International Business Machines Corporation

Jayakumar N Sankarannair

Nitin Kumar Gupta

Abhishek Bansal

Brad Lee Herold

Shakti Kapoor

Satish Kumar Sadasivam

Prathiba Kumar

Sangram Alapati

Varun Mallikarjunan

A process for processor testing includes dividing a memory space into first and second portions and generating first and second sets of test instructions for the respective first and second portion. The first and second sets each include a plurality of counter increment/branch instruction pairs where each branch instruction of the first set branches to a backward instruction location and each branch instruction of the second set branches to a forward instruction location.

Processor testing using pairs of counter incrementing and branch instructions

A process for processor testing includes generating a set of test instructions having a first portion and a second portion. A first branch instruction is randomly generated for the first portion where the first branch instruction branches to a respective instruction in a second portion by a branching location offset. A second branch instruction is randomly generated for the second portion where the second branch instruction branches to a respective instruction in the first portion by the branching location offset. If additional instructions are to be added to the set of test instructions, a value of the branching location offset is incrementing by a predetermined amount.

Processor testing using randomly generated branch instructions

Processors may be tested according to various implementations. In one general implementation, a process for processor testing may include randomly generating a first plurality of branch instructions for a first portion of an instruction set, each branch instruction in the first portion branching to a respective instruction in a second portion of the instruction set. The process may also include randomly generating a second plurality of branch instructions for the second portion of the instruction set, each branch instruction in the second portion branching to a respective instruction in the first portion of the instruction set. The process may additionally include generating a plurality of instructions to increment a counter when each branch instruction is encountered during execution.

Processor testing

Processors may be tested according to various implementations. In one general implementation, a process for processor testing may include randomly generating a first plurality of branch instructions for a first portion of an instruction set, each branch instruction in the first portion branching to a respective instruction in a second portion of the instruction set, the branching of the branch instructions to the respective instructions being arranged in a sequential manner. The process may also include randomly generating a second plurality of branch instructions for the second portion of the instruction set, each branch instruction in the second portion branching to a respective instruction in the first portion of the instruction set, the branching of the branch instructions to the respective instructions being arranged in a sequential manner. The process may additionally include generating a plurality of instructions to increment a counter when each branch instruction is encountered during execution.

In one implementation, processor testing may include the ability to randomly generate a first plurality of branch instructions for a first portion of an instruction set, each branch instruction in the first portion branching to a respective instruction in a second portion of the instruction set, the branching of the branch instructions to the respective instructions being arranged in a sequential manner. Processor testing may also include the ability to randomly generate a second plurality of branch instructions for the second portion of the instruction set, each branch instruction in the second portion branching to a respective instruction in the first portion of the instruction set, the branching of the branch instructions to the respective instructions being arranged in a sequential manner. Processor testing may additionally include the ability to generate a plurality of instructions to increment a counter when each branch instruction is encountered during execution.

A post-silicon testing apparatus, method, and computer program product provide for runtime coverage measurement methodology to measure the architectural events in hardware. Measurement of all architectural events discernable from the instructions and architectural state changes are tracked and recorded. A mechanism to ensure capturing of maskable events is also provided. A feedback driven test-generation approach is enabled by the runtime coverage measurement. The runtime coverage measurement system presents a live view of the comprehensive architectural event coverage to the user/tester. The methodology can be implemented on an operating system environment and also as a standalone/bare-metal tool.

Measuring runtime coverage of architectural events of a microprocessor

A method, system, and computer program product for testing enforcement of logical partitioning in a data processing system are provided. In one embodiment, a call to an interface routine of a logical partitioning enforcement software unit is generated and sent to the logical partitioning enforcement software unit. Generating a call to an interface routine may include, for example, pseudo-randomly selecting one of a valid interface routine and an invalid interface routine and generating a call to the selected interface routine. A reply is received from the logical partitioning enforcement software unit and compared with an anticipated reply. Responsive to a discrepancy between the reply and the anticipated reply, a user is notified of a problem, thus allowing the user to take appropriate actions to correct the problem.

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Bengaluru, India

Jayakumar N Sankarannair