Verification Academy

Cookbook
Online Methodology Documentation from the
Mentor Graphics Verification Methodology Team

Contact VMDOC@mentor.com

http://verificationacademy.com
Table of Contents
Articles
Coverage 1

Coverage Metrics and process (Theory) 3

What is coverage? 3
Kinds of coverage 5
Code Coverage 7
Functional Coverage 11
Specification to coverage 16
Coding for analysis 22

Coverage Examples (Practice) 28

Bus protocol coverage 28
APB3 Protocol test plan 32
APB3 Protocol Monitor 33
Block Level coverage 38
UART test plan 48
UART example covergroups 50
Datapath Coverage 59
BiQuad IIR Filter test plan 62
BiQuad IIR Filter example covergroups 63

Datestamp:
- This document is a snapshot of dynamic content from the Online Methodology Cookbook

- Created from http://verificationacademy.com/uvm-ovm on Thu, 20 Dec 2012 01:07:50 UTC

Coverage 1

Coverage
The Coverage Cookbook describes the different types of coverage that are available to keep track of the progress of the
verification process, how to create a functional coverage model from a specification, and provides examples of how to
implement functional coverage for different types of designs.

Coverage Cookbook contents:

Coverage - This overview page
Coverage Metrics and process (Theory)
What is coverage? - What coverage is about and why you should use it
Kinds of coverage - An explanation of the different types of coverage available
Code Coverage - An explanation of the different types of code coverage
Functional Coverage - Describes the various alternative forms of functional coverage
Specification to coverage - Explains how to go from a functional specification to a coverage model
Coding for analysis - How to ensure that your functional coverage code gives results that are easy to
interpret
Coverage Examples (Practice)
Bus protocol coverage - Illustrates how to use assertions to check a bus protocol and yield functional coverage data
APB3 Protocol test plan - A test plan for the APB3 protocol
APB3 Protocol Monitor - A set of code fragments from the implemented APB3 Protocol monitor
Block Level coverage - A block level UART design, where functional coverage is is based mainly on register
based configuration
UART test plan - The test plan for the UART
UART example covergroups - A set of code fragments illustrating how to implement the block level
covergroups
Datapath Coverage - Illustrates how coverage is collected on the settings of a datapath block
BiQuad IIR Filter test plan - A test plan for the BiQuad IIRFilter
BiQuad IIR Filter example covergroups - Code fragments to illustrate the implementation of the BiQuad IIR
functional coverage model

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Coverage 2

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 3

Coverage Metrics and process (Theory)

What is coverage?
As the saying goes, "What doesn't get measured might not get done." And that is certainly true when trying to determine
a design project's verification progress, or trying to answer the question "Are we done?" Whether your simulation
methodology is based on a directed testing approach or constrained-random verification, to understand your verification
progress you need to answer the following questions:
• Were all the design features and requirements identified in the testplan verified?
• Were there lines of code or structures in the design model that were never exercised?
Coverage is the metric we use during simulation to help us answer these questions. Yet, once coverage metrics become
an integral part of our verification process, it opens up the possibility for more accurate project schedule predictions, as
well as providing a means for optimizing our overall verification process. At this stage of maturity we can ask questions
such as:
• When we tested feature X, did we ever test feature Y at the exact same time?
• Has our verification progress stalled for some unexpected reason?
• Are there tests that we could eliminate to speed up our regression suite and still achieve our coverage goals?
Hence, coverage is a simulation metric we use to measure verification progress and completeness.

Observability and Controllability

Fundamental to the discussion of coverage is understanding the concepts of controllability and observability. Informally,
controllability refers to the ability to influence or activate an embedded finite state machine, structure, specific line of
code, or behavior within the design by stimulating various input ports. Note that, while in theory a simulation testbench
has high controllability of the design model's input ports during verification, it can have very low controllability of an
internal structure within the model. In contrast, observability refers to the ability to observe the effects of a specific
internal finite state machine, structure, or stimulated line of code. Thus, a testbench generally has limited observability if
it only observes the external ports of the design model (because the internal signals and structures are often indirectly
hidden from the testbench).
To identify a design error using a simulation testbench approach, the following conditions must hold:
1. The testbench must generate proper input stimulus to activate a design error.
2. The testbench must generate proper input stimulus to propagate all effects resulting from the design error to an output
port.
3. The testbench must contain a monitor that can detect the design error that was first activated then propagated to a
point for detection.
It is possible to set up a condition where the input stimulus activates a design error that does not propagate to an
observable output port. In these cases, the first condition cited above applies; however, the second condition is absent, as
illustrated in Figure 1.

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What is coverage? 4

Figure 1. Poor observability & controllability misses bugs

In general, coverage is a metric we use to meaure the controllability quality of a testbench. For example, code coverage
can directly identify lines of code that were never activated due to poor controllability issues with the simulation input
stimulus. Similarly, functional coverage can identify expected behaviors that were never activated during a simulation
run due to poor controllability.
Although our discussion in this section is focused on coverage, it's important to note that we can address observability
concerns by embedding assertions in the design model to facilitate low-level observability, and creating monitors within
and on the output ports of our testbench to facilitate high-level observability.

Summary
So what is coverage? Simply put, coverage is a metric we use to measure verification progress and completeness.
Coverage metrics tells us what portion of the design has been activated during simulation (that is, the controllability
quality of a testbench). Or more importantly, coverage metrics identify portions of the design that were never activated
during simulation, which allows us to adjust our input stimulus to improve verification.
There are different kinds of coverage metrics available to you, and the process of how to use them is discussed in the
Coverage Cookbook examples.

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Kinds of coverage 5

Kinds of coverage
No single metric is sufficient at completely characterizing the verification process. For example, we might achieve 100%
code coverage during our simulation regressions. However, this would not mean that 100% of the functionality was
verified. The reason for this is that code coverage does not measure the concurrent interaction of behavior within, or
between multiple design blocks, nor does it measure the temporal sequences of functional events that occur within a
design. Similarly, we might achieve 100% functional coverage, yet only achieve 90% code coverage. This might indicate
that there is either a problem with the fidelity in our functional coverage model (that is, an important behavior of the
design was missing from the coverage model), or possibly some functionality was implemented that was never initially
specified (for example, perhaps the specification and testplan needs to be updated with some late stage change in the
requirements). Hence, to get a complete picture of a project's verification progress we often need multiple metrics.

Coverage Classification
To begin our discussion on the kinds of coverage metrics, it is helpful to first identify various classifications of coverage.
In general, there are multiple ways in which we might classify coverage, but the two most common ways are to classify
them by either their method of creation (such as, explicit versus implicit), or by their origin of source (such as,
specification versus implementation).

Different categories of coverage metrics

For instance, functional coverage is one example of an explicit coverage metric, which has been manually defined and
then implemented by the engineer. In contrast, line coverage and expression coverage are two examples of an implicit
coverage metric since its definition and implementation is automatically derived and extracted from the RTL
representation.

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Kinds of coverage 6

Coverage Space Classification

Coverage associated with the two categories we just described can be combined to form a coverage space, which is often
referred to as a coverage model. [1] For instance, an explicit specification coverage space consists of coverage metrics
that are manually created by an engineer, derived from a design's requirements document or specification. Another kind
of explicit coverage is the instrumentation created by an engineer that is based on the behavior encapsulated by the
design implemention, such as the filling or emptying events associated with a particular FIFO in an RTL model.
Similarly, an implicit implementation coverage space consists of coverage metrics that are automatically extracted by a
tool (such as a simulator), and derived from a design implementation (such as an RTL model). Another part of the
implicit specification coverage space consists of coverage metrics that are automatically extracted by a tool, and are
derived from the design specification. This part of the coverage space is currently an area of academic research, although
there have been a few EDA tools recently emerge that attempt to automatically extract higher-level coverage properties
by observing the effects of simulation patterns on an implementation (such as an RTL model). Note that these
higher-level functional behaviors cannot be automatically extracted from the implementation alone, which is why they
fall into the coverage metrics associated with the implicit specification coverage space.

Coverage Metrics
There are two primary forms of coverage metrics in production use in industry today and these are:
• Code Coverage Metrics (Implicit coverage)
• Functional Coverage/Assertion Coverage Metrics (Explicit coverage)

References
[1] A. Piziali, Functional Verification Coverage Measurement and Analysis, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004.

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Code Coverage 7

Code Coverage
In this section, we introduce various coverage metrics associated with a design model's implicit implementation coverage
space. In general, these metrics are referred to as code coverage or structural coverage metrics.

Benefits:
Code coverage, whose origins can be traced back to the 1960's, is one of the first methods invented for systematic
software testing.[1] One of the advantages of code coverage is that it automatically describes the degree to which the
source code of a program has been activated during testing-thus, identifying structures in the source code that have not
been activated during testing. One of the key benefits of code coverage, unlike functional coverage, is that creating the
structural coverage model is an automatic process. Hence, integrating code coverage into your existing simulation flow is
easy and does not require a change to either your current design or verification approach.

Limitations:
In our section titled What is coverage, we discussed three important conditions that must occur during simulation to
achieve successful testing. They were:
1. The testbench must generate proper input stimulus to activate a design error.
2. The testbench must generate proper input stimulus to propagate all effects resulting from the design error to an output
port.
3. The testbench must contain a monitor that can detect the design error that was first activated then propagated to a
point for detection.
Code coverage is a measurement of structures within the source code that have been activated during simulation. One
limitation with code coverage metrics are that you might achieve 100% code coverage during your regression run, which
means that your testbench provided stimulus that activated all structures within your RTL source code, yet there are still
bugs in your design. For example, the input stimulus might have activated a line of code that contained a bug, yet the
testbench did not generate the additional required stimulus that propagates the effects of the bug to some point in the
testbench where it could be detected. In fact, researchers have studied this problem and found cases where a testbench
achieved 90% code coverage-yet, only 54% of the code was covered would be observable during a simulation run.[2]
That means that a bug could exist on a line of code that had been marked as covered—yet the bug was never detected
due to insufficient input stimulus to propagate the bug to an observability point.
Another limitation of code coverage is that it does not provide an indication on exactly what functionality defined in the
specification was actually tested. For example, you could run into a situation where you achieved 100% code coverage,
and then assume you are done. Yet, there could be functionality defined in the specification that was never tested—or
even functionality that had never been implemented! Code coverage metrics will not help you find these situations.
Even with these limitations, the automatic aspect of code coverage makes it a relatively simple way to identify input
stimulus deficiencies in your testbench. And is a great first choice for coverage metrics as you start to evolve your
advanced verification process capabilities.

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Code Coverage 8

Types of Code Coverage Metrics

Toggle Coverage
Toggle coverage is a code coverage metric used to measure the number of times each bit of a register or wire has toggled
its value. Although this is a realitively basic metric, many projects have a testing requirement that all ports and registers,
at a minimum, must have experienced a zero-to-one and one-to-zero transition.
In general, reviewing a toggle coverage analysis report can be overwhelming and of little value if not carefully focused.
For example, toggle coverage is often used for basic connectivity checks between IP blocks. In addition, it can be useful
to know that many control structures, such as a one-hot select bus, have been fully exercised.

Line Coverage
Line coverage is a code coverage metric we use to identify which lines of our souce code have been executed during
simulation. A line coverage metric report will have a count associated with each line of source code indicating the total
number of times the line has executed. The line execution count value is not only useful for identifying lines of source
code that have never executed, but also useful when the engineer feels that a minimum line execution threshold is
required to achieve sufficient testing.
Line coverage analysis will often reveal that a rare condition required to activate a line of code has not occurred due to
missing input stimulus. Alternatively, line coverage analysis might reveal that the data and control flow of the source
code prevented it either due to a bug in the code, or dead code that is not currently needed under certain IP
configurations. For unused or dead code, you might choose to exclude or filter this code during the coverage recording
and reporting steps, which allows you to focus only on the relavent code.

