International Business Machines Corporation

Todd Swanson

Charles Ray Johns

Michael Norman Day

Tilman Gloekler

Thuong Quang Truong

Daniel Lawrence Stasiak

Sanjay Gupta

John Samuel Liberty

Christopher John Spandikow

Rajat Chaudhry

Matthew E Fernsler

Steven Leonard Roberts

Hans Mikael Jacobson

Peichun Peter Liu

Adam P Burns

Johny Srouji

Roy Emek

Itai Jaeger

Matthew Edward King

Charles Meissner

Michael E Weissinger

Tzach Schechner

Lawrence Allyn McConville

Joseph Anthony Perrie, Iii

Igor Dozorets

Hans Mikael c/o Ibm United Kingdom Limited Jacobson

Matthew Earl Fernsler

A design structure is embodied in a machine readable medium for designing, manufacturing, or testing integrated circuitry. The design structure includes first hardware for executing first software in response to macros that describe the integrated circuitry, and for generating a set of constants in response to the execution of the first software. Second hardware is for receiving the set of constants from the first hardware, and for executing second software in response to the macros and the set of constants, and for estimating a power consumption of the integrated circuitry in response to the execution of the second software.

Method and system for estimating power consumption of integrated circuitry

A mechanism for broadcasting instructions/data to a plurality of processors in a multiprocessor device via aliasing is provided. In order to broadcast data to a plurality of processors, a control processor writes to the registers that store the identifiers of the processors and sets two or more of these registers to a same value. The control processor may write the desired data/instructions to be broadcast to a portion of memory corresponding to the starting address associated with the processor identifier of the two or more processors. When the two or more processors look for a starting address of their local store from which to read, the two or more processors will identify the same starting address, essentially aliasing the memory region. The two or more processors will read the instructions/data from the same aliased memory region starting at the identified starting address and process the same instructions/data.

Broadcasting instructions/data to a plurality of processors in a multiprocessor device via aliasing

A design structure for a pipeline electronic processor device may be embodied in a machine readable medium for designing, manufacturing or testing a processor integrated circuit. The design structure may embody a pipeline electronic circuit that enables power conservation in the stages of the pipeline via a simulation that identifies clock-gating opportunities among the stages of the pipeline. In one embodiment, simulation results assist a designer in the design of the pipeline electronic circuit design structure to achieve power conservation by incorporating clock-gating circuitry among the stages of the pipeline at clock gating opportunity locations that the simulation identifies.

Structure for detecting clock gating opportunities in a pipelined electronic circuit design

A system and method for incorporating design behavior and external stimulus in microdevice model feedback using a shared memory is presented. The invention describe herein uses the attached memory model to provide additional heuristics to an application executing on an emulation system's device model, which results in a more detail and real-life device emulation. The attached memory model provides a storage area for a runtime software environment to store emulation data, which is subsequently provided to the device model during emulation. The emulation data may include 1) randomization stimuli to the device model, 2) additional runtime data for checking heuristics, and 3) emulation data points that are otherwise not accessible to the device model.

System and method for incorporating design behavior and external stimulus in microprocessor emulation model feedback using a shared memory

A pipeline electronic circuit and design methodology enables power conservation in the stages of the pipeline via a simulation that identifies clock-gating opportunities among the stages of the pipeline. In one embodiment, simulation results assist a designer in the design of the pipeline electronic circuit to achieve power conservation by incorporating clock-gating circuitry among the stages of the pipeline at clock gating opportunity locations that the simulation identifies.

Method and apparatus for detecting clock gating opportunities in a pipelined electronic circuit design

A design structure is embodied in a machine readable medium for designing, manufacturing, or testing integrated circuitry. The design structure includes a general purpose computational resource for performing general purpose operations of a system. A special purpose computational resource is coupled to the general purpose computational resource. The special purpose computational resource is for: storing test patterns, a description of the integrated circuitry, and a description of hardware for testing the integrated circuitry; and executing software for simulating an operation of the described hardware's testing of the described integrated circuitry in response to the test patterns.

Structure for testing an operation of integrated circuitry

A system for communicating command parameters between a processor and a memory flow controller is provided. The system makes use of a channel interface as the primary mechanism for communicating between the processor and a memory flow controller. The channel interface provides channels for communicating with processor facilities, memory flow control facilities, machine state registers, and external processor interrupt facilities, for example. These channels may be designated as blocking or non-blocking. With blocking channels, when no data is available to be read from the corresponding registers, or there is no space available to write to the corresponding registers, the processor is placed in a low power 'stall' state. The processor is automatically awakened, via communication across the blocking channel, when data becomes available or space is freed. Thus, the channels of the present invention permit the processor to stay in a low power state.

