Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) – Register Verification II
Master Advanced UVM Register Verification Techniques
Take your UVM register verification skills to the next level with this advanced course. Designed for engineers ready to tackle complex designs, this course covers introspection methods, custom register modeling, and advanced coverage techniques. You’ll learn practical skills like active monitoring, field-level access, and user-defined frontdoors, alongside the latest updates from IP-XACT 2014. Through hands-on examples and real-world scenarios, you’ll gain the expertise needed to handle modern verification challenges with confidence. Whether you're optimizing your verification flow or ensuring thorough design quality, this course equips you with the tools for success.
Purchase
Our course syllabus undergoes regular updates to reflect the latest advancements and best practices in the field. Students who purchase lifetime access to this course are entitled to receive these updates for free, ensuring they stay abreast of the most current content. Subscribers, on the other hand, can access the latest content for free as long as they maintain their subscription to the course. This approach guarantees that our students and subscribers always have access to the most relevant and up-to-date information in the field.
Created by EDA Academy
English
Last updated Dec 2024
Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) – Register Verification II
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USD $199.9
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After this course you will be able to:
- Apply introspection methods to manipulate register sequences
- Use coverage techniques to enhance register model verification
- Model and simulate customized register behaviors effectively
- Integrate and utilize the register model in scoreboard reference models
- Identify requirements for frontdoor field level access to DUT registers
- Implement active monitoring for DUT register changes using UVM
- Understand how to implement user-defined frontdoor for specific registers
- Manage built-in sequences to verify DUT registers and memories
- Describe selected new changes in the IP-XACT 2014 standard
This course includes:
- 9 Modules 20 Lectures
- 2.9 hours on-demand video
- 55 Quiz
- Certificate of completion
- Access on mobile and computer
- Ongoing support from EDA Academy
- Further learning plan
Course Content (Preview)
✓ Introspection Methods
- Selected Register Model Introspection Methods
- Introspection with Register API
- Filtering Register and Field Queues
- Examples of get, set, update, and randomize
- Introspection Methods Overview
✓ Covergroups
- Defining Coverage with Vendor Extension
- Auto-Generated Covergroups for Fields
- Covergroup Sampling in UVM
- Adding and Modifying Coverage Groups
✓ Coverage API
- Coverage API Overview
✓ Arrayed Registers
- Register Arrays with Vendor Extensions
- Register Array in Model
- Multi-Dimensional Register Arrays
- HDL Path for Register Array
✓ Indirect Registers
- Indirect Registers
- Indirect Registers: IP-XACT Code
- Indirect Registers: UVM code
- Indirect Registers: Register Model Topology
✓ Callbacks
- Register Write: Hooks and Callbacks
- Customized Access Policy Using post_predict
- Customized Access Policy Callback Registration
- Register Dependencies – Enabled Register
- Enabled Register Callback Registration
✓ Aliased Register, and Shared Registers
- Register Dependencies: Aliased Register
- Aliased Register Callbacks
- Shared (Twin) Registers
- Shared Registers: XML
- Shared Registers: UVM
✓ Router Reference Model and Scoreboard
- YAPP Router Scoreboard Overview
- YAPP Router Scoreboard Structure
- Router Reference Model and Scoreboard
✓ Register Model
- Efficient Use of Register Model
- Module UVC and Register Model
✓ Register Access API
- Access Register Model in Reference Model
- Updating the Reference Model – TLM Declarations
- Using Register Model to Query DUT Configuration
- Verifying Volatile (Read-Only) Registers
- YAPP Address Counter Validation
- Setting Mirrored in the Register Model
- mirror() Check Results
✓ Field-Level Access to DUT Registers
- Register and Field Level Access
- Register Example
- Byte Lanes
- Field Level Access Support
- Field Access Overview
✓ Implement Active Monitoring
- Active Monitoring
✓ User-Defined Backdoor
- User-Defined Backdoor Declaration
- Integrating User-Defined Backdoor
- Issues with a Hardwired User-Defined Backdoor
- User-Defined Backdoor with Interface
