A) TECHNICAL FIELD

[1] The present invention generally relates to sequence generation and particularly relates to automated sequence computation and more particularly relates to a method for generating a coverage report for the automatically computed sequences.

B) BACK GROUND OF THE INVENTION

[2] Generally during regression testing, verification challenges grow exponentially with design complexity. The designers need to adopt new tools and methodologies to deliver on stringent time to production requirements. The main aim of any verification tool is to provide a complete coverage summary in a short span of time and also by occupying lesser memory with least user interaction. The coverage tools provide objective measures of which design features have been exercised by the test suite. Further from the design specification the verification test suite has to be created with a detailed list of what to test and how. It is a real challenge to get a list of all possible sequences and to provide genuine sequence coverage with less time, least memory utilization and without human intervention.

[3] Further in the existing techniques, for a typical ASIC/hardware development/testing scenario, the debug and performance analysis is done at the wave form levels which are essentially outputted as debug statements or utilities available with the simulation engine. Although this technique is helpful from the functional or operation timing of the device, conformance with respect to a given protocol requires higher level of abstraction to analyze the waveforms.

[4] Also, the scenario would become extremely complex to analyze when multiple devices are involved. Further it is very important to ensure accurate working of the device being developed conforms to a given standard without breaching the
integrity of the actual data payload. Essentially, analysis of such implementation at the wave form level does not add-up and therefore the need for bus watchers at the packet or PDU levels gains significance.

[5] Hence there is a need for a method and system for automatically generating sequences for sequence coverage. There also exists a need to provide a method and system for providing a coverage report on the generated sequences. Further there is also a need for a method and system for automatically generating sequences with no user intervention and minimal information about the sequences.

[6] The above mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed herein, which will be understood by reading the following specification.

C) OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[7] A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a method and system for providing complete sequence coverage by automatically generating sequences.

[8] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method and system for automatically generating sequences and parallely providing a coverage report.

[9] Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a method and system for automatically generating sequences with no human intervention.

[10] Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a method and system for automatically generating sequences with no effect on simulation time.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a method and system for automatically generating sequences by providing only minimal information about the sequences to be generated.

[12] These and the other objects and advantages of this invention will be understood easily by studying the following specification with the accompanying drawings.

D) SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[13] The various embodiments of the present invention provide a method for providing automated complete sequence coverage. The method comprising steps of receiving a plurality of data packets carrying transaction data from a transaction database, specifying transactions in a configuration file along with the transaction definition, identifying one or more fields in the packets received from the transaction database, automatically generating sequences based on the identification of at least one of a field among the one or more fields in the data packets, generating a coverage report for the automatically computed sequences and determining uncovered sequences based on the coverage tracker result.

[14] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method of computing the automatic sequences comprising steps of retrieving each of the transaction data by separation of values in one or more fields of a coverage tracker configuration file, mapping the transaction data with a simformat section of the configuration file, obtaining a simlog data based on mapping of the transaction data, providing a user defined configuration file to the auto sequence generation module, generating a first set of sequences, disabling detailed sequence track to perform a coverage summary track, retrieving the values obtained from the transaction database and determining the missed sequences.

[15] According to one embodiment of the present invention, generating the coverage report comprising steps of providing a user defined configuration file to the auto sequence generation module, optimizing a coverage tracker data structure by eliminating the sequences not present in a coverage summary track of the first set of sequences and enabling detailed tracking of sequences and log values to generate a report.

[16] According to one embodiment of the present invention, disabling detailed sequence track comprising steps of checking for uncovered sequences in the sequences generated, providing zero hit sequences on a first part of the coverage report and providing the hit sequences on a second part of the coverage report.

[17] According to one embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the uncovered and covered sequences in the report is determined using a computing algorithm.

[18] According to one embodiment of the present invention, tracking of the automated sequences and log values provides for generating the coverage report.

[19] Embodiments herein further provide a system for automatically generating sequences. The system comprising a transaction database for storing transaction data during simulation, a TV DB data extractor module for providing transaction data packets, an auto sequence generator module for automatically generating sequences based on the transaction definition in the configuration file and a report generator module for generating a coverage report for all the sequences .

