Method and apparatus for supporting verification, and computer product

Abstract

A verification support apparatus receives description data. Upon receiving the description data, the apparatus automatically generates and outputs a verification property, a verification scenario, specification data, review information, etc. In addition, the apparatus checks the description data for any element of deficiency or inconsistency before the automatic generation of the verification property. Therefore, the amount of description data can be reduced by sorting out the types of verification items and listing parameters, and various verification properties can be automatically generated by allowing a computer to read verification data. Furthermore, a design TAT can be reduced by generating the specification data. Furthermore, even a designer not familiar with a verification language such as PSL can easily execute assertion-based verification.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional verification system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a verification system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic of a computer shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic of description data;

FIG. 5 is a schematic of the memory contents of a template DB;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of functional configuration of a verification support apparatus according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a verification support procedure performed by the verification support apparatus according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a schematic for illustrating automatic generation of a verification property;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of functional configuration of a verification support apparatus according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a verification support procedure performed by the verification support apparatus according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a schematic for illustrating automatic generation of verification properties according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of functional configuration of a verification support apparatus according to a third embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a verification support procedure performed by the verification support apparatus according to the third embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a schematic for illustrating automatic generation of a reverse-proposition verification property;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of functional configuration of a verification support apparatus according to a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 16 is schematic of a generated specification data;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a verification support procedure performed by the verification support apparatus according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a schematic of a cause/result graph;

FIG. 19 is a schematic of a cause/result graph into which a time concept is introduced;

FIG. 20 is a schematic for illustrating connection of two cause/result graphs;

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of functional configuration of a verification support apparatus according to a fifth embodiment;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of a verification support procedure performed by the verification support apparatus according the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 23 is a schematic for illustrating inconsistency between cause/result graphs according to a sixth embodiment;

FIG. 24 is a schematic for illustrating a state of expansion of a cause/result graph after a connecting process;

FIG. 25 is a schematic of a cause/result graph after an adding process;

FIG. 26 is a schematic of a cause/result graph including inconsistency;

FIG. 27 is a schematic of a cause/result graph including no inconsistency;

FIG. 28 is a block diagram of functional configuration of a verification support apparatus according to a sixth embodiment;

FIG. 29 is a flowchart of a verification support procedure performed by the verification support apparatus according to the sixth embodiment;

FIG. 30 is a schematic for illustrating selection of a verification scenario from cause/result graphs;

FIG. 31 is a block diagram of functional configuration of a verification support apparatus according to a seventh embodiment;

FIG. 32 is a schematic for illustrating extraction of sub-graphs;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart of a verification support procedure performed by the verification support apparatus 3000 according to the seventh embodiment;

FIG. 34 is a schematic for illustrating generation of coverage information;

FIG. 35 is a block diagram of functional configuration of a verification support apparatus according to the eighth embodiment;

FIG. 36 is a flowchart of a verification support procedure performed by the verification support apparatus according to the eighth embodiment;

FIG. 37 is a schematic of a verification property displayed in waveform; and

Claims

1. A verification support apparatus comprising: a receiving unit that receives description data including a description of a change in a state of a register included in a circuit and template specifying information, the description including a description of a cause and a description of a result of the change;a first extracting unit that extracts, from a group of templates, a template specified by the template specifying information; anda generating unit that generates a verification property representing the change, based on the template and the description of the change.

2. The verification support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second extracting unit that extracts, from a group of verification properties generated by the generating unit, verification properties that conflict with one another, wherein the generating unit updates at least one of the extracted verification properties by adding the description of the cause of a verification property that has the highest priority among the extracted verification properties to the description of the cause of at least one of the extracted verification properties other than the verification property that has the highest priority.

3. The verification support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generating unit generates, based on the template and the description of the cause, a reverse proposition verification property indicating that the result is not obtained unless a condition that leads to the cause is satisfied.

4. The verification support apparatus according to claims 1, further comprising: a display unit that includes a display screen; anda display control unit that displays the verification property in waveform.

5. The verification support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a third-extracting unit that extracts data of an address and an operation of the register based on the description data, wherein the generating unit generates specification data of the circuit based on the data extracted by the third-extracting unit.

6. The verification support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the description data further includes information on number of cycles from the cause to the result,the generating unit generates, based on the description data, a graph expressing a relation between the cause and the result using nodes, edges, and the number of cycles, andthe verification support apparatus further comprising: a searching unit that searches, among a group of graphs generated by the generating unit, a first graph and a second graph, the first graph having a result node corresponding to a result that is identical to a cause node corresponding to a cause in the second graph;a connecting unit that connects the result node in the first graph to the cause node in the second graph to generate a third graph;a detecting unit that detects consistency of the description data based on the third graph and a fourth graph that is not connected to any graph; andan output unit that outputs a result of detection by the detecting unit.