Statement Coverage
Statement coverage is a code coverage metric we use to identify which statements within our souce code have been
executed during simulation. In general, most engineers find that statement coverage analysis is more useful than line
coverage since a statement often spans multiple lines of source code-or multiple statements can occur on a single line of
source code.
A metrics report used for statement coverage analysis will have a count associated with each line of source code
indicating the total number of times the statement has executed. This statement execution count value is not only useful
for identifying lines of source code that have never executed, but also useful when the engineer feels that a minimum
statement execution threshold is required to achieve sufficient testing.

Block Coverage
Block coverage is a variant on the statement coverage metric which identifies whether a block of code has been executed
or not. A block is defined as a set of statements between conditional statements or within a procedural definition, the key
point being that if the block is reached, all the lines within the block will be executed. This metric is used to avoid
unscrupulous engineers from achieving a higher statement coverage by simply adding more statements to their code.

Branch Coverage
Branch coverage (also referred to as decision coverage) is a code coverage metric that reports whether Boolean
expressions tested in control structures (such as the if, case, while, repeat, forever, for and loop statements) evaluated to
both true and false. The entire Boolean expression is considered one true-or-false predicate regardless of whether it
contains logical-and or logical-or operators.

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Code Coverage 9

Expression Coverage
Expression coverage (sometimes referred to as condition coverage) is a code coverage metric used to determine if each
condition evaluated both to true and false. A condition is an Boolean operand that does not contain logical operators.
Hence, expression coverage measures the Boolean conditions independently of each other.

Focused Expression Coverage

Focused Expression Coverage (FEC), which is also referred to as Modified Condition/Decision Coverage (MC/DC), is a
code coverage metric often used used by the DO-178B safety critical software certification standard, as well as
the DO-254 formal airborne electronic hardware certification standard. This metric is stronger than condition and
decision coverage. The formal definition of MC/DC as defined by DO-178B is:
Every point of entry and exit in the program has been invoked at least once, every condition in a decision has taken all
possible outcomes at least once, every decision in the program has taken all possible outcomes at least once, and each
condition in a decision has been shown to independently affect that decisions outcome. A condition is shown to
independently affect a decisions outcome by varying just that condition while holding fixed all other possible conditions.
[3]
It is worth noting that completely closing Focused Expressing Coverage can be non-trivial.

Finite-State Machine Coverage

Today's code coverage tools are able to identify finite state machines within the RTL source code. Hence, this makes it
possible to automatically extract FSM code coverage metrics to measure conditions. For example, the number of times
each state of the state machine was entered, the number of times the FSM transitioned from one state to each of its
neighboring states, and even sequential arc coverage to identify state visitation transitions.

Typical Code Coverage Flow

The objective of gathering and analyzing code coverage metrics is to identify portions of the source code that have not
been exercised by the current verification environment. From a project perspective, it is generally best to wait until the
implementation of the RTL is close to complete before seriously starting to gather and analyze code coverage results.
Otherwise, you can waste a lot of cycles trying to make sense of a moving target from the changing RTL code. With that
said, we recommend that you at least run a few simulations that capture coverage metrics early in the project cycle (that
is, prior to seriously gathering coverage metrics) to work out any potential issues in your coverage flow.
From a high-level perspective, there are generally three main steps involved in a code coverage flow, which include:
1. Instrument the RTL code to gather coverage
2. Run simulation to capture and record coverage metrics
3. Report and analyze the coverage results
Part of the analysis step is to identify coverage holes, and determine if the coverage hole is due to one of three
conditions:
1. Missing input stimulus required to activate the uncovered code
2. A bug in the design (or testbench) that is preventing the input stimulus from activating the uncovered code
3. Unused code for certain IP configuations or expected unreachable code related during normal operating conditions
The first condition requires you to either write additional directed stimulus or adjust random constraints to generate the
required input stimulus that targets the uncovered code. The second condition obviously requires the engineer to fix the
bug that is preventing the uncovered code from being exercised. The third condition can be addressed by directing the

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Code Coverage 10

coverage tool to exclude the unused or unreachable code during the coverage recording and reporting steps. Formal tools
can be used to automate the identification of unreachable code, and then automatically generate the exclusion files.

References
[1] J. Miller, C. Maloney, "Systematic mistake analysis of digital computer programs." Communications of the ACM 6
(2): 58-63, February 1963.
[2] F. Fallah, S. Devadas, K. Keutzer: "OCCOM: Efficient Computation of Observability-Based Code Coverage Metrics
for Functional Verification." Proceedings of the Design Automation Conference, 1998: 152-157
[3] DO-178B, "Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification", RCTA, December 1992,
pp.31, 74.
[4] M. Stuart, D. Dempster: Verification Methodology Manual for Code Coverage in HDL Designs - TransEDA, August
2000

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Functional Coverage 11

Functional Coverage
The objective of functional verification is to determine if the design requirements, as defined in our specification, are
functioning as intended. But how do you know if all the specified functionality was actually implemented? Furthermore,
how do we know if all the specified functionality was really tested? Code coverage metrics will not help us answer these
questions.
In this section, we introduce an explicit coverage metric referred to as functional coverage, which can be associated with
either the design's specification or implementation coverage space. The objective of measuring functional coverage is to
measure verification progress with respect to the functional requirements of the design. That is, functional coverage helps
us answer the question: Have all specified functional requirements been implemented, and then exercised during
simulation? The details on how to create a functional coverage model are discussed separately in the Specification to
functional coverage chapter.

Benefits:
The origin of functional coverage can be traced back to the 1990's with the emergence of constrained-random
simulation. Obviously, one of the value propositions of constrained-random stimulus generation is that the simulation
environment can automatically generate thousands of tests that would have normally required a significant amount of
manual effort to create as directed tests. However, one of the problems with constrained-random stimulus generation is
that you never know exactly what functionality has been tested without the tedious effort of examining waveforms after a
simulation run. Hence, functional coverage was invented as a measurement to help determine exactly what
functionality a simulation regression tested without the need for visual inspection of waveforms.
Today, the adoption of functional coverage is not limited to constrained-random simulation environments. In fact,
functional coverage provides an automatic means for performing requirements tracing during simulation, which is often
a critical step required for DO-254 compliance checking. For example, functional coverage can be implemented with a
mechanism that links to specific requirements defined in a specification. Then, after a simulation run, it is possible
to automatically measure which requirements were checked by a specific directed or constrained-random test—as well
as automatically determine which requirements were never tested.

Limitations:
Since functional coverage is not an implicit coverage metric, it cannot be automatically extracted. Hence, this requires
the user to manually create the coverage model. From a high-level, there are two different steps involved in creating a
functional coverage model that need to be considered:
1. Identify the functionality or design intent that you want to measure
2. Implementing the machinery to measure the functionality or design intent
The first step is addressed through verification planning, and the details are addressed in the section on getting from a
specification to functional coverage.
The second step involves coding the machinery for each of the coverage items identified in the verification planning
step (for example, coding a set of SystemVerilog covergroups for each verification objective identified in the verification
plan). During the coverage model implementation phase, there are also many details that need to be considered, such as:
identifying the appropriate point to trigger a measurement and defining controllability (disable/enable) aspects for the
measurement. These and many other details are addressed in the detailed coverage examples.

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Functional Coverage 12

Since the functional coverage must be manually created, there is always a risk that some functionality that was specified
is missing in the coverage model.

Types of Functional Coverage Metrics

The functional behavior of any design, at least as observed from any interface within the verification environment,
consists of both data and temporal components. Hence, from a high-level, there are two main types of functional
coverage measurement we need to consider: Cover Groups' and Cover Properties.

Cover Group Modeling

With respect to functional coverage, the samping of state values within a design model or on an interface is probably the
easiest to understand. We refer to this form of funcational coverage as cover group modeling. It consists of state values
observed on buses, grouping of interface control signals, as well as register. The point is that the values that are being
measured occur at a single explicitly or implicitly sampled point in time. SystemVerilog covergroups are part of the
machinery we typically use to build the functional data coverage models, and the details are discussed in the block level
design example and the discussion of the corresponding example covergroup implementations.

Cover Property Modeling

With respect to functional coverage, temporal relationships between sequences of events are probably the hardest to
reason about. However, ensuring that these sequences of events are properly tested is important. We use cover property
modeling to measure temporal relationships between sequences of events. Probably the most popular example of cover
properties involves the handshaking sequence between control signals on a bus protocol. Other examples include
power-state transition coverage associated with verifying a low-power design. Assertions and coverage properties are
part of the machinery that we use to build temporal coverage models, and are addressed in the bus protocol monitor
example.

Assertion Coverage
The term assertion coverage has many meanings in the industry today. For example, some people define assertion
coverage as the ratio of number of assertions to RTL lines of code. However, assertion density is a more accurate term
that is often used for this metric. For our discussion, we use the term assertion coverage to describe an implementation of
of coverage properties using assertions.

Difference Between Cover Groups and Cover Properties

To help illustrate the difference between coverage modeled with covergroups and cover properties, lets look at a simple
nonpipelined bus example, as illustrated in Figure 1.

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Functional Coverage 13

Figure 1. Simple nonpipelined bus interface

A single write and read bus sequence for our non-pipelined bus protocol are illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Write and read cycles for a simple nonpipelined bus protocol

To verify our bus example, it's important to test the boundary conditions for the address bus for both the write sequence
and read sequence (that is, the bits within addr at some point contained all zeros and all ones). In addition, it's also
important that we have covered a sufficient number of non-boundary conditions on the address bus during our
regression. We are only interested in sampling the address bus when the slave is selected and the enable strobe is active
(that is, sel==1'b1 && en==1'b1). Finally, we will want to keep track of separate write and read events for these
coverage items to ensure that we have tested both these operations sufficiently.
This is one example of using cover groups to model functional coverage (e.g., the SystemVerilog covergroup
construct). In addition, we could apply the same data coverage approach to measuring the read and write data busses.

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Functional Coverage 14

Now, let's look at cover properties with respect to this example. There is a standard sequence that is followed for both
the write and read cycle. For example, let's examine a write cycle. At clock one, since both the slave select (sel) and bus
enable (en) signals are de-asserted, our bus is in an INACTIVE state. The first clock of the write sequence is called the
bus START state, which the master initiates by asserting one of the slave select line (sel==1'b1). During the START
state, the master places a valid address and valid data on the bus. The data transfer (referred to as the bus ACTIVE state)
actually occurs when the master asserts the bus enable strobe signal (en). In our case, it is detected on the rising edge of
clock three. The address, data, and control signals all remain valid throughout the ACTIVE state.
When the ACTIVE state completes, the bus enable strobe signal (en) is de-asserted by the bus master, and thus
completes the current single write operation. If the master has finished transferring all data to the slave (that is, there are
no more write operations), then the master de-asserts the slave select signal (sel). Otherwise, the slave select signal
remains asserted, and the bus returns to the bus START state to initiate a new write operation. Multiple back-to-back
write operations (without returning to the bus INACTIVE state) are known as burst write.
From a temporal coverage perspective, a set of assertions could be written to ensure proper sequencing of states on the
bus. For example, the only legal bus state transitions are illustrated in Figure 3. Furthermore, it's important to test a single
write and read cycle, as well as the burst read in write operation. In fact, we might want to measure the various burst
write and read cycles.