System for communicating command parameters between a processor and a memory flow controller

A general purpose computational resource is provided for performing general purpose operations of a system. A special purpose computational resource is coupled to the general purpose computational resource. The special purpose computational resource is provided for: storing test patterns, a description of integrated circuitry, and a description of hardware for testing the integrated circuitry; and executing software for simulating an operation of the described hardware's testing of the described integrated circuitry in response to the test patterns.

Testing an operation of integrated circuitry

Mechanisms for communicating with a processor event facility are provided. The mechanisms make use of a channel interface as the primary mechanism for communicating with the processor event facility. The channel interface provides channels for communicating with processor facilities, memory flow control facilities, machine state registers, and external processor interrupt facilities, for example. These channels may be designated as blocking or non-blocking. With blocking channels, when no data is available to be read from the corresponding registers, or there is no space available to write to the corresponding registers, the processor is placed in a low power 'stall' state. The processor is automatically awakened, via communication across the blocking channel, when data becomes available or space is freed. Thus, the channels of the present invention permit the processor to stay in a low power state.

Channel mechanisms for communicating with a processor event facility

Structure for estimating power consumption of integrated circuitry

A system and method for modifying a simulation model and optimizing an application program to produce valid hardware-identified operating conditions that are matched with simulator-identified operating conditions in order to modify a simulator accordingly is presented. A critical path coverage analyzer includes critical path measurement logic into a simulation model that injects errors into the critical path and provides visibility into the number of times that an application program exercises the critical path. The critical path coverage analyzer uses the critical path measurement logic to optimize an application program to adequately exercise and test the critical paths. Once optimized, the critical path coverage analyzer runs the optimized application program on a hardware device to produce hardware-identified operating conditions. The hardware-identified operating conditions are matched against simulator-identified operating conditions. When discrepancies exist, the simulator is modified accordingly to match the hardware-identified operating conditions.

System and method of automating the addition of RTL based critical timing path counters to verify critical path coverage of post-silicon software validation tools

A mechanism for communicating instructions and data between a processor and external devices are provided. The mechanism makes use of a channel interface as the primary mechanism for communicating between the processor and a memory flow controller. The channel interface provides channels for communicating with processor facilities, memory flow control facilities, machine state registers, and external processor interrupt facilities, for example. These channels may be designated as blocking or non-blocking. With blocking channels, when no data is available to be read from the corresponding registers, or there is no space available to write to the corresponding registers, the processor is placed in a low power 'stall' state. The processor is automatically awakened, via communication across the blocking channel, when data becomes available or space is freed. Thus, the channels of the present invention permit the processor to stay in a low power state.

Communicating instructions and data between a processor and external devices

A method for communicating instructions and data between a processor and external devices are provided. The method makes use of a channel interface as the primary mechanism for communicating between the processor and a memory flow controller. The channel interface provides channels for communicating with processor facilities, memory flow control facilities, machine state registers, and external processor interrupt facilities, for example. These channels may be designated as blocking or non-blocking. With blocking channels, when no data is available to be read from the corresponding registers, or there is no space available to write to the corresponding registers, the processor is placed in a low power 'stall' state. The processor is automatically awakened, via communication across the blocking channel, when data becomes available or space is freed. Thus, the channels of the present invention permit the processor to stay in a low power state.

Method for communicating instructions and data between a processor and external devices

First hardware is for executing first software in response to macros that describe integrated circuitry, and for generating a set of constants in response to the execution of the first software. Second hardware is for receiving the set of constants from the first hardware, and for executing second software in response to the macros and the set of constants, and for estimating a power consumption of the integrated circuitry in response to the execution of the second software.

The input for a test generator is a plurality of test templates, each of which typically aims at covering a specific verification task. Test templates direct the production of distinct transactions, which are the atomic functional building blocks of the design-under-verification. Test templates directed to different hardware functions of the scenario are dynamically interleaved. In this way several transactions are combined together in complex statements in order to achieve a complex test scenario. The transactions are submitted to the test generator, which generates test cases, in which the different hardware functions of the scenario are exercised in combinations. Variation among the test cases is achieved through a large number of random decisions made during the generation process.

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Round Rock, TX, United States of America

Todd Swanson