Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

Charles R Berghorn

Mitchell Grant Poplack

Sundar Rajan

Barton Quayle

Mikhail Bershteyn

A system for concurrent target diagnostics is disclosed. The system comprises dedicated FPGA for generating test data to test target connections between an emulator and a target system. In this way, domains of the emulator may continue to emulate at least a portion of a hardware design during the testing of the target connections. Further, a multiplexer operable to select target connections for testing eliminates errors resulting from manual swapping of target connections during the testing process. The system further comprises multiple paths to a target pod. The paths enable monitoring and reporting on the status of target connections between an emulator and a target system.

System for concurrent target diagnostics field

Methods and systems for concurrent diagnostics in a functional verification system are disclosed and claimed herein. The methods and systems enable testing the interconnections of a functional verification system while the system implements a hardware design. In one embodiment, a first emulation chip of the functional verification system generates an encoded data word comprising a data word and error correction code (ECC) check bits. The ECC check bits enable a second emulation chip receiving the encoded word to determine whether the data word was received without error. In another embodiment, test patters may be transmitted along the unused interconnections while the functional verification system implements a hardware design in other interconnections. In another embodiment, a dedicated pattern generator generates test patterns to transmit across the interconnection. During clock cycles in which the interconnection is not used to implement the hardware design, a multiplexer transmits the test pattern across the interconnection.

System and method for concurrent interconnection diagnostics field

A method, apparatus and method for compiling a hardware design for performing hardware emulation using synchronized processors is described. The apparatus comprises a plurality of processors defining a processor group for evaluating data regarding a hardware design and a synchronizer for synchronizing the operation of the processor group while emulating at least a portion of the hardware design. The method comprises providing a synchronization signal to a plurality of processors defining a processor group for evaluating data regarding a hardware design, receiving a ready signal from the processor group, and providing an execution signal to the processor group, where the execution signal causes the processor group to evaluate a submodel. The method for compiling the hardware design comprises converting at least one high-level construct into a sequence of operations and identifying a sequence of operations that comprise at least one conditional submodel.

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Staatsburg, NY, United States of America

Charles R Berghorn