Figure 3. Legal non-pipelined bus state sequence

By combining cover groups and cover properties, we are able to achieve a higher fidelity coverage model that more
accurately allows us to measure key features of the design.
Details on how to code temporal coverage are covered in the APB3 Bus protocol monitor example.

Typical Functional Coverage Flow

In many respects, the typical functional coverage flow is very similar to the typical code coverage flow. The objective of
gathering and analyzing functional coverage metrics is to identify features and requirements from the specification that
have not been exercised by the current verification environment and the test cases run on it. From a project perspective, it
is generally best to wait until the implementation of the test cases associated with coverage are close to complete before
seriously starting to gather and analyze functional coverage results. Otherwise, you can waste a lot of cycles trying to
make sense of a moving target from the changing stimlus. With that said, we recommend that you at least run a few

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Functional Coverage 15

simulations that capture coverage metrics early in the project cycle (that is, prior to seriously gathering coverage metrics)
to work out any potential issues in your coverage flow.
From a high-level perspective, there are generally four main steps involved in a functional coverage flow, which include:
1. Create a functional coverage model
2. If using assertions, instrument the RTL model to gather coverage
3. Run simulation to capture and record coverage metrics
4. Report and analyze the coverage results
Part of the analysis step is to identify coverage holes, and determine if the coverage hole is due to one of three
conditions:
1. Missing input stimulus required to activate the uncovered functionality
2. A bug in the design (or testbench) that is preventing the input stimulus from activating the uncovered functionality
3. Unused functionality for certain IP configuations or expected unreachable functionality related during normal
operating conditions
The first condition requires you to either write additional directed tests or adjust random constraints to generate the
required input stimulus that targets the uncovered functionality. The second condition obviously requires the engineer to
fix the bug that is preventing the uncovered functionality from being exercised. The third condition can be addressed by
directing the coverage tool to exclude the unused or unreachable functionality during the coverage recording and
reporting steps.

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Specification to coverage 16

Specification to coverage
Arriving at functional coverage closure is a process that starts with the functional specification for the design, which is
analysed to determine:
• What features need to be tested
• Under what conditions the features need to be tested
• What testbench infrastructure is required to drive and monitor the design's interfaces
• How the testbench will check that the features work
Deriving a functional coverage model is not an automatic process, it requires interpretation of the available specifications
and the implementation of the model requires careful thought.

The Process
The process that results in a functional coverage model is usually iterative and the model is built up over time as each
part of the testbench and stimulus is constructed. Each iteration starts with the relevant and available functional
specification documents which are analysed in order to identify features that need to be checked by some combination of
configuration and stimulus generation within the testbench.
In general terms, a testbench has two sides to it, a control path used to stimulate the design under test to get it into
different states to allow its features to be checked; and an analysis side which is used to observe what the design does in
response to the stimulus. A self-checking mechanism should be implemented in the testbench to ensure that design is
behaving correctly, this is usually referred to as the scoreboard. The role of the functional coverage model is to ensure
that the tests that the DUT passes have checked the design features for all of the relevant conditions. The functional
coverage model should be based on observations of how the design behaves rather than how it has been asked to behave
and should therefore be implemented in the analysis path. The easiest way to think about this is that with a testbench, the
stimulus that runs on it and the scoreboard(s) have to be designed to test all the features of a design, and that the
functional coverage model is used to ensure that all the desired variations of those tests have been seen to complete
successfully.
Verification is an incomplete process, even for "simple" designs it can be difficult to verify everything in time available.
For reasonable sized designs there is a trade-off between what could be verified and the time available to implement, run,
and debug test cases, this leads to prioritisation based on the technical and commercial background to the project. A wise
verification strategy is to start with the highest priority items and work down the priority order, whilst being prepared to
re-prioritise the list as the project progresses. The functional coverage model should evolve as each design feature is
tested, and each additional part of the functional coverage model should be put in place before the stimulus.

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Specification to coverage 17

Process Guidelines
The functional coverage model is based on functional requirements
The testbench is designed to test the features of the design. The role of the functional coverage model is to check that the
different variants of those features have been observed to work correctly. Features may also be referred to as
requirements or in some situations as stories.
For instance - a DUT generates a data packet with a CRC field. The CRC is based on the contents of the packet which
has, say 10 variants. The testbench generates stimulus that makes the DUT produce the data packets and the scoreboard
checks the CRC field to make sure that the DUT has calculated it correctly. The role of the functional coverage monitor
in this case is to ensure that all 10 packet variants are checked out.

Choose the most appropriate implementation

When deciding how to implement a functional coverage model, there is a choice as to how the functional coverage will
be implemented. The SystemVerilog language supports two main types of functional coverage:

Coverage Type Implemented As Used for

Covergroup Modeling SystemVerilog Covergroups Checking permutations of condition and state when a known result is
acheived

Cover Property SystemVerilog Assertions - sequences and Checking that a set of state transitions has been observed
Modeling properties

Covergroup functional coverage relies on sampling the value of one or more data fields to count how many times
different permutations of those values occur.
Cover Property or temporal based coverage is based on counting how many times a particular sequence of states and/or
conditions occured during a test. Temporal coverage is usually used to get coverage on control paths or protocols where
timing relationships may vary. Examples include:
• Whether a FIFO has been driven into an overflow or underflow condition
• Whether a particular type of bus cycle has been observed to complete
The first step in developing a functional coverage model is deciding which of these two approaches should be taken for
each of the areas of concern.

Functional Coverage should be based on observation

The stimulus side of the testbench should be used to drive the DUT, the stimulus side should not be used for coverage
because the DUT or the stimulus may not work correctly resulting in false coverage. Instead the functional coverage
should be based on what is observed to happen at the DUT outputs in the testbench. In a UVM testbench, the functional
coverage would be based on the content of analysis transactions. This has implications on the design of the testbench and
the analysis transactions.

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Functional Coverage Validity

Functional coverage data is only valid when a check passes. If you are not using automatic tools to merge coverage from
different simulations, then you should ensure that the coverage model is only sampled when a test passes.
However, if you are using verification management tools to collect coverage from multiple simulations, then there is no
need to do this since the coverage results from tests that fail would not be merged with the rest of the functional coverage
data.

Collect coverage on negative testing separately from positive checking

If the verification plan calls for positive and negative testing of a feature, design and collect the functional coverage
separately for both types of testing.

Design the coverage model for analysis

A common mistake is to develop a thorough functional coverage model only to realise later that it is difficult to
understand the results. Use the available language constructs to make it easier to understand where the missing coverage
is. In other words, it is worth investing some time when creating the functional coverage model to save time later when
you need to understand what the results are telling you. See the Coverage Design For Analysis page for more discussion
about this topic.

Determining the appropriate level of fidelity

How close a match to the detail of the design implementation is required? How much abstraction can be applied?
In simple cases where there are relatively few values to check creating a coverage model which is very closely related to
the design detail is a manageable problem. However, when there is a wide range of values, careful decisions need to be
made concerning the level of detail. For instance, a device configuration with about 20 possible values can easily be
modeled directly, whereas something like a 32 bit address range needs to be split in to a set of interesting values or value
ranges which requires some abstraction.

Use a consistent coding style

Using a consistent coding style for implementing covergroups and assertion code is important since it makes them easier
to understand and interpret. It also makes integration with verification planning and tracking tools easier.
See the SystemVerilog coding guidelines for an example covergroup coding style. Note that the actual style used is
unimportant, but using a consistent style is important.

Covergroup based coverage considerations

When designing covergroup based coverage there are a number of key points to consider based on the functionality and
characteristics of the design

Which values are important?

It is easy to collect information in an uninformed way by simply specifying that a variable be sampled by a coverpoint,
and this will result in the automatic generation of 2**n coverage bins where n is the number of bits in the variable. For
narrow width fields this may be OK, but for wider fields this is unlikely to be very useful. In most cases there will be a
number of values or ranges of values that will be important to cover, these should be derived from the specification and

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Specification to coverage 19

coded into the coverpoint as a set of bins.

What are the dependencies between data variables?

When analysing the different ways in which a design might be configured or a packet might be constructed, are there
relationships between different variables? If such a relationship does exist, then a cross product between the variables
should be specified in the covergroup.

Are there boundary conditions that should be checked?

Are there particular values or combinations of values that should be checked because they are at the limits of operation or
are at a known inflection point in the design? This will invariably require some "reading between the lines" of the
specification and some design or implementation knowledge. Any boundary conditions identified should be added to the
coverage model to ensure that they are tested.

Are there illegal conditions?

If there are conditions which should not occur, then the covergroup can have a term to trap those conditions. The term
does not contribute to the functional coverage but it can help detect either a design or a testbench error.

Are there conditions that are not important?

Even the simplest of designs may have more ways of configuring it than are ever realistically going to be used. If there is
a way to determine which modes are most likely to be used then it also likely that there will be some that are known to be
either useless or very unlikely to used, these can be omitted from the permutations of coverage values collected. There
may also be a degree of prioritization here, with certain configurations that have to be tested, then later on, if there is
time, lower priority configurations can be checked.

When is the right time to sample the coverage?

The data coverage collection code needs to sample the data values it is referencing. The sample point needs to:
• Only occur when the associated check has passed
• Occur when the data values are valid
• Occur when the data values are stable
If the sampling is based on receiving a UVM analysis transaction, then if it comes directly from a monitor it may need to
have a means to discriminate between valid and invalid analysis traffic. If the functional coverage collector is fed
analysis transactions from a scoreboard then the scoreboard should qualify that a check has passed before sending the
analysis transaction.

Are there times when the data coverage sample is not valid?
If there are, then guards will have to be coded into the functional coverage implementation code.

What information is required in the analysis transaction?

For testbenches based on a TLM methodology, such as OVM or UVM, the information required by the functional
coverage needs to come from the analysis transaction. This implies that the analysis transaction has to have all the
information that is going to be sampled, and this may well affect the transaction and the design of the monitor or
scoreboard that is generating the transaction.

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Summary
When considering how a design feature is to be tested, and what the covergroup based functional coverage model for that
feature should be, remember to answer these questions:

Coverage Criterion Feature on which data coverage is to be collected

Which values are important? Identify the important values to hit.

What are the dependencies between the values? Identify the important cross products between data values

Are there illegal conditions? Identify values, or combinations of values that should not occur

When is the right time to sample? Specify a valid sampling point

When is the data invalid? Identify conditions when the data should not be sampled

Temporal coverage considerations

Control paths and protocols rely on timing relationships between signals to implement handshakes and transfers. These
types of relationships are easiest to verify using temporal sequences and properties. Functional coverage information can
be derived from these checks in several ways:
• If a property is asserted and never fails, but can be shown to complete then it can be assumed that the functionality
described in the property has been covered
• If a sequence completes, then the functional behaviour encoded in that sequence has been observed and functional
coverage can be assumed
• If a sequence completes, then a covergroup can be sampled to check under what conditions it completed (Hybrid
coverage)
• If a property assertion passes, then the pass statement can be used to trigger sampling of a covergroup to check under
what conditions the pass occured (Hybrid coverage)

Checks should be specific

A property or a sequence should only check for one condition, having multiple conditions checked in a property or a
sequence leads to aliasing in functional coverage.
If a sequence and or or fusion operator is used to define a property, then to collect specific functional coverage on each
potential path through the property the property will have to be un-rolled and implemented as a sequence specific to each
of the paths.

