Code coverage, associated with simulation, is the most popular way for
engineers to measure how well a test suite exercises the RTL code of a
design.
Measuring coverage is more than simply counting lines of code that the
simulator has hit. Many metrics are involved (statement, branch, toggle,
FSM, condition, etc...) and the finer grain one, expression coverage,
must be used to ensure the most accurate measurement of design
activity.
The difficulties usually arise when getting close to the coverage sign-off point.
It takes a lot of time and
tremendous efforts to find the right test sequence that can trigger the last few
uncovered items. Even more
time is wasted trying to cover branches or expression terms that are not attainable.
Coverability analysis
saves weeks of debug and test bench tuning, by providing a formal proof of whether an uncovered item is
reachable or not.
Sereda Technologies Ltd
PO Box 444
Wokingham Berks UK
RG40 1ZR
Tel: +44 118 9782016
Fax: +44 118 9890424
Email:contact@ sereda-tech.co.uk