- Active Monitoring via Interface
- User-Defined Backdoor Integration with Interface
✓ Active Monitor Scaling
- Interface Array for Active Monitor Scaling
- Register Array for Active Monitor Scaling
✓ Conventional Frontdoor
- Conventional Frontdoor Operation
✓ User Frontdoor
- Understanding User-Defined Frontdoors
- User Frontdoor Operation
- Register Data Handling in uvm_reg_item
✓ Indirect Register, and User-Defined Frontdoor
- Indirect Register Access Example
- User-Defined Frontdoor Declaration
- Simple Indirect Register Address
- User-Defined Frontdoor Integration
✓ UVM Built-In Sequences
- UVM Built-In Sequences for Registers
- UVM Built-In Sequences for Memories
- UVM Built-In Sequences for Registers and Memories
✓ Skip Attributes
- Built-In Sequences and Access Policies
- Setting Skip Attributes via Resource Database
- Overview of uvm_reg_mem_built_in_seq
✓ New Changes in the IP-XACT 2014
- IP-XACT Name Space
- Field-Level Reset in IP-XACT
- Defining Multiple Resets
- Defining HDL Path in IP-XACT
Requirements
To maximize your learning experience, you should have a foundational understanding of object-oriented programming and verification principles. Familiarity with SystemVerilog, including syntax, testbench creation, and basic constructs, will serve as a strong foundation. Experience in digital logic design or programming will help in understanding advanced UVM techniques. Knowledge of debugging strategies, hierarchical design principles, and simulation environments will be advantageous for applying the concepts in practice. To get the most out of this course, it’s recommended that you meet the following prerequisites:
- Basic knowledge of object-oriented programming principles.
- Familiarity with SystemVerilog syntax and constructs.
- Experience in building testbenches for verification purposes.
- Knowledge of verification methodologies, especially UVM.
- Ability to interpret IP-XACT specifications.
Who this course is for
- Verification engineers looking to enhance testbench skills
- Professionals aiming to master UVM methodologies
- Experienced UVM users exploring advanced register modeling
- Designers seeking to integrate UVM in their workflow
- Verification engineers seeking reusable testbench techniques
- Professionals exploring advanced verification strategies
- ASIC/FPGA designers expanding verification skills
- Researchers studying UVM applications in modern projects
- Engineers working with complex DUT register structures
- Engineers interested in advanced verification techniques
Description
This course delves deep into advanced UVM register verification techniques, equipping engineers with the skills needed to efficiently verify modern, complex designs. Covering everything from introspection methods to active monitoring, this course blends theory and hands-on practice to enhance your expertise. You’ll explore cutting-edge topics like coverage-driven verification, user-defined frontdoors, and customized register modeling while learning to tackle real-world challenges like volatile register management and field-level access. Additionally, the course introduces key updates in the IP-XACT 2014 standard, ensuring you’re ready for the latest industry requirements. Whether you’re refining existing skills or exploring new verification methods, this course empowers you with practical knowledge and tools to optimize your verification workflows.
This course is tailored for verification engineers who want to deepen their expertise in UVM-based register verification. It builds on foundational knowledge to teach advanced techniques, including introspection methods, coverage-driven verification, and custom modeling. Through hands-on examples, you’ll learn how to enhance your verification strategies, making them more efficient and effective for modern design challenges.
We focus on bridging the gap between theory and practice. You’ll explore the integration of register models into scoreboards, active monitoring of DUT registers, and techniques to implement user-defined access methods. These skills are not just theoretical—they are essential for managing complex verification environments and ensuring design quality.
As the industry evolves, staying updated is critical. This course covers IP-XACT 2014 features, including field-level resets and HDL path definitions, ensuring you’re prepared to handle the latest standards. Whether you’re addressing field-level access challenges or scaling active monitoring solutions, this course provides the knowledge you need to stay ahead.