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Hybrid Coverage
There may be times when a hybrid of data coverage and temporal coverage techniques is required to collect specific
types of functional coverage. For example, checking that all modes of protocol transfer have occured is best done by
writing a property or sequence that identifies when the transfer has completed successfully and then sampling a
covergroup based on the interesting signal fields of the protocol to check that all relevant conditions are seen to have
occurred.
The APB Bus protocol monitor contains an example implementation of using hybrid functional coverage.

Functional Coverage Examples

Different styles of design require alternative approaches to building the functional coverage model. Here are some
worked examples that illustrate some common design categories:

Design Type Covergroups Assertions Functional Coverage modeling strategy Link to example

Control based designs Maybe Yes In this style of design there are timing relationships APB Bus Protocol
between different signals which Example
need to be checked and seen to work

Peripheral style design, programmed Yes Maybe Most of the functional coverage can be derived from UART Coverage
via registers content of the registers which Example
are used to control and monitor the behaviour of the
device. The register interface may
also serve the data path. There may be scope for using
assertions on signal interfaces.

DSP datapath style design Yes No In this class of design, the stimulus pumps data through Biquad Filter Example
the design datapath and compares
the output against a reference model. The functional
coverage is primarily about ensuring
that the algorithm 'knobs' have been tested sufficiently.

Aggregator/Controller style, e.g. Yes Yes Coverage of combinations of abstract stimulus on To be released
Memory Controller multiple ports, coverage of Config registers,
coverage of features of target DDR specification

SoC with vertical reuse of Yes Maybe At the SoC level not all functional coverage is relevant To be released
UVM analysis components and careful attention to the
verification plan is required.

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Coding for analysis

Taking care with the implementation of covergroups is an investment in time that can pay back when you or someone
else need to understand where the missing functional coverage is.

Covergroup Labeling
The way in which you use labeling when coding a covergroup can have a huge impact on understanding the coverage
results. A covergroup can be assigned a option.name string which helps with identification of which particular part of a
testbench the coverage is associated with. In side a covergroup, coverpoints can be labelled and bins can be named.
Using all of these techniques makes it much easier to understand the coverage results during analysis.

Covergroup naming
If multiple instances of the same covergroup are used within a testbench, then the option.name parameter can be used to
assign an identity string to each instance. The name string can be passed in as an argument when the covergroup is
constructed. In a UVM environment, the name could be passed in using get_full_name() method.See the following code
example.
// Class containing a covergroup
class my_cov_mon;

covergroup my_cg(string instance_name);

option.per_instance = 1;
option.name = instance_name;
// ...
endgroup: my_cg

function new(string cg_inst_nmae);

my_cg = new(cg_inst_name);
// ...
endfunction

endclass: my_cov_mon

// UVM Component containing a covergroup

class my_cov_mon extends uvm_subscriber #(my_txn);

covergroup my_cg(string instance_name);

option.per_instance = 1;
option.name = instance_name;
// ...
endgroup: my_cg

function new(string name = "my_cov_mon", uvm_component parent = null);

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super.new(name, parent);
my_cg = new(this.get_full_name()); // Gets the UVM hierarchy for the component
endfunction

endclass: my_cov_mon

A covergroup can also be named programatically using the covergroup set_inst_name() built-in method.
// UVM Covergroup based component
class my_cov_mon extends uvm_subscriber #(my_txn);

covergroup my_cg;
//...
endgroup: my_cg

function new(string name = "my_cov_mon", uvm_component parent = null);

super.new(name, parent);
my_cg = new();
endfunction

function void build_phase(uvm_phase phase);

my_cg.set_inst_name("TLB_coverage"); // Sets the instance name
//...
endfunction: build_phase
endclass: my_cov_mon

Coverpoint and bin labeling

As an example consider the following functional coverage problem from the UART example. In this example the
UART word format is determined by the contents of the Line Control Register (LCR):

LCR Bit Value Description

[1:0] 2'b00 5 bit data character

2'b01 6 bit data character

2'b10 7 bit data character

2'b11 8 bit data character

2 1'b0 1 Stop bit

1'b1 2 Stop bits

[5:3] 3'b??0 No Parity

3'b001 Odd parity

3'b011 Even parity

3'b101 Stick 0 parity

3'b111 Stick 1 parity

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Lower Analysis Potential

covergroup tx_word_format_cg()
with function sample(bit[5:0] lcr);

option.name = "tx_word_format";
option.per_instance = 1;

coverpoint LCR[5:0];

endgroup: tx_word_format_cg

Higher Analysis Potential

covergroup tx_word_format_cg
with function sample(bit[5:0] lcr);

option.name = "tx_word_format";
option.per_instance = 1;

WORD_LENGTH: coverpoint lcr[1:0] {

bins bits_5 = {0};
bins bits_6 = {1};
bins bits_7 = {2};
bins bits_8 = {3};
}

STOP_BITS: coverpoint lcr[2] {

bins stop_1 = {0};
bins stop_2 = {1};
}

PARITY: coverpoint lcr[5:3] {

bins no_parity = {3'b000, 3'b010, 3'b100, 3'b110};
bins even_parity = {3'b011};
bins odd_parity = {3'b001};
bins stick1_parity = {3'b101};
bins stick0_parity = {3'b111};
}

WORD_FORMAT: cross WORD_LENGTH, STOP_BITS, PARITY;

endgroup: tx_word_format_cg

In order to check that all possible word formats have been transmitted we could implement a covergroup by creating a
coverpoint for LCR[5:0] and not specifying any bins. This would create a set of default bins, one for each possible value
of the register, as shown in the left hand code example. If the functional coverage collected samples these bits at least
once, then there is no problem, but if not then it is reasonably difficult to figure out which bin corresponds to which
condition - see the 'before' screen shot from the Questa covergroup browser. Here, not using labels has caused the
simulator to use auto-bins, which means that the missing bin values need to be converted to binary and then mapped to
the register fields to identify the missing configurations.
A better way to implement the covergroup is to use a labeled coverpoint for each register field and then using the bins
syntax for each of the values in the register truth table. When this is simulated, the cross products created reflect the

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different bin labels, which makes it much easier to determine which functional coverage conditions have not been
sampled. It also makes it easier to see whether there are any gross coverage conditions that have been missed. See the
'after' screen shot from the Questa covergroup GUI for the refactored covergroup.

How Covergroup options affect the reporting and computation of coverage

Implementation Options
The analysis of functional coverage information is affected by the way in which the coverage results are reported. There
are three covergroup options which impact coverage reporting and can cause considerable confusion, and these are:
• option.per_instance
• option.get_inst_coverage
• type_option.merge_instances
If these options are not specified in the code that implements a covergroup, then they are not enabled by default. In other
words, they are set to 0.
These three options should be explicitly declared in covergroup to ensure that the coverage computation and reporting is
consistent and as required.

Covergroup types and instances

When a covergroup is declared it becomes a type that may be instantiated several times in the testbench - for instance the
same type of interface is used for several ports in a design and therefore the same covergroup is used to measure protocol
coverage. The default coverage reporting method is to report the coverage for the covergroup type as a weighted average
of the coverage from all of the covergroups of that type. What this means is that if one of the ports has been exercised to
achieve 100% coverage, but others have not, then the coverage reported will not be less than 100% and it will not be
possible to analyse which interfaces have not been exercised.

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per_instance option
If the covergroup option.per_instance is set to 1, then the covergroup reporting is broken out per instance, but the overall
coverage reported is still the weighted average. In the example quoted, this would enable the coverage for each port to be
examined, possibly leading to a detection of a design bug or a short-coming in the stimulus generation.

merge_instances option
If the covergroup type_option.merge_instances is set to 1, then the overall coverage reported for all the instances of the
covergroup is a merge, or logical OR, of all the coverage rather than a weighted average. This is potentially useful if you
have multiple instances of the same design IP and and it is being exercised in different ways by different parts of the
testbench. One outcome from using the merge_instances option is that one covergroup instance achieves 100% coverage
masking another instance that achieves 0% coverage, since the overall coverage will be reported as 100%.

get_inst_coverage option
To help with the scenario where the merge_instances option has been enabled, the option.get_inst_coverage variable can
be set to 1 to enable the SystemVerilog $get_inst_coverage() system call to return the coverage for an instance of a
covergroup, therefore allowing the coverage for all individual instances to be checked. If the merge_instances option is
set to 0, then the get_inst_coverage variable has no effect.

Summary
Interaction between per_instance and merge_instances settings:

option.per_instance type_option.merge_instances Coverage reporting behaviour

0 0 Overall coverage reported as a weighted average of the coverage for all instances of the
covergroup

1 0 Overall coverage reported as a weighted average of the coverage for all instances of the
covergroup,
and broken out for each instance of the covergroup.

0 1 Overall coverage reported as a merge of the coverage for the individual instances of the
covergroup

1 1 Overall coverage reported as a merge of individual coverage results, get_inst_coverage()

enabled,
coverage reporting broken out for each instance of the covergroup

Interaction between merge_instances and get_inst_coverage

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type_option.merge_instances option.get_inst_coverage Data returned by $get_inst_coverage()

1 0 Type based coverage - i.e. merge of all instance coverage

1 1 Instance specific coverage

0 1|0 Instance specific coverage

Simulator Specific Run Time Options

The options described are covergroup options defined in the SystemVerilog LRM and can therefore be added to
covergroup code. Simulators also add command line options which allow users to change the way in which coverage is
reported, although these options tend to be global affecting all covergroups within the testbench being simulated.

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Coverage Examples (Practice)

Bus protocol coverage

A bus protocol defines how data is transfered between master and slave devices on the bus. The protocol specifies which
signals are used to qualify when the master is making a request and when the slave is ready to respond to that request.
One way to verify a bus protocol is to implement a protocol monitor as a SystemVerilog interface that uses a mixture of
SVA concurrent assertions and covergroups to check that the bus traffic it observes complies to the protocol and to
collect functional coverage information on what types of transfers have occured over the bus. A protocol monitor is a
passive verification component which monitors the protocol signals, it can be attached to external signals in the top level
of a testbench or it could be bound to internal bus signals inside a design. A bus protocol monitor is a good example of a
reuseable verification component.

APB3 Protocol Overview

The ARM AMBA APB3 protocol is an example of a simple peripheral bus protocol which can be used to illustrate the
main points associated with implementing a protocol monitor and showing how it can be used to collect functional
coverage information.

With the APB3 protocol, a single master can interface to several slave peripheral devices. The master generates a set of
control fields for address, write, and write data which are common to all the slaves. Each slave is selected by an

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Bus protocol coverage 29

individual peripheral select line (PSEL) and then enabled by a common PENABLE signal. Each slave generates response
signals, ready, read data and status which are multiplexed back to the master. The block diagram shows a typical APB3
peripheral block.
The timing relationship between the APB3 signals is shown in the timing diagram below.

