Abstract: This application discloses an electronic design automation tool configured to perform one or more static reset checks on reset functionality in a circuit design. The electronic design automation tool can detect the reset functionality in the circuit design, identify a portion of the circuit design having a set of resettable components, and determine whether the portion of the circuit design includes a reset design error based, at least in part, on the reset functionality in the circuit design. The static reset checks can include a domain congruency check, a reset skew check, and a glitch detection check, each of which can identify different design errors that may cause reset functionality in the circuit design to operate improperly.

Abstract: This application discloses an electronic design automation tool configured to perform one or more static reset checks on reset functionality in a circuit design. The electronic design automation tool can detect the reset functionality in the circuit design, identify a portion of the circuit design having a set of resettable components, and determine whether the portion of the circuit design includes a reset design error based, at least in part, on the reset functionality in the circuit design. The static reset checks can include a domain congruency check, a reset skew check, and a glitch detection check, each of which can identify different design errors that may cause reset functionality in the circuit design to operate improperly.

Abstract: The amount of analysis performed in determining the validity of a property of a digital circuit is measured concurrent with performance of the analysis, and provided as an output when a true/false answer cannot be provided e.g. when stopped due to resource constraints. In some embodiments, a measure of value N indicates that a given property that is being checked will not be violated within a distance N from an initial state from which the analysis started. Therefore, in such embodiments, a measure of value N indicates that the analysis has implicitly or explicitly covered every possible excursion of length N from the initial state, and formally proved that no counter-example is possible within this length N.

Abstract: During verification of a description of a circuit containing a pre-determined assertion, in order to detect incorrect behavior of the circuit that may be caused by metastability occurring in signals that cross clock domains (“CDC” signals) in the circuit, the description of the circuit is automatically transformed by addition of circuitry to inject the effects of metastability into the CDC signals. The transformed description containing the circuitry to inject metastability is verified in the normal manner. Certain embodiments analyze the transformed description using a model checking method to determine a stimulus sequence that will cause the pre-determined assertion to be violated. The transformed circuit is then simulated in some embodiments, using the stimulus sequence from model checking, and an incorrect behavior of the circuit due to metastability is displayed, for diagnosis by the circuit designer. The circuit designer may revise the circuit description and iterate as noted above.

Abstract: A programmed computer searches for functional defects in a description of a circuit undergoing functional verification in the following manner. The programmed computer simulates the functional behavior of the circuit in response to a test vector, automatically restores the state of the simulation without causing the simulation to pass through a reset state, and then simulates the functional behavior of the circuit in response to another test vector. A predetermined rule can be used to identify test vectors to be simulated, and the predetermined rule can depend upon a measure of functional verification, including the number of times during simulation when a first state transition is performed by a first-controller at the same time as a second state transition is performed by a second controller. During simulation of the test vectors, manually generated tests or automatically generated checkers can monitor portions of the circuit for defective behavior.

Abstract: The amount of analysis performed in determining the validity of a property of a digital circuit is measured concurrent with performance of the analysis, and provided as an output when a true/false answer cannot be provided e.g. when stopped due to resource constraints. In some embodiments, a measure of value N indicates that a given property that is being checked will not be violated within a distance N from an initial state from which the analysis started. Therefore, in such embodiments, a measure of value N indicates that the analysis has implicitly or explicitly covered every possible excursion of length N from the initial state, and formally proved that no counter-example is possible within this length N.