[20] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the auto sequence generator module comprises a coverage tracker module for loading and parsing a user written configuration file and an auto sequence generator core for generating all possible sequences.

[21] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the coverage tracker j module comprises a coverage tracker core for performing at least one of a summary tracking of the coverage and a detailed tracking of the coverage, a coverage tracker parser for loading the user written configuration file to the auto sequence generator core.

[22] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the auto sequence generator module identifies at least one of a field among the one or more fields in the transaction data packets to generate sequences.

[23] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

E) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[24] The other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings in which:

[25] FIG. 1 is an architectural diagram of an auto sequence generation module, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[26] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system for automatically generating uncovered sequences using an automatic generator module, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[27] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method for automatically generating sequences, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[28] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the logging of the transaction data from the database to the coverage tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[29] FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram illustrating the functioning of a transaction database in detail to obtain transaction values, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[30] FIG.6 is a flow diagram illustrating a data formatter module receiving a plurality of data blocks of different bandwidth and sizes, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[31] FIG. 7 exemplarily illustrates a table showing the design characteristics of the data formatter module for the plurality of data blocks of different bandwidth and sizes, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[32] Although the specific features of the present invention are shown in some drawings and not in others. This is done for convenience only as each feature may be combined with any or all of the other features in accordance with the present invention.

F) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[33] The various embodiments of the present invention provide a method for providing automated complete sequence coverage. The method comprising steps of receiving a plurality of data packets carrying transaction data from a transaction database, specifying transactions in a configuration file along with the transaction definition , identifying one or more fields in the packets received from the transaction database, automatically generating sequences based on the identification of at least one of a field among the one or more fields in the data packets, generating a coverage report for all the sequences and determining uncovered sequences based on the coverage tracker result.

[34] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method of computing the automatic sequences comprising steps of retrieving each of the transaction data by separation of values in one or more fields of a coverage tracker configuration file, mapping the transaction data with a simformat section of the configuration file, obtaining a simlog data based on mapping of the transaction data, providing a user defined configuration file to the auto sequence generation module, generating a first set of sequences, disabling detailed sequence track to perform a coverage summary track, retrieving the values obtained from the transaction database and determining the missed sequences.

[35] According to one embodiment of the present invention, generating the coverage report comprising steps of providing a user defined configuration file to the auto sequence generation module, optimizing a coverage tracker data structure by eliminating the sequences not present in a coverage summary track of the first set of sequences and enabling detailed tracking of sequences and log values to generate a report.

[36] According to one embodiment of the present invention, disabling detailed sequence track comprising steps of checking for uncovered sequences in the automatically generated sequences, providing zero hit sequences on a first part of the coverage report and providing the hit sequences on a second part of the coverage report.

[37] According to one embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the uncovered and covered sequences in the report is determined using a computing algorithm.

[38] According to one embodiment of the present invention, tracking of the automatically computed sequences and log values provides for generating the coverage report.

[39] Embodiments herein further provide a system for automatically generating sequences. The system comprising a transaction database for storing transaction data during simulation, a TV DB data extractor module for providing transaction data packets, an auto sequence generator module for automatically generating sequences based on the transaction definition in the configuration file and a report generator module for generating a coverage report for the sequence generated automatically.

[40] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the auto sequence generator module comprises a coverage tracker module for loading and parsing a user written configuration file and an auto sequence generator core for generating all possible sequences.

[41] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the coverage tracker module comprises a coverage tracker core for performing at least one of a summary tracking of the coverage and a detailed tracking of the coverage, a coverage tracker parser for loading the user written configuration file to the auto sequence generator core.

[42] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the auto sequence generator module identifies at least one of a field among the one or more fields in the transaction data packets to generate sequences.

[43] FIG. 1 is an architectural diagram of an auto sequence generation module, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The diagram includes a configuration file (CFG) 105, a TV database data extractor module 125, a transaction database 130, and an auto sequence generator module 135. The auto sequence generator module 135 includes a coverage tracker module 110 and an auto sequence generator core 122. The configuration file 105 contains the key information to generate auto sequences. The CFG file 105 includes an auto sequence section containing information such as base name of the auto sequence to be generated, count sequence length and list of transactions. The CFG file 105 includes minimal information about the transaction performed such as information relating to fields such as names of the fields that makes the header, payload and footer. The minimal information in the configuration file includes a data definition with a unique signature.