Deriving The Protocol Properties

The easiest way to start defining properties is to write simple unambiguous descriptions in English for each of the
protocol rules. Once these are defined and agreed upon then it is usually relatively straight-forward to implement the
assertion code.
The properties outlined below have also been summarised as a test plan.
For the APB protocol we can define the following:

Unknown (X, Z) Signals

If a protocol signal is in an undefined state then it will cause a problem under certain conditions. Properties that check for
unknown signal states are useful in the early stages of debugging a design, but are less useful at later stages in
verification. However, they do illustrate the first type of functional coverage collection - a property that succeeds and
never fails proves functional coverage for that property.
For the APB3 protocol the following unknown signal rules are true:
• PSEL shall always be in a known state
• If at least one PSEL line is at a logic 1, then the following control field signals shall also be in a known state:
• PADDR
• PENABLE
• PWRITE
• If at least one PSEL line is at a logic 1 and PWRITE is at logic 1, then PWDATA shall be in a known state
• If PSEL and PENABLE are both at logic 1, then PREADY shall be in a known state
• If PREADY is at logic 1, then PSLVERR shall be in a known state
• If PWRITE is at logic 0 and PREADY is at logic 1, then PRDATA shall be in a known state
Another way to specify this is to require that all of the bus signals must be in a known state all of the time, however this
may not always be practical and the properties defined are the minimum for the protocol to work correctly in all
conditions.

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See the unknown signal properties section of the example for an example implementation.

Timing Relationships
The timing relationships between the signals in the protocol can be described using sequences and properties. If a
covered sequence completes or an asserted and covered property passes then functional coverage can be assumed for the
function in question. For the APB3 protocol, the following temporal relationships can be defined:
• Once PREADY is sampled at logic 1, PENABLE shall go low by the next clock edge
• When a PSEL line goes to a logic 1, then the following signals shall be stable until the end of the cycle when
PREADY is sampled at a logic 1
• PSEL
• PWRITE
• PADDR
• PWDATA (iff PWRITE is at logic 1)
• There shall be at least one clock cycle where PENABLE is at logic 0, between bus transfers
• When a PSEL line goes to a logic 1, then PENABLE shall go to a logic 1 on the following clock edge
See the Timing Relationships section on the example page for an implementation of these properties.

Other Properties
There may be other protocol rules which are not strictly temporal in nature. For the APB3 protocol the following
property is true:
• Only one PSEL line shall be active at a logic 1 at any time
See the Other Properties section of the examples page for an implementation.

Functional Coverage
In addition to the functional coverage represented by the protocol assertions which check for valid transfers, we need to
check that all possible types of transfer have occurred. This is best done by using data coverage for the various bus fields
to check that we have seen transfers complete for each of the valid values. The fields that are relevant to bus protocol
functional coverage are:
• PSEL - That all PSEL lines on the bus have been seen to be active - i.e. transfers occurred to all peripherals on the bus
• PWRITE - That we have seen reads and writes take place
• PSLVERR - That we have seen normal and error responses occur
Creating a cross product between these fields checks that all types of transfer have occurred between the master and each
slave on the APB3 bus. See the Functional Coverage section on the examples page for an implementation.
Other types of functional coverage that could be collected would be:
• Peripheral delay - checking that a range of peripheral delays have been observed
• Peripheral address ranges - Checking that specific address ranges have been accessed
However, these are likley to be design specific and should be collected using a separate monitor.

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Implementing The Protocol Monitor

Once these relationships and properties have been defined, they need to be implemented using a mixture of SVA and
covergroup syntax in a SystemVerilog interface. An example protocol monitor is described here.

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APB3 Protocol test plan 32

APB3 Protocol test plan

During the verification planning process a test plan should be created that lists the features of a design, how they are to
be verified and how test closure will be achieved. The APB3 protocol monitor is a reusable verification component (VIP)
and it can be reused when verifying any design which has an APB3 bus interface. The test plan that is listed below would
be included as part of the test plan for such a design, effectively imported as a leaf in the test plan hierarchy.

APB3 Protocol Test Plan

Section Description Coverage Type Priority

Unknown Signal Value Checks

PRESETn PRESETn is always in a known state Assertion 1

PSEL PSEL is always in a known state Assertion 1

PADDR PADDR is valid when PSEL is active Assertion 1

PWRITE PWRITE is valid when PSEL is active Assertion 1

PENABLE PENABLE is valid when PSEL is active Assertion 1

PWDATA PWDATA is valid when PWRITE is active Assertion 1

PREADY PREADY is valid when PENABLE is active Assertion 1

PSLVERR PSLVERR is valid when PENABLE is active Assertion 1

PRDATA PRDATA is valid when PREADY is asserted Assertion 1

Timing Relationship checks

PENABLE de-assertion PENABLE is de-asserted once PREADY becomes active Assertion, Cover directive 1

PSEL to PENABLE There is only one clock delay between PSEL and PENABLE Assertion, Cover directive 1

Signal Stability When PSEL becomes active, the PWRITE, PADDR, and PWDATA Assertion, Cover directive 1
signals
should be stable to the end of the cycle

Other Checks

PSEL Unique Only one PSEL line is active at a time Assertion 1

Functional Coverage

APB3 Protocol All types of APB3 protocol transfers have taken place with all types of Covergroup 2
response for all active PSEL lines

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APB3 Protocol Monitor

The APB3 Protocol Monitor is passive and intended to be a reuseable verification component. Therefore, it is
parameterised to allow it to be used with different bus widths and all of the signals on the port interface are inputs. The
monitor has been implemented as an interface with all of the signals declared as input pins, this allows it to be potentially
used with a virtual interface handle in a UVM testbench, allowing the covergroup to be accessed programatically.
Declaring the signals as inputs allows them to be explicitly connected to any set of APB3 bus signals without having to
have an exact match in the signal naming.
//
// Interface declaration for the APB Protocol Monitor
//
interface apb_monitor #(int no_slaves = 16, int addr_width = 32, int data_width = 32)
(
input PCLK,
input PRESETn,
input[addr_width-1:0] PADDR,
input[data_width-1:0] PWDATA,
input[data_width-1:0] PRDATA,
input[no_slaves-1:0] PSEL,
input PWRITE,
input PENABLE,
input PREADY,
input PSLVERR);

Unknown Signal Properties

The monitor implements and asserts the properties for unknown protocol signal conditions that were defined in English
on the previous page. Since these properties are valid for a clock period there is no need to collect explicit coverage using
a cover directive; if there are no assertion failures then coverage of these properties is implied.
Where possible, the approach used is to define a general purpose property which can be asserted for different signals.
// Checks for unknown signal values:

// Reuseable property to check that a signal is in a known state

property SIGNAL_VALID(signal);
@(posedge PCLK)
!$isunknown(signal);
endproperty: SIGNAL_VALID

RESET_VALID: assert property(SIGNAL_VALID(PRESETn));

PSEL_VALID: assert property(SIGNAL_VALID(PSEL));

// Reuseable property to check that if a PSEL is active, then

// the signal is in a known state

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APB3 Protocol Monitor 34

property CONTROL_SIGNAL_VALID(signal);
@(posedge PCLK)
$onehot(PSEL) |-> !$isunknown(signal);
endproperty: CONTROL_SIGNAL_VALID

PADDR_VALID: assert property(CONTROL_SIGNAL_VALID(PADDR));

PWRITE_VALID: assert property(CONTROL_SIGNAL_VALID(PWRITE));
PENABLE_VALID: assert property(CONTROL_SIGNAL_VALID(PENABLE));

// Check that write data is in a known state if a write

property PWDATA_SIGNAL_VALID;
@(posedge PCLK)
($onehot(PSEL) && PWRITE) |-> !$isunknown(PWDATA);
endproperty: PWDATA_SIGNAL_VALID

PWDATA_VALID: assert property(PWDATA_SIGNAL_VALID);

// Check that if PENABLE is active, then the signal is in a known state

property PENABLE_SIGNAL_VALID(signal);
@(posedge PCLK)
$rose(PENABLE) |-> !$isunknown(signal)[*1:$] ##1 $fell(PENABLE);
endproperty: PENABLE_SIGNAL_VALID

PREADY_VALID: assert property(PENABLE_SIGNAL_VALID(PREADY));

PSLVERR_VALID: assert property(PENABLE_SIGNAL_VALID(PSLVERR));

// Check that read data is in a known state if a read

property PRDATA_SIGNAL_VALID;
@(posedge PCLK)
($rose(PENABLE && !PWRITE && PREADY)) |-> !$isunknown(PRDATA)[*1:$] ##1 $fell(PENABLE);
endproperty: PRDATA_SIGNAL_VALID

PRDATA_VALID: assert property(PRDATA_SIGNAL_VALID);

Timing Relationships
The monitor implements the timing relationships described in English on the previous page. The functional coverage
strategy is to assume that if these assertions do not fail but are seen to complete with a cover directive then they add valid
functional coverage:
// PENABLE goes low once PREADY is sampled
property PENABLE_DEASSERTED;
@(posedge PCLK)
$rose(PENABLE && PREADY) |=> !PENABLE;
endproperty: PENABLE_DEASSERTED

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PENABLE_DEASSERT: assert property(PENABLE_DEASSERTED);

COV_PENABLE_DEASSERT: cover property(PENABLE_DEASSERTED);

// From PSEL active to PENABLE active is 1 cycle

property PSEL_TO_PENABLE_ACTIVE;
@(posedge PCLK)
(!$stable(PSEL) && $onehot(PSEL)) |=> PENABLE;
endproperty: PSEL_TO_PENABLE_ACTIVE

PSEL_2_PENABLE: assert property(PSEL_TO_PENABLE_ACTIVE);

COV_PSEL_2_PENABLE: cover property(PSEL_TO_PENABLE_ACTIVE);

// FROM PSEL being active, then signal must be stable until end of cycle
property PSEL_ASSERT_SIGNAL_STABLE(signal);
@(posedge PCLK)
(!$stable(PSEL) && $onehot(PSEL)) |-> $stable(signal)[*1:$] ##1 $fell(PENABLE);
endproperty: PSEL_ASSERT_SIGNAL_STABLE

PSEL_STABLE: assert property(PSEL_ASSERT_SIGNAL_STABLE(PSEL));

PWRITE_STABLE: assert property(PSEL_ASSERT_SIGNAL_STABLE(PWRITE));
PADDR_STABLE: assert property(PSEL_ASSERT_SIGNAL_STABLE(PADDR));
PWDATA_STABLE: assert property(PSEL_ASSERT_SIGNAL_STABLE(PWDATA & PWRITE));
COV_PSEL_STABLE: cover property(PSEL_ASSERT_SIGNAL_STABLE(PSEL));
COV_PWRITE_STABLE: cover property(PSEL_ASSERT_SIGNAL_STABLE(PWRITE));
COV_PADDR_STABLE: cover property(PSEL_ASSERT_SIGNAL_STABLE(PADDR));
COV_PWDATA_STABLE: cover property(PSEL_ASSERT_SIGNAL_STABLE(PWDATA & PWRITE));

Other Properties
The monitor checks that only one PSEL line is active at a logic 1 at any point in time. Since this property is checked on
every clock cycle, if there are no failures then it implies functional coverage.
// Check that only one PSEL line is valid at a time:
property PSEL_ONEHOT0;
@(posedge PCLK)
$onehot0(PSEL);
endproperty: PSEL_ONEHOT0

PSEL_ONLY_ONE: assert property(PSEL_ONEHOT0);

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APB3 Protocol Monitor 36

Functional Coverage
To check that we have seen transfers complete correctly for each of the possible protocol conditions for each of the
peripherals on the bus, we implement an array of covergroups, one for each peripheral, which collects the protocol
coverage specific to that peripheral. The covergroups are sampled when a simple sequence holds. Note that to improve
performance each covergroup is only sampled when the relevant PSEL line is true.
// Functional Coverage for the APB transfers:
//
// Have we seen all possible PSELS activated?
// Have we seen reads/writes to all slaves?
// Have we seen good and bad PSLVERR results from all slaves?
covergroup APB_accesses_cg(i);

// Since we check this for each PSEL we need to set the

// per_instance flag
option.per_instance = 1;

SEL: coverpoint PSEL[i] {

bins selected = {1};
}
RW: coverpoint PWRITE {
bins read = {0};
bins write = {1};
}
ERR: coverpoint PSLVERR {
bins err = {1};
bins ok = {0};
}

APB_CVR: cross SEL, RW, ERR;

endgroup: APB_accesses_cg

// Array of these covergroups

APB_accesses_cg APB_protocol_cg[no_slaves];

// Creation the covergroups

initial begin
foreach(APB_protocol_cg[i]) begin
APB_protocol_cg[i] = new(i);
end
end

// Sampling of the covergroups

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APB3 Protocol Monitor 37

sequence END_OF_APB_TRANSFER;
@(posedge PCLK)
$rose(PENABLE & PREADY);
endsequence: END_OF_APB_TRANSFER

cover property(END_OF_APB_TRANSFER) begin

foreach(PSEL[i]) begin
if(PSEL[i] == 1) begin
APB_protocol_cg[i].sample();
end
end
end

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Block Level coverage 38

Block Level coverage

Block level functional verification can take full advantage of the the fact that all the block interfaces are exposed and can
be stimulated seperately with complete freedom. The desired outcome of the verification process is that the block has
been thoroughly tested so that it can reused at a higher level of integration with complete confidence. The functional
coverage model is part of the instrumentation used to determine whether the design has been verified to the desired level
of quality.
The block level design example is a UART, which contains contains registers which allow the DUT to be configured for
its different modes of operation, and can also be used to get status information. The UART is verified using a
UVM block level testbench, which contains a UVM register model.