7. The verification support apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising an adding unit that adds another result node in the first graph to the third graph, wherein the detecting unit detects inconsistency of the description data by judging whether an exclusive relation is present between nodes that have same number of cycles in the third graph to which the other result node is added.

8. The verification support apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a fourth-extracting unit that extracts a sub-graph from the third graph based on a logical sum node included in the third graph, wherein the output unit further outputs the sub-graph as a verification scenario.

9. The verification support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a fifth extracting unit that extracts a verification property from a group of verification properties generated by the generating unit, whereinthe generating unit generates coverage information indicating that logic verification using the verification property extracted by the fifth extracting unit has already been performed.

10. A verification support method comprising: receiving description data including a description of a change in a state of a register included in a circuit and template specifying information, the description including a description of a cause and a description of a result of the change;extracting, from a group of templates, a template specified by the template specifying information; andgenerating a verification property representing the change, based on the template and the description of the change.

11. The verification support method according to claim 10, wherein the generating includes generating, based on the template and the description of the cause, a reverse proposition verification property indicating that the result is not obtained unless a condition that leads to the cause is satisfied.

12. The verification support method according to claim 10, further comprising extracting data of an address and an operation of the register based on the description data, wherein the generating includes generating specification data of the circuit based on the data of an address and an operation.

13. The verification support method according to claim 10, wherein the description data further includes information on number of cycles from the cause to the result,the generating includes generating, based on the description data, a graph expressing a relation between the cause and the result using nodes, edges, and the number of cycles, andthe verification support method further comprising: searching, among a group of graphs generated at the generating, a first graph and a second graph, the first graph having a result node corresponding to a result that is identical to a cause node corresponding to a cause in the second graph;connecting the result node in the first graph to the cause node in the second graph to generate a third graph;detecting consistency of the description data based on the third graph and a fourth graph that is not connected to any graph; andoutputting a result of detection at the detecting.

14. The verification support method according to claim 13, further comprising adding another result node in the first graph to the third graph, wherein the detecting includes detecting inconsistency of the description data by judging whether an exclusive relation is present between nodes that have same number of cycles in the third graph to which the other result node is added.

15. The verification support method according to claim 13, further comprising extracting a sub-graph from the third graph based on a logical sum node included in the third graph, wherein the outputting includes outputting the sub-graph as a verification scenario.

16. The verification support method according to claim 10, further comprising extracting a verification property from a group of verification properties generated at the generating, wherein the generating includes generating coverage information indicating that logic verification using the verification property extracted has already been performed.

17. A computer-readable recording medium that stores therein a verification support program, the verification support program causes a computer to execute: receiving description data including a description of a change in a state of a register included in a circuit and template specifying information, the description including a description of a cause and a description of a result of the change;extracting, from a group of templates, a template specified by the template specifying information; andgenerating a verification property representing the change, based on the template and the description of the change.

18. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 17, wherein the generating includes generating, based on the template and the description of the cause, a reverse proposition verification property indicating that the result is not obtained unless a condition that leads to the cause is satisfied.

19. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 17, wherein the program further causes the computer to execute extracting data of an address and an operation of the register based on the description data, andthe generating includes generating specification data of the circuit based on the data of an address and an operation.

20. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 17, wherein the description data further includes information on number of cycles from the cause to the result,the generating includes generating, based on the description data, a graph expressing a relation between the cause and the result using nodes, edges, and the number of cycles, andthe program further causes the computer to execute: searching, among a group of graphs generated at the generating, a first graph and a second graph, the first graph having a result node corresponding to a result in the first graph is identical to a cause node corresponding to a cause in the second graph;connecting the result node in the first graph to the cause node in the second graph to generate a third graph;detecting consistency of the description data based on the third graph and a fourth graph that is not connected to any graph; andoutputting a result of detection at the detecting.

21. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 20, wherein the program further causes the computer to execute adding another result node in the first graph to the third graph, andthe detecting includes detecting inconsistency of the description data by judging whether an exclusive relation is present between nodes that have same number of cycles in the third graph to which the other result node is added.

22. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 20, wherein the program further causes the computer to execute extracting a sub-graph from the third graph based on a logical sum node included in the third graph, andthe outputting unit includes outputting the sub-graph as a verification scenario.

23. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 17, wherein the program further causes the computer to execute extracting a verification property from a group of verification properties generated at the generating, andthe generating includes generating coverage information indicating that logic verification using the verification property extracted has been already performed.