[44] The coverage tracker module 110 includes a coverage tracker parser 115 and a coverage tracker core 120. The coverage tracker core 120 in the coverage tracker module 110 performs two types of coverage tracking. The first type, the coverage tracker module 110 performs a summary coverage tracking performed to obtain a list of 0% covered sequences. Further in the second type, the coverage tracker module 110 performs a detailed tracking of coverage to provide complete coverage information that includes covered sequences.

[45] The coverage tracker module 110 is responsible for loading and parsing the user written CFG file. The coverage tracker module 110 also processes the read information for generating all possible sequences of specified length. The coverage tracker module 110 is also responsible for handling the data structure created in an optimal way to utilize less memory.

[46] The TV DB data extractor module 125 receives the transaction data from the transaction database 130 and provides utilities to support the analysis of transaction done at packet/PDU levels. The TV DB data extractor module 125 APIs log all the trace transaction and signal details in relevant files register as part of API init calls. The CFG file is the configuration file 105 where the coverage goals and the variable relationships are specified. The transaction data stored in the transaction database is used for transaction level debugging at various stages using one or more tools. The tools include but are not limited to a transaction viewer and a vtquery. The transaction viewer provides a graphical user interface for viewing the time flow of data transaction along with complete data. The vtquery is a command-line utility tool.

[47] The auto sequence generator module 135 identifies one or more fields in the packets received from the TV DB data extractor module 125. The auto sequence generator module 135 then automatically generates sequences based on the identification of at least one of a field among the one or more fields in the packets. The auto sequence generator module 135 also generates a coverage report for the uncovered sequences without consuming extra time and memory, user inputs and simulation time.

[48] The auto sequence generator module 135 receives the inputs from user for processing. The user (not shown) provides information to the auto sequence generator module 135 through the transaction database 130 and the CFG file 105. The information is embedded in the auto sequence section of the CFG file 105. The inputs includes the configuration file 105 containing the AUTO SEQ' section and the transaction database 130 containing a superset of coverage data. The configuration file 105 includes the information related to auto sequences.

[49] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system for automatically generating uncovered sequences using an automatic generator module, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The system includes the configuration file (CFG) 105, the TV DB data extractor module 125, the transaction database 130, and the auto sequence generator module 135.

[50] The auto sequence generator module 135 includes a report generator module 220 for generating a coverage report for the sequences generated automatically. The auto sequence generator module 135 receives the inputs from user for processing. The inputs includes the configuration file 105 containing the AUTOSEQ' (auto sequence) section with transaction definition and the transaction database 130 containing transaction data. The configuration file 105 includes the information required for generation of auto sequences. The AUTO SEQ section contains information such as a base name for the auto sequence set 205 to be generated, the sequence length count and data regarding a list of transactions. The uncovered sequences are detected automatically by 210 from a universal set of sequences computed by the auto sequence generator module 135. Further the automatically generated uncovered sequences 225 are determined based on the coverage tracker result.

[51] Thie TV DB data extractor module 125 accepts an input from the transaction database 130. The TV DB data extractor module 125 reads the transaction database 130 and provides information about the recorded transactions. The data is read sequentially starting from first transaction to the end of simulation. Further data from each transaction is extracted and passed to the auto sequence generator module 135 for coverage tracking. Further a plurality of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) 215 retrieves the transaction information from the TV DB data extractor module 125 and provides the transaction information to the auto sequence generator module 135.

[52] The following APIs are used to retrieve transaction information from TV database to AutoSeqGen module:
$Core_db_Core_open() $Core_db_Core_read() $Core_db_close()

[53] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method for automatically generating sequences, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The auto sequence generator module is an intermediate module capable of interacting with the transaction database and coverage tracker module for post processing. The auto sequence generator module is also responsible for calling coverage tracker core and TV APIs, providing the transaction data and further generating a report of the complete sequence coverage.