UART Overview
The function of an Universal Aysynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) is to transmit and receive characters of
differing formats over a pair of serial lines asynchronously. With an asynchronous serial link, there is no shared sampling
clock, instead the receive channel samples the incoming serial data stream with a clock that is 16x the data rate. When
there is no data to transmit the data lines are held high, and transmission of a data character commences by taking the
data line low for one bit period to transmit the start bit. The receiving end detects the start bit and then samples and
unpacks the serial data stream that can consist of between 5 and 8 bits of data, parity and then a stop bit which is always
a 1.

Figure 1: UART Serial Format

Register Map
The UART design in this example is based on the industry standard 16550a UART. It has 10 registers which control its
operation and in a system these are used by software to control the device and to send and receive characters. The
transmit and receive paths are buffered with 16 word deep FIFOs.
The register map is summarised here:

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Block Level coverage 39

Register Address Offset Width Access Description

Receive Buffer 0x0 8 R Receive data FIFO output

Transmit Buffer 0x0 8 W Transmit data FIFO input

Interrupt Enable (IER) 0x4 8 R/W Enables for UART interrupts

Interrupt Identification (IIR) 0x8 8 R Interrupt status

FIFO Control (FCR) 0x8 8 W Set receive data FIFO thresholds

Line Control (LCR) 0xC 8 R/W Sets the format of the UART data word

Modem Control (MCR) 0x10 8 R/W Used to control the modem interface outputs

Line Status (LSR) 0x14 8 R Transmit and receive channel status

Modem Status (MSR) 0x18 8 R Used to monitor the modem interface inputs

Divisor 1 0x1C 8 R/W LSB of the 16 bit divider

Divisor 2 0x20 8 R/W MSB of the 16 bit divider

For the UVM testbench, a UVM register model will be written to abstract stimulus for configuring and controlling the
operation of the UART. One benefit of using this register model is that we can reference it for the functional coverage
model. For more details on the UART functionality and the detailed register map, please refer to the datasheet.

External Interfaces
The UART block has a number of discrete interfaces which need to be driven or monitored. The UART example
testbench is implemented using UVM, therefore the driving and monitoring of these interfaces will be done by Universal
Verification Components (UVCs) or agents. If the testbench was implemented using another methodology, then BFM or
BFM-like models would be used. However, the principles of how you model and collect coverage are essentially the
same.
The UART has the following external interfaces which will need to be driven and monitored in the testbench.
• APB Host interface – Requires an APB agent
• TX Serial line – Requires a passive UART agent
• RX Serial line – Requires an active UART agent
• Modem interface – Requires a simple parallel I/O agent
• Interrupt line – Requires a monitor

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Block Level coverage 40

Testbench Architecture
The UVM testbench architecture used for this example is shown in the block diagram.

UART Testbench Architecture

An outline functional test plan for the UART has been created as part of the process of mapping its features to test cases
and functional coverage.

Designing The Functional Coverage Model

The purpose of the functional coverage model is to ensure that all the functional test cases simulated with the testbench
put the design under test into all of the conditions that are considered to be interesting. The functional coverage model is
based on the functionality of the design and is closely related to the way in which the testbench works since it will be
relying on data coming from the testbench components and it will be relying on testbench events to sample.
The design of the functional coverage model for the UART will be discussed in terms of each area of concern within the
device. In each case, the necessary tests are considered first, then the functional coverage model required in order to
ensure that all conditions have been seen to be tested.
Example implementations of the covergroups for each part of the functional coverage model are described separately and
are available in the example UART testbench.

The Transmit Channel

Testing the transmit channel

The transmit channel needs to be verified by checking that it transmits the correct serially formatted data for each of the
possible word formats, this requires the stimulus to configure the design and then to send data by filling the transmit
buffer. The UART agent will interpret the transmitted serial stream according to the configuration of the device and send
out analysis transactions on reception of a character. The monitor in the UART agent will perform low level format and
parity error checks on the serial data and flag errors if they are detected since it has access to the clock and data signals.
If the UART is working correctly, the transmit data path should be error free, there is no scope for the testbench to
introduce errors.

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Block Level coverage 41

In order to check that the transmit channel is working correctly we can compare the content of the analysis transaction
written by the passive UART monitor when a character is received with the character originally written to the transmit
buffer of the UART. This implies scoreboard analysis connections to the UART agent and the APB agent. The UART
transmit buffer writes will have to be buffered in a FIFO structure in the scoreboard so that they can be compared with
the characters received by the UART.
The transmit channel has two buffer status bits (TX empty and TX FIFO empty) which are read back from the Line
Status Register, these need to be tested by the stimulus generation path. There is also a TX FIFO empty status interrupt
which will be discussed in the section on interrupts.

Functional coverage design for the transmit channel

As the testbench checks that the UART transmits serial data correctly, the role of the functional coverage model is to
check that each of the word formats has been configured and seen to work correctly. The word format is determined by
the contents of the Line Control Register (LCR), therefore the functional coverage model needs to sample the
LCR values every time a character is transmitted. There are 6 bits in the LCR register which determine the word format
and these are:

LCR Bit Field Function

[1:0] Selects 5,6,7 or 8 bit data

2 Selects 1 or 2 stop bits

[5:3] Enables parity and type of parity

We need to see all possible permutations of these configuration settings in order to say that we have achieved functional
coverage for the transmit channel. An example implementation of the SystemVerilog covergroup used to collect this
functional coverage is implemented in the example UART testbench.

Transmit channel coverage summary

Coverage Criterion Transmit Channel Coverage

Which values are important? LCR[5:0] - defining all permutations of UART serial word format

What are the dependencies between the values? No dependencies

Are there illegal conditions? No, all permutations are valid

When is the right time to sample? When a character has been transmitted

When is the data invalid? N/A

The Receive Channel

Testing the receive channel

The testbench drives a serial data stream into the UART using an active UART agent. An active agent is a verification
component that drives the receive serial data line based on stimulus transactions and monitors the state of the line,
converting pin level activity back to transactions. The receive channel has to be able to cope with errors that might be
present in the format of the incoming serial data stream, this calls for positive and negative checking of the receive
channel and the UART agents driver is able to insert bit level errors and its monitor is able to detect them.

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Block Level coverage 42

The checking mechanism used by the receive scoreboard is to compare the data sent by the UART agent with the data
read from the receive buffer of the UART device. Any errors inserted by the UART agent need to be seen to be detected
by the design either as bits set in the Line Status Register (LSR) or by the generation of a line status interrupt. The checks
that need to be made by the testbench for the receive channel include:
• That a start bit is detected correctly
• That parity has been received correctly - if not a parity error is generated
• That at least one stop bit has been received - if not a framing error is generated
• That a data overrun condition is detected correctly
• That the data received flag works correctly
• That a break condition is detected correctly
There are a number of receive channel interrupt conditions that are considered in the section on interrupts.

Functional coverage design for the receive channel

The functional coverage model for the receive channel needs to collect functional coverage for error free conditions and
then for each of the possible error or special conditions. The word format for the receive channel is configured via the
LCR and so for error free character formats the same covergroup design as was developed for the transmit channel can
be used, except that it would be sampled when a data character is read from the receive buffer of the UART.
For the various error conditions, a separate covergroup is used and this would cross the parity error, framing error,
overrun error and break condition bits from the Line Status Register (LSR) with the word format bits in the LCR. This
ensures that all possible error or special conditions have been detected with all word formats.
Example implementations of these covergroups are present in the example UART testbench.

Receive channel coverage summary

Coverage Criterion Receive Channel Coverage

Which values are important? LCR[5:0] - defining all permutations of the UART serial word
format
LSR[4:0] - Status bits for Break Interrupt (BI), Framing Error (FE),
Parity Error (PE), Overrun Error (OE) and Data Received (DR)

What are the dependencies between the values? For error free RX conditions DR and all word formats
For injected error RX, cross product of LCR & LSR bits

Are there illegal conditions? Cannot have OE with no DR valid

When is the right time to sample? When a RX character has been received and DR is valid

When is the data invalid? N/A

The Modem Interface

Testing the modem interface

The modem interface is a group of 4 input and 4 output signals which are used to implement hardware handshaking
between two UARTs. In some UART designs these lines have a hardware interlock with the UART state machines to
enable/disable transmission and reception of data, but this is not the case with this UART design. The modem outputs are
driven as a result of a write to the Modem Control Register (MCR) and changes to the modem inputs are read back from

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Block Level coverage 43

the Modem Status Register (MSR).

There is a loop-back mode which also needs to be checked. In this mode writes to the MCR are reflected back in the
MSR and none of the external signals change or cause any changes. The modem scoreboard checks this functionality
separately from the normal mode of operation.
The testbench contains a modem agent that has a driver for the modem inputs and a monitor which sends transactions to
the modem scoreboard when any of the modem signals (inputs or outputs) change. The scoreboard also receives
transactions from the APB agent's monitor so that it can keep track of UART register accesses, this allows it to know
when a modem output should have changed due to a write to the MCR and when a modem input change should be
reflected in a read from the MSR.

Functional coverage design for the modem interface

The modem scoreboard checks that the modem interface works correctly, and in overall terms this includes the path
between the modem registers and the modem signals.
For the modem outputs, all possible output signal combinations need to be observed with or without loopback, this
means that the contents of the MCR can be sampled when they are written by the testbench. The functional coverage
required consists of all permutations of the signal conditions.
The modem inputs are read back from the MSR, there are four signal sample values and four signal change values which
need to be seen to have been read back in all possible states. The loopback bit affects whether the MSR values are
derived from the modem interface signals or the MCR signals, so this needs to be part of the coverage model. The
modem input coverage model is sampled when the MSR is read, and the coverage required is a cross product of all
possible values for the MSR plus the value of the MCR loopback bit.
Example implementations of these coverage models are present in the uart_modem_coverage_monitor in the example
UART testbench.

