Testbench Technology Shores Up Simulator

July 5, 2004
The latest VCS simulator release from Synopsys brings the tool deeper into the verification world. A cornerstone of the company's Discovery verification platform, VCS 7.1 is enhanced with support for the same constraint-solver engines found in...

The latest VCS simulator release from Synopsys brings the tool deeper into the verification world. A cornerstone of the company's Discovery verification platform, VCS 7.1 is enhanced with support for the same constraint-solver engines found in Synopsys' Vera testbench automation tool. Other additions include support for object-oriented testbench architectures and advanced data types.

Thanks to these enhancements, VCS verification engineers can create and run constrained-random testbenches using a single tool. Overall verification runtimes are improved by up to five times, including simulation of the design, testbench, and assertions, compared with standalone testbench tools working alongside VCS.

The multiple constraint-solver engines now built into VCS simultaneously analyze all user-specified constraints to rapidly generate random stimulus. That stimulus is used to simulate the design for corner-case behavior. The engines will find a solution to user constraints, if one exists, while minimizing constraint conflicts.

In addition to the many testbench constructs VCS already supports, it now natively supports a host of other new testbench technologies. These include object-oriented programming, which enables designers to create a reusable and extendable testbench infrastructure.

VCS also supports advanced data types, such as dynamic and associative arrays. It can generate random streams, which can in turn create random combinations of transactions or microprocessor instructions. This capability lets users verify the design under numerous operating scenarios that are difficult to create manually.

The enhancements to VCS are available at no additional cost to existing customers. A one-year technology subscription license costs $25,480.

Synopsyswww.synopsys.com/vcs

See associated figure

About the Author

David Maliniak | MWRF Executive Editor

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.

Sponsored Recommendations

Comments

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Electronic Design, create an account today!