Chapters 5,4,7 Chapter 6 Lecture 28 Lab Day 

Student Feedback More quizzes/homework on “e” language More time with labs especially “lab 3” Work in groups on labs Start earlier with Specman/e Access to VA Appreciate change from VHDL testbench to Specman environment (when doing lab 1 in dual form) Appreciate change to Rulebase from Specman Labs were most interesting part More time with Rulebase