Modem interface coverage summary

Coverage Criterion Modem Interface Coverage

Which values are important? MCR[4:0] - Controlling outputs and loopback mode
MSR[7:0] - input status and changes to input values

What are the dependencies between the values? Each of the modem signals are orthogonal, but the loopback
mode creates a dependency between the MCR bits and the MSR bits.
For coverage all permutations are relevant.

Are there illegal conditions? No

When is the right time to sample? When a change occurs on the Modem interface, or there is a write to the
MCR,
determined by the modem scoreboard.

When is the data invalid? Immediately after a change in the loopback mode, handled by the scoreboard

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UART Interrupts

Testing UART interrupts

The testbench contains a monitor for the UART interrupt line and some of the test cases have stimulus which enables the
various interrupts and then handles the interrupt conditions as they occur. The scoreboarding within the testbench checks
the validity of the interrupt conditions dependent on its source.
Interrupts can be generated by the UART for the following conditions:
• Transmit FIFO empty
• Receive data FIFO threshold reached (1, 4, 8, 14 characters)
• Receiver line status - Parity error, Framing error or Break condition
• Receiver timeout - At least one character in the FIFO, but no receive channel activity for at least 4 character times
• Modem status change

Functional coverage design for the UART interrupts

There are several areas where functional coverage needs to be collected. The first concerns checking that all possible
combinations of interrupt enables and interrupt sources have been tested.
The Interrupt Enable Register (IER) is a four bit register which is used to enable the different interrupt types, when an
interrupt occurs this needs to be sampled for all possible active states - i.e. at least one interrupt is enabled. If an interrupt
occurs with no active enables, then this is an error condition.
The Interrupt Identification Register (IIR) prioritizes active interrupt status. The value of this register needs to be
sampled when an interrupt occurs followed by a read to the IIR. All IIR values need to be observed, but which ones are
observable at any point in time is determined by interrupt priority and the content of the IER. Therefore, the IIR status
codes need to be crossed with the IER values, but filtered for conditions that cannot occur - for instance a receive status
interrupt will not occur unless the receive status interrupt is enabled.
The receiver FIFO threshold level interrupt needs to have been seen to occur for the four possible values of the receive
FIFO threshold, crossed with all the possible word formats. This covergroup needs to be sampled when a receive FIFO
threshold interrupt occurs.
The receive line status interrupt has several potential sources, the functional coverage for this needs to be sampled when
a line status interrupt occurs. The data that needs to be sampled is the Line Status for Parity errors, Framing errors,
Overrun errors or break condition, together with the FIFO error bit, these bits need to be crossed, but with some illegal
conditions filtered - for instance a line status interrupt with no active line status bits repesents an error, or a break
condition will invalidate the parity and framing errors.
The transmitter empty interrupt should be checked for all possible word formats.
The modem status interrupt can come from one of the four signal change detected bits of the MSR. These bits are crossed
for all permutations, and also with the MCR loopback bit. The modem status interrupt source covergroup is sampled
when a modem status interrupt occurs.
Example implementations of covergroups used to capture functional coverage for the UART Interrupts can be found
here.

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Block Level coverage 45

UART interrupt coverage summary

Interrupt handling

Coverage Criterion UART interrupt coverage summary

Which values are important? IER[3:0] - Enables for the four sources of interrupts
IIR[[3:0] - Identifying the interrupt source

What are the dependencies between the values? Interrupts should only occur if they are enabled
Need to see all valid permutations of interrupt enables and interrupt sources

Are there illegal conditions? Invalid conditions are interrupt sources reported when an interrupt type is not enabled

When is the right time to sample? For the interrupt enables, when an interrupt occurs.
For interrupt ids, when an interrupt occurs, followed by a read from the IIR register

When is the data invalid? N/A

Receiver FIFO Threshold Interrupt

Coverage Criterion UART interrupt coverage summary

Which values are important? LCR[5:0] - Definining the different word formats
FC[7:6] - Defining the different FIFO threshold values

What are the dependencies between the values? Need a cross between the LCR and FCR bits to ensure that FIFO threshold
interrupts
have occurred for all possible permutations.

Are there illegal conditions? None

When is the right time to sample? When an RX FIFO threshold interrupt occurs

When is the data invalid? N/A

Receiver Line Status Interrupt

Coverage Criterion UART interrupt coverage summary

Which values are important? LSR[4:1] - Defining the different types of RX line status

What are the dependencies between the values? None, each status bit has a distinct source

Are there illegal conditions? When the break condition occurs, PE and FE are not valid

When is the right time to sample? When a line status interrupt occurs, followed by a read from the LSR

When is the data invalid? N/A

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Transmitter Empty Interrupt

Coverage Criterion UART interrupt coverage summary

Which values are important? LCR[5:0] - Defining the UART serial format

What are the dependencies between the values? Cross product defining all permutations of the word format

Are there illegal conditions? None

When is the right time to sample? When a TX empty interrupt occurs, followed by a read from the LSR

When is the data invalid? N/A

Modem Status Interrupt

Coverage Criterion UART interrupt coverage summary

Which values are important? MSR[3:0] - The modem i/p signal change flags

What are the dependencies between the values? None, each signal is orthogonal

Are there illegal conditions? None

When is the right time to sample? When a modem status interrupt occurs, followed by a read from the MSR

When is the data invalid? The MSR flags are reset on read, so a second read will return invalid status

Baud Rate Divisor

Testing the baud rate divisor

The UART serial stream is sampled at 16x the data rate. Inside the UART there is a 16 bit divider which divides down
the APB PCLK to generate the 16x data rate clock. It is important to check that data can be received and transmitted
correctly at different data rates, but it would take too long to check all functionality at all the possible divider values (i.e.
2**16 (65536)). The larger the divider value, the slower the data rate, so most of the UART functionality is tested at a
high data rate in order to save simulation time.
The UART has a data rate divider output – BAUD_O. This can be checked at different rates separately from checking
the rest of the UART functionality using a specialised checker component that looks at this signal and the APB PCLK
counting the interval between BAUD_O transitions. The component also receives APB bus analysis transactions so that
it can determine when the divider values are changed. Functional coverage for the divider can be collected inside this
component.

Functional coverage design for the baud rate divisor

The baud rate divisor can have 65536 possible values, it is unnecessary to check that all of them work. However, a
number of strategic values should be chosen to ensure that specific corner cases have been seen to work. Exactly which
values are important is dependent on the implementation of the divider, but what we know is that the divider value is
programmed via two 8 bit registers. The covergroup is sampled on each BAUD_O transition.
If we knew the frequency of the APB PCLK in the target application we could also target the divider ratios for the
standard Baud rates such as 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 14400, 19200, 38400, 57600 and 115200 bits per second.

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Block Level coverage 47

Baud rate divisor coverage summary

Coverage Criterion Receive Channel Coverage

Which values are important? DIV1 and DIV2 register contents, potentially all possible values

What are the dependencies between the values? DIV1 & DIV are concatonated, otherwise no dependencies

Are there illegal conditions? The divider cannot have a value of 0

When is the right time to sample? On the rising edge of the BAUD_O signal

When is the data invalid? If the divider registers are being programmed, or have just been programmed
in which case the divide ratio will not match the register content (this is not an error)

Register Interface

Testing the register interface

The register interface is implicitly tested by the functional stimulus for each of the various test cases. There is a specific
test case to check that the register reset values are correct.

Functional coverage design for the register interface

In order to check that all possible register accesses have taken place, a cross of the register addresses and the value of the
read/write bit is used. The register access covergroup is sampled at the end of each register transfer. Registers which are
read only or write only are excluded from the cross for write and read accesses.
This type of register interface coverage is often generated automatically by register generators.

Register interface coverage summary

Coverage Criterion Receive Channel Coverage

Which values are important? Address bits [7:0] and read/write bit
Only interested in valid register addresses

What are the dependencies between the values? Need to cross the valid addresses with the read/write bit to get the register access space

Are there illegal conditions? The MSR and LSR registers are read only, so writes to these registers are invalid

When is the right time to sample? When an APB bus transaction completes

When is the data invalid? N/A

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UART test plan 48

UART test plan

As part of the verification planning process, a test plan should be drawn up to list all the design features to be tested and
to help identify the type of functional coverage required to check that all the tests have been run for all conditions. The
test plan may an input to an automated tracking system where functional coverage results are collected and compared
against entries in the plan to allow the verification team to measure progress and to help identify what to work on next.
Often, there will be a way of linking the covergroups and assertions in the testbench with the items in the plan document.
Writing a test plan is an iterative process, and what is shown here is a 'snapshot' of the test plan for the UART example.

UART Test Plan

Section Description Coverage Type

Priority

Registers

Reset Values All registers return the specified reset values Test result 1

Register Accesses All registers have been accesses for all possible access modes Covergroup, cross 1

Bit level register accesses All read-write bits in the registers toggle correctly Test result 1

APB Protocol APB Protocol has been tested in all modes APB Monitor 1

Transmitter

Character formats All possible character formats are transmitted correctly Covergroup, cross 1

TX FIFO Empty flag The FIFO empty flag is set when the FIFO is empty and is read back correctly Design Assertion, 1
Covergroup

TX empty flag The transmit empty flag is set correctly and is read back correctly Design Assertion, 1
Covergroup

Receiver

Character formats All possible character formats are received correctly Covergroup, cross 1

Data Received Flag The data received flag is set when data is available and is read back correctly Design Assertion, 1
Covergroup

RX Line Status

Framing Error Framing errors are detected for one or two stop bits Design Assertion, 2
Covergroup

Parity Error Parity errors are detected for all types of parity Design Assertion, 1
Covergroup

Break Indication A break condition is detected correctly for all character formats Covergroup, cross 2

Overrun Error RX overrun is detected for all character formats Covergroup, cross 2

FIFOE That the FIFO error condition is valid for all error/indication types Covergroup, cross 2

Status Any valid combination of error/indicator has been observed Covergroup, cross 2

Modem Interface

Modem Outputs All combinations of modem output values have been seen Covergroup, Cross 3

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UART test plan 49

Modem Inputs All combinations of modem input values have been seen Covergroup, Cross 3

The modem input status change signals work correctly Design Assertion, 3
Covergroup

Loopback mode Modem output bits are routed to the right modem status bits Covergroup 2

Interrupts

Interrupt Enable All combinations of the interrupt enable bits have been used Covergroup, cross 1

Interrupt ID All valid interrupt IDs have been detected Covergroup, cross 1

Receive FIFO Interrupt Seen for all possible character formats Covergroup, cross 1

All possible RX FIFO Threshold values checked Covergroup, cross 2

Receive Line Status Interrupts generated for all possible combinations of errors and indicators for all Covergroup, cross 1
Interrupt character formats

Transmit empty interrupt Generated for all character formats Covergroup, cross 1

Modem Status interrupt Generated for all combinations of the signal change bits Covergroup, cross 3

Receive timeout interrupt Has been checked for the shortest and longest character format and 4 other formats Covergroup 4

Baud Rate

Divider values Check UART operation for a range of baud rate divider values Covergroup 1

Check baud rate divider ratio for a selection of values via baud rate divider output Covergroup 2

Code Coverage

Statement coverage Check each executable line of the RTL has been covered 1

Branch coverage Check each branch in the RTL has been taken 1

FSM coverage Each arc in the RTL FSMs has been taken 1

Notes:
1. The priority column indicates the relative importance of each feature. Items marked priority 1 will be verified first,
followed by prioirity 2 items, down to priority 4.
2. The APB interface behaviour is checked by inserting the APB protocol monitor in the testbench, connected to the
APB port on the UART, its functional coverage will be merged with the other UART functional coverage
3. There are several checks that are performed using assertions which the designer has implemented in the design, these
are included in the table as Design Assertions
4. Code coverage is included as a category in the test plan so that it can be tracked

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UART example covergroups 50

UART example covergroups

The covergroup examples on this page are implementations of the functional coverage descriptions on the Block Level
Functional Coverage Example page. They illustrate different aspects of how to code covergroups and are described here
to allow you to see how the high level functional descriptions map to concrete implementations. They are presented in
the same order as they are described on the higher level page.