Learning Objectives
- Use introspection methods to explore register models, including blocks, registers, fields, maps, and memories. Use these methods to build sets, such as queues, containing registers, fields, or memories, and perform operations repeatedly on each element. Filter the queues to skip certain elements, like read-only fields, during specific tasks. Create smaller subsets of registers for particular needs, such as write-only registers within a certain address range. Manipulate queues to enhance efficiency by shuffling their order for randomized register access. These skills enable you to perform customized and efficient register verification.
- Apply covergroups to monitor and evaluate the coverage of register models. Use vendor extensions to define advanced coverage metrics and generate auto-created covergroups for register fields. Control the coverage sampling process within a UVM environment and adjust parameters to meet specific verification goals. Add and modify coverage groups to suit different requirements during verification. Leverage the coverage API to analyze data and improve the thoroughness of your verification process. These skills help ensure a complete and efficient verification of register models.
- Model customized register behaviors using techniques like vendor extensions, arrayed registers, and indirect registers. Define multi-dimensional register arrays and assign HDL paths to represent them accurately. Use callbacks and hooks to customize register operations, such as write actions or post-prediction access policies. Handle aliased and shared registers effectively, ensuring proper data handling and synchronization. Establish dependencies between registers, including enabling relationships, and implement callback functions to manage these dependencies dynamically. These methods allow you to build robust, flexible, and realistic register models for comprehensive verification.
- Integrate the register model into the reference model of a scoreboard and use it for validation tasks. Update the router reference model to incorporate the Register Access API, enabling efficient interaction with the register model. Access the register model to query and verify DUT configurations, ensuring accurate alignment with design requirements. Validate volatile registers, such as read-only registers, and confirm the correct behavior of mirrored registers. Utilize the register model to validate address counters and perform tasks like setting mirrored values. These practices ensure thorough and effective verification processes.
- Identify the conditions necessary for enabling field-level access to DUT registers and understand the limitations of such access. Configure the UVM register adapter to support protocols with byte enable features, ensuring compatibility with field-level operations. Use UVM register methods to configure individual fields as accessible when they are the sole occupants of a byte lane. Understand that frontdoor field-level access is not supported with user-defined methods or unsupported protocols. In scenarios where field-level access is not feasible, perform register-level operations without unintended modifications to other fields. Additionally, recognize that backdoor access is limited to whole-register operations, and field-level updates use read-modify-write methods to avoid data corruption.
- Implement active monitoring to automatically update the register model whenever a DUT register changes. Use a user-defined backdoor in UVM to detect value changes in key volatile registers and mirror those changes in the register model. Recognize the importance of active monitoring for verifying volatile DUT registers and for assisting in verifying other related registers. Understand the advantages of using hardwired backdoors for a few registers and explore the use of virtual interfaces and the configuration database for efficient monitoring of larger numbers of registers. Learn to choose the appropriate method based on the size and complexity of the register set.
- Implement a user-defined frontdoor to handle specific access cases for DUT registers. Learn how a user-defined frontdoor uses sequences to convert a read or write operation into multiple UVC transactions, compared to the conventional frontdoor, which performs a single transaction. Understand when a user-defined frontdoor is necessary, such as in cases where the default UVC driver does not support indirect access or where only a single indirect register space exists, making driver modifications impractical. By mastering this technique, you can effectively customize register access without extensive changes to the driver protocol.
- Configure, control, and execute built-in register sequences for testing DUT registers and memories. Use these sequences for initial validation of the register model and integrated DUT, including reset and memory walk sequences. Understand how to manage shared access and HDLpath sequences for comprehensive testing. Adjust built-in sequences by applying skip attributes to exclude specific registers or memories. These skip attributes can be set programmatically or specified in IP-XACT files for vendor-specific customization.
- Describe the main updates in the IP-XACT 2014 standard for register specifications. Explain the new requirements for component headers and the use of the ipxact namespace instead of the deprecated spirit namespace. Understand the shift from register-level resets to field-level resets, which now support multiple named resets. Explore the accessHandles element as a method to define backdoor HDL paths, providing more flexibility in handling complex designs.
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