A Transaction-Based Unified Simulation/Emulation Architecture for Functional Verification

Murali Kudlugi, Soha Hassoun, Charles Selvidge, Duaine Pryor

Abstract: A transaction-based layered architecture providing for 100% portability of a C-based testbench between simulation and emulation is proposed. Transaction-based communication results in performance which is commensurate with emulation without a hardware target. Testbench portability eliminates duplicated effort when combining system level simulation and emulation. An implementation based on the IKOS VStation emulator validates these architectural claims on real designs.