UART Transmit Channel Coverage

The functional coverage group for the transmit channel is based on the content of the UART LCR register. Its purpose is
to determine that all possible word formats have been transmitted. The covergroup is sampled every time the TX data
scoreboard determines that a character has been transmitted., the covergroup is implemented inside a UVM subscriber
component.
class uart_tx_coverage_monitor extends uvm_subscriber #(lcr_item);

`uvm_component_utils(uart_tx_coverage_monitor)

covergroup tx_word_format_cg with function sample(bit[5:0] lcr);

option.name = "tx_word_format";
option.per_instance = 1;

WORD_LENGTH: coverpoint lcr[1:0] {

bins bits_5 = {0};
bins bits_6 = {1};
bins bits_7 = {2};
bins bits_8 = {3};
}

STOP_BITS: coverpoint lcr[2] {

bins stop_1 = {0};
bins stop_2 = {1};
}

PARITY: coverpoint lcr[5:3] {

bins no_parity = {3'b000, 3'b010, 3'b100, 3'b110};
bins even_parity = {3'b011};
bins odd_parity = {3'b001};
bins stick1_parity = {3'b101};
bins stick0_parity = {3'b111};
}

WORD_FORMAT: cross WORD_LENGTH, STOP_BITS, PARITY;

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UART example covergroups 51

endgroup: tx_word_format_cg

function new(string name = "uart_tx_coverage_monitor", uvm_component parent = null);

super.new(name, parent);
tx_word_format_cg = new();
endfunction

function void write(T t);

tx_word_format_cg.sample(t.lcr[5:0]);
endfunction: write

endclass: uart_tx_coverage_monitor

UART Receive Channel Coverage

The receive channel coverage is required for error-free reception and reception with errors or special conditions present.
The covergroup used for error free reception is the same as for the transmit channel coverage, except that it is sampled
when the scoreboard determines that an error-free received character is read from the UART RX buffer. For the
non-error free coverage, the relevant bits of the LSR are crossed with the word format bits from the LCR register.

UART Modem Interface Coverage

The bits in the MCR register are crossed to check that all possible permutations are programmed. The bits in the
MSR register are also crossed with themselves and the loopback bit in the MCR to ensure that all possible states are
observed. Both covergroups are implemented inside a UVM subscriber that receives register access transactions and
determines which covergroup to sample based on the address and read-write direction - see the write() method.
class uart_modem_coverage_monitor extends uvm_subscriber #(apb_seq_item);

`uvm_component_utils(uart_modem_coverage_monitor)

covergroup mcr_settings_cg() with function sample(bit[4:0] mcr);

option.name = "mcr_settings_cg";
option.per_instance = 1;

DTR: coverpoint mcr[0];

RTS: coverpoint mcr[1];
OUT1: coverpoint mcr[2];
OUT2: coverpoint mcr[3];
LOOPBACK: coverpoint mcr[4];

MCR_SETTINGS: cross DTR, RTS, OUT1, OUT2, LOOPBACK;

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UART example covergroups 52

endgroup: mcr_settings_cg

covergroup msr_inputs_cg() with function sample(bit[7:0] msr, bit loopback);

option.name = "msr_inputs_cg";
option.per_instance = 1;

DCTS: coverpoint msr[0];

DDSR: coverpoint msr[1];
TERI: coverpoint msr[2];
DDCD: coverpoint msr[3];
CTS: coverpoint msr[4];
DSR: coverpoint msr[5];
RI: coverpoint msr[6];
DCD: coverpoint msr[7];
LOOPBACK: coverpoint loopback;

MSR_INPUTS: cross DCTS, DDSR, TERI, DDCD, CTS, DSR, RI, DCD, LOOPBACK;

endgroup: msr_inputs_cg

uart_reg_block rm;

function new(string name = "uart_modem_coverage_monitor", uvm_component parent = null);

super.new(name, parent);
mcr_settings_cg = new();
msr_inputs_cg = new();
endfunction

function void write(T t);

uvm_reg_data_t data;

if((t.addr[7:0] == 8'h18) && (t.we == 0)) begin

data = rm.MCR.get_mirrored_value();
msr_inputs_cg.sample(t.data[7:0], data[4]);
end
else if((t.addr[7:0] == 8'h10) && (t.we == 1)) begin
mcr_settings_cg.sample(t.data[4:0]);
end

endfunction: write

endclass: uart_modem_coverage_monitor

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UART example covergroups 53

UART Interrupt Coverage

There are a number of covergroups required to check the UART interrupt functional coverage.

Interrupt enable coverage

This covergroup is sampled every time an interrupt occurs. It checks the state of the IER register, decoding the bit
patterns in order to determine which interrupt combinations have not been enabled.
covergroup int_enable_cg() with function sample(bit[3:0] en);

option.name = "interrupt_enable";
option.per_instance = 1;

INT_SOURCE: coverpoint en {
bins rx_data_only = {4'b0001};
bins tx_data_only = {4'b0010};
bins rx_status_only = {4'b0100};
bins modem_status_only = {4'b1000};
bins rx_tx_data = {4'b0011};
bins rx_status_rx_data = {4'b0101};
bins rx_status_tx_data = {4'b0110};
bins rx_status_rx_tx_data = {4'b0111};
bins modem_status_rx_data = {4'b1001};
bins modem_status_tx_data = {4'b1010};
bins modem_status_rx_tx_data = {4'b1011};
bins modem_status_rx_status = {4'b1100};
bins modem_status_rx_status_rx_data = {4'b1101};
bins modem_status_rx_status_tx_data = {4'b1110};
bins modem_status_rx_status_rx_tx_data = {4'b1111};
illegal_bins no_enables = {0}; // If we get an interrupt with no enables it's an error
}

endgroup: int_enable_cg

Interrupt source coverage

This covergroup checks that all possible interrupt status conditions have been sampled. It crosses the content of the
IER with the IIR, and also filters conditions which cannot occur. The ignore_bins in the cross ensure that if an interrupt
is disabled then interrupt ids of that type are ignored in the cross.. It is sampled when there is an interrupt followed by a
read from the IIR register.
covergroup int_enable_src_cg() with function sample(bit[3:0] en, bit[3:0] src);

option.name = "interrupt_enable_and_source";
option.per_instance = 1;

IIR: coverpoint src {

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UART example covergroups 54

bins rx_status = {6};

bins rx_data = {4};
bins timeout = {4'hc};
bins tx_data = {2};
bins modem_status = {0};
ignore_bins no_ints = {1};
illegal_bins invalid_src = default;
}

IEN: coverpoint en {
bins rx_data_only = {4'b0001};
bins tx_data_only = {4'b0010};
bins rx_status_only = {4'b0100};
bins modem_status_only = {4'b1000};
bins rx_tx_data = {4'b0011};
bins rx_status_rx_data = {4'b0101};
bins rx_status_tx_data = {4'b0110};
bins rx_status_rx_tx_data = {4'b0111};
bins modem_status_rx_data = {4'b1001};
bins modem_status_tx_data = {4'b1010};
bins modem_status_rx_tx_data = {4'b1011};
bins modem_status_rx_status = {4'b1100};
bins modem_status_rx_status_rx_data = {4'b1101};
bins modem_status_rx_status_tx_data = {4'b1110};
bins modem_status_rx_status_rx_tx_data = {4'b1111};
illegal_bins no_enables = {0}; // If we get an interrupt with no enables its an error
}

ID_IEN: cross IIR, IEN {

ignore_bins rx_not_enabled = binsof(IEN) intersect{4'b0010, 4'b0100, 4'b0110,
4'b1000, 4'b1010, 4'b1100, 4'b1110} && binsof(IIR) intersect{4};
ignore_bins tx_not_enabled = binsof(IEN) intersect{4'b0001, 4'b0100, 4'b0101,
4'b1000, 4'b1001, 4'b1100, 4'b1101} && binsof(IIR) intersect{2};
ignore_bins rx_line_status_not_enabled = binsof(IEN) intersect{4'b0001, 4'b0010,
4'b0011, 4'b1000, 4'b1001, 4'b1010, 4'b1011} && binsof(IIR) intersect{4'hc, 6};
ignore_bins modem_status_not_enabled = binsof(IEN) intersect{4'b0001, 4'b0010,
4'b0011, 4'b0100, 4'b0101, 4'b0110, 4'b0111} && binsof(IIR) intersect{0};
}

endgroup: int_enable_src_cg

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UART example covergroups 55

Receive FIFO threshold interrupt coverage

The receive FIFO threshold level is determined by bits [7:6] of the FCR register. When a receive threshold interrupt
occurs, word format is crossed with the FCR bits to ensure that all possible combinations occur. It is sampled when an
interrupt occurs followed by a read from the IIR register that indicates a FIFO threshold interrupt.
covergroup rx_word_format_int_cg() with function sample(bit[5:0] lcr, bit[1:0] fcr);

option.name = "rx_word_format_interrupt";
option.per_instance = 1;

WORD_LENGTH: coverpoint lcr[1:0] {

bins bits_5 = {0};
bins bits_6 = {1};
bins bits_7 = {2};
bins bits_8 = {3};
}

STOP_BITS: coverpoint lcr[2] {

bins stop_1 = {0};
bins stop_2 = {1};
}

PARITY: coverpoint lcr[5:3] {

bins no_parity = {3'b000, 3'b010, 3'b100, 3'b110};
bins even_parity = {3'b011};
bins odd_parity = {3'b001};
bins stick1_parity = {3'b101};
bins stick0_parity = {3'b111};
}

FCR: coverpoint fcr {

bins one = {0};
bins four = {1};
bins eight = {2};
bins fourteen = {3};
}

WORD_FORMAT: cross WORD_LENGTH, STOP_BITS, PARITY, FCR;

endgroup: rx_word_format_int_cg

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UART example covergroups 56

Receive Line Status interrupt coverage

This covergroup is sampled when a line status interrupt occurs followed by a read from the LSR register.
covergroup lsr_int_src_cg() with function sample(bit[7:0] lsr);

option.name = "lsr_int_src_cg";
option.per_instance = 1;

LINE_STATUS_SRC: coverpoint lsr[4:1] {

bins oe_only = {4'b0001};
bins pe_only = {4'b0010};
bins fe_only = {4'b0100};
bins bi_only = {4'b1000, 4'b1100, 4'b1010, 4'b1100}; // BI active discounts pe & fe
bins bi_oe = {4'b1001, 4'b1101, 4'b1011, 4'b1101}; // BI active discounts pe & fe
bins oe_pe = {4'b0011};
bins oe_fe = {4'b0101};
bins fe_pe = {4'b0110};
bins no_ints = {0};
}

endgroup: lsr_int_src_cg

There are a few things to note about the bins in this covergroup:
• If a Break occurs, then it is also likely to create framing and parity errors
• The receive line status interrupt enable also enables the RX timeout, this will not be detected by this covergroup
which is why there is a no_ints bin

Modem Status interrupt coverage

The modem