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System Description Language (SDL)
ASIC verification contains three major tasks.
They are building verification environment, writing test cases, and
debugging. Traditionally, all three tasks involves programming and
execution of the code just implemented. As ASICs grow bigger and
bigger, the traditional approach can not scale up well.
System Description Language (SDL) is not a
programming language. It is a mark-up language similar to popular
HTML. We can say SDL is a verification mark-up language that
describes instances on the test bench. SDL separates programming
from verification. With SDL, the verification environment is coded
elegantly and reusable in terms of modules and layers. With SDL,
creating test case has a totally different meaning. Traditional
programming is no longer required. Finally, with SDL and Assertion
Model Builder, debugging is fully automated that compares every
transaction between the assertion model and the DUT. All the memory
transactions are verified with spare memory models automatically
during the runtime. The debugging time with waveform, which is very
time consuming, is minimized to within a few error transactions. As
a result, we have seen that SDL increases the productivity from 2X
to 5X.
As a verification mark-up language, SDL is on top
of today's state-of-the-art reference verification methodologies (RVM
from Synopsys or OVM from Cadence and Mentor) and any verification
languages. In other words, you can adopt SDL with or without them.
All the Tarek's tools are driven with SDL. We have also proved many
verification tools, regardless of the implementing languages, can be
driven with SDL. Any DUT can also be driven with SDL via
Automatic Driver
Generator (ADG).
Benefits with SDL
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Easiest User
Paradigm
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Controlling Software Modules via the Data
Structures, not the Execution Sequence
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Creating Sophisticated Tests without
Programming Skill
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Reusable and Portable across Different
Simulation and Emulation Platforms, ASICs and Multiple Projects
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Executable Functional Coverage
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Test Case Automation
To see test case examples, click the following
examples:
To see how data structures are represented, click
the following link
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