Synopsys unveils next-generation verification IP for faster SoC verification

MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: Synopsys Inc. unveiled its Discovery Verification IP (VIP) family based on the new VIPER architecture. Written entirely in SystemVerilog with native support for the UVM, VMM and OVM methodologies, Discovery VIP provides inherent performance, ease-of-use and extensibility to speed and simplify verification of the most complex system-on-chip (SoC) designs.

The Discovery VIP family includes Protocol Analyzer, a unique protocol-aware debug environment. Discovery VIP supports all major simulators and offers up to four times (4X) higher performance than other commercial VIP, as well as configuration, coverage and test-development capabilities to improve IP and SoC designers' productivity. The next-generation VIPER architecture lays the foundation for future innovation in protocol-centric verification and SoC-level validation.

"We have been users of Synopsys VIP for several years now and are very pleased with its quality, performance, features and capabilities," said Bruce Fishbein, VP of IC engineering, Networking and Communications Division, at Cavium Inc. "As our designs and our verification environments reach new levels of complexity, the vision and roadmap behind the Discovery VIP architecture will enable us to address the next wave of SoC verification challenges."

As leading SoC designs incorporate more complex protocols, VIP has become a critical component of the verification environment, enabling engineers to reach their coverage goals within tight project schedules. VIP provides functional models of on- and off-chip protocols like ARM AMBA, PCI Express, USB, MIPI, HDMI and Ethernet. Verification engineers use these models to test all SoC interfaces before manufacturing, enabling them to verify whether an interface conforms to published standards.

One-hundred percent SystemVerilog with native UVM, VMM and OVM support
Unlike other commercially available VIP, Discovery VIP is written entirely in SystemVerilog without any wrappers or methodology extensions around an original implementation in a different language. Discovery VIP is architected with native support for UVM (Universal Verification Methodology), VMM (Verification Methodology Manual) and OVM (Open Verification Methodology) without methodology-level interoperability wrappers or under-the-hood translations or remapping.

Not only does this remove unnecessary performance overhead, but it also offers other uniquely inherent benefits. These benefits include portability across all major simulators and easy integration within SoC environments, as well as capabilities and features for VIP debug, coverage planning and management.

"In response to the need for greater performance and power efficiency we are seeing broad and rapid industry adoption of AMBA 4 AXI4™ and ACE™ protocols to support coherent, heterogeneous, multi-processor SoCs," said William Orme, strategic marketing manager, processor division, ARM. "We support Synopsys' development of verification IP for AMBA4 AXI4 and ACE protocols and have provided reference models for compliance and interoperability testing. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Synopsys to address the needs of our mutual customers."

Efficient, protocol-aware debug with protocol analyzer
With increasingly complex protocols, debug has become one of the most difficult and time-consuming aspects of functional verification. Synopsys' Protocol Analyzer, available in the Discovery VIP family, provides protocol-centric debug and intelligent visibility. These capabilities enable engineers to quickly understand protocol activity, identify bottlenecks and debug unexpected behavior.

VIPER architecture
The Discovery VIP family is based on Synopsys' new VIPER architecture, which has been engineered from the ground up for enhanced VIP performance, configurability, portability, debug, coverage and compliance management, and extensibility. The bulk of VIPER's functionality and protocol correctness-checking comes from a layered protocol architecture implemented in SystemVerilog, using best practices for all methodologies, including UVM, VMM and OVM.

All layers are visible, providing complete controllability of protocol verification. Verification engineers are able to work at the highest layer as required by their verification plans, yet are still able to inject errors at the lowest layer for self-checking requirements.

The VIPER architecture offers the ability to track protocol-centric simulation information to provide protocol-level analysis views with timelines synchronized to RTL waveforms and other views. This architecture can be fully configured to specified protocol configurations and includes several capabilities such as pruning of non-applicable run-time configurations from pre-defined sequences. The VIPER architecture is also highly extensible, accommodating additional capabilities unique to the device-under-test (DUT) such as error injection modes, coverage sampling, and other capabilities.

"Protocol verification has become a critical part of SoC verification, with major implications for cost and time to market," said Manoj Gandhi, senior VP and GM of the Synopsys Verification Group. "Synopsys identified the need for a next generation of verification IP to improve debug, performance and ease of SoC integration. The launch of our next-generation VIP architecture is critical for the industry to address growing SoC verification challenges."

Synopsys VIP is available for a broad portfolio of protocols including USB 3.0, ARM AMBA AXI3, AXI4, ACE, HDMI, MIPI (CSI-2, DSI, HSI, etc.), Ethernet 40G/100G, PCI Express, SATA, OCP, and many others.