The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 02, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 05, 1996
William M Lowe, Austin, TX (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus are presented for performing intrusive testing in order to verify proper operation of a microprocessor 'feature'. The method includes providing a microprocessor model which includes a representation of the feature to be tested. The feature operates in one of several different operating modes as determined by the states of one or more control signals. Intruder logic, configured to restrict operation of the feature to a single desired operating mode, is introduced into the microprocessor model. The microprocessor model executes a testing program which requires operation of the feature and produces a result. The result produced by the microprocessor model is compared to an expected result. Any difference between the result produced by the microprocessor model and the expected result may be due to an error in feature hardware or the portion of the feature control circuitry associated with the selected operating mode. The microprocessor model may be a software implementation (i.e., a set of instructions) or a hardware implementation (i.e., a logic device).