[54] The method comprises providing (305) a configuration file containing the AUTO SEQ' section and the transaction data from a transaction database containing a superset of coverage data into the auto sequence generator module. The sequences are generated automatically (310) based on the information provided through the configuration file. The detailed sequence tracking is then disabled to perform quick summary track coverage (315). Further values obtained from the transaction database are logged into the auto sequence generator module and the uncovered sequences are stored.

[55] The CFG file is reloaded (320) to the auto sequence generator module and the coverage tracker data structure is optimized by removing the sequences which are not present in the previous coverage track (325). The uncovered sequences determined are then provided (330) into the auto sequence generator module. A shutdown function of coverage tracker module is called which in turn clears and reallocates the memory and maintains only the list of 0% hit sequences for further processing. The memory is reallocated by a large extent and such that the memory leaves enough space for subsequent processing also. The data structure is optimized and re-run of the detailed coverage tracker is performed (335). Further detailed tracking of sequence and log values are enabled to get a detailed report. The report generated includes 0 % hit sequence or the uncovered sequences (340) in the first part followed by detailed coverage information (345) including the covered sequences in the second part.

[56] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the logging of the transaction data from the database to the coverage tracker, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The data base is a TV database 130 which acts as a source of simlog. The auto sequence generator core 122 includes the coverage tracker module 110 and an auto sequence computing core 405. The coverage tracker module includes the coverage tracker parser 115 and coverage tracker core 120. The auto sequence generator module 135 extracts each of the transaction information from the transaction database 130 and filters the values only for the fields of coverage tracker CFG file. The filtered data is mapped with simformat section of the configuration file 105 and rearranged to obtain the simlog in the required format. The log sims API receives the simlog as a parameter. These values are read into the coverage tracker module 110.

[57] FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram illustrating the functioning of a transaction database in detail to obtain transaction values, according to one embodiment of the present invention. With respect to FIG. 5, the transaction database 130 includes a PCI driver 505, a simulated device 510, an Ethernet driver 515, one or more monitor codes 520a and 520b, one or more simulation interface PLI 525a and 525b, one or more TV APIs 530a and 530b, a PCI TV database 535 and an Ethernet TV database 540.

[58] The transaction database 130 is an archive that records the complete simulation data. Further a monitor code observes the transactions happening on soft wires. The characteristics of transactions are extracted and recorded in the transaction database 130 using a list of the TV APIs 530a. The TV APIs 530a log all the trace transaction and signal details in relevant files register as part of API init calls.

[59] The listed below are few of TV APIs 530a that are used for recording the transaction details:
Core_tv_loadcfgfile
Core_tv_log_header_simlog
Core_tv_log_payload_simlog
Core_tv_log_footer_simlog
Core_tv_error_pkt_detail
Core_tv_log_time.

[60] The sequence coverage according to the embodiments herein provide for a complete functional coverage in real time. The auto sequence generator module automatically generates sequences and parallely generates a coverage report without utilizing extra memory. Further the generation of sequences and report is performed post processing which in turn does not affect the simulation time. Also it requires minimal information about the sequences for sequence generation.

[61] FIG.6 is a flow diagram illustrating a data formatter module receiving a plurality of data blocks of different bandwidth and sizes, according to an embodiment of the present invention. With respect to FIG. 6, a data formatter module 605 receives a plurality of data blocks from three different modules. The three different modules namely large data chunks with high bandwidth 610, small data chunks with low bandwidth 615, and small data chunks with burst bandwidth 620 transmits streams of data blocks to the data formatter module 605. The data formatter module 605 receives the data blocks and inserts necessary header and control characters. The data blocks with header and control characters inserted are forwarded to a processor 625 for processing. The data formatter module 605 formats the data blocks by without exerting any back pressure or flow control, thereby providing guaranteed bandwidth for data formatting.

[62] FIG.7 exemplarily illustrates a table showing the design characteristics of the data formatter module for the plurality of data blocks of different bandwidth and sizes, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The data formatter module had a bug in bandwidth management whenever the small data chunks with burst bandwidth interface requested for formatting while the 'large data chunks with high bandwidth interface was serviced as shown in the table 705. The data formatter module would fail whenever the incoming traffic followed a few patterns.

[63] There are two instances of erroneous behavior of hardware, when the bug occurred. The bug is un-noticed during simulation as the sequence numbers (6 and 8) may not be generated by the pseudo-random vector generation component of the test bench. Further a user might not have modeled these two sequences (6 and 8) in the coverage blocks. Hence, the user will not get any indication of missing sequences in the coverage report.

G) ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

[64] The auto sequence generator module in the proposed disclosure automatically infers all possible sequences of transactions. Further by accepting a recorded database of transactions and a hand-coded configuration file, the auto sequence generator module computes all possible sequences and highlights the uncovered sequences in a functional coverage report. The user is then enabled to make key decisions on verification closure.

[65] The various advantages of the present invention are that a user is allowed to remove signals from the configuration file during post processing. The user is also permitted to add any number of transaction definition to the configuration file and also to remove any number of transaction definition from the configuration file. The provision of adding/removing transaction definition and removing signals from the configuration file allows the user to have different configuration files for TV-DB generation and auto sequence generation. Here, the configuration file used at TV-DB should include all the data signals that are listed in the configuration file for auto sequence generation.

[66] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

[67] Although the embodiments herein are described with various specific embodiments, it will be obvious for a person skilled in the art to practice the invention with modifications. However, all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the claims. It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the embodiments described herein and all the statements of the scope of the embodiments which as a matter of language might be said to fall there between.

CLAIMS

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing a complete sequence coverage, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of data packets carrying transaction data from a transaction database;
specifying transactions in a configuration file along with the transaction definition; identifying one or more fields in the packets received from the transaction database; automatically generating sequences based on the identification of at least one of a field among the one or more fields in the data packets; generating a coverage report for the automatically computed sequences; and determining uncovered sequences based on a coverage tracker result.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transaction definition is specified by a user during a post process simulation stage.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transaction data is based on the post processing simulation history.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration file and the transaction definition provides for generating a plurality of automated sequences.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration file comprises an auto sequence section including at least one of each below mentioned data:
a base name to generate an auto sequence; a sequence length count; and a list of transactions.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration file comprises one or more coverage goals and variable transaction relationships.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the generation of the automatic sequence comprising steps of:
retrieving each of the transaction data by separation of values in one or more fields of a coverage tracker configuration file;
mapping the transaction data with a simformat section of the configuration file; and determining a simlog data based on mapping of the transaction data.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein generating the coverage report comprises steps of:
providing a user defined configuration file to the auto sequence generation module; generate a first set of sequences;
disabling detailed sequence track to perform a coverage summary track; retrieving the values from the transaction database; and obtaining the missed sequences.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein generating the coverage report comprises further comprising steps of:
providing a user defined configuration file to the auto sequence generation module; optimizing a coverage tracker data structure by removing the sequences not present in a coverage summary track of the first set of sequences; and enabling detailed tracking of sequences and log values to generate a report.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein disabling detailed sequence track comprises steps of:
checking for uncovered sequences among the automatically generated sequences; providing zero hit sequences on a first part of the coverage report; and providing the hit sequences on a second part of the coverage report.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the uncovered and covered sequences in the report are determined using a computing algorithm.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tracking of the automated sequences and log values provides for generating the coverage report.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transaction data is extracted and passed to an auto sequence generator module for coverage tracking.

14. A system for automatically generating sequences, the system comprising: a transaction database for storing transaction data during simulation;
a TV DB data extractor module for providing transaction data packets;
an auto sequence generator module for automatically generating sequences based
on the transaction definition in the configuration file; and
a report generator module for generating a coverage report for the sequences generated automatically.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the auto sequence generator module comprises:
a coverage tracker module for loading and parsing an user written configuration file; and
an auto sequence generator core for generating the sequences.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the coverage tracker module comprises:
a coverage tracker core for performing at least one of a summary tracking of the coverage and a detailed tracking of the coverage; and
a coverage tracker parser for loading the user written configuration file to the auto sequence generator core.

17. The system according to claim 15, wherein the auto sequence generator module identifies at least one of a field among the one or more fields in the transaction data packets to generate complete sequence coverage.

18. The system according to claim 14, wherein the transaction data packets includes at least one of a transaction data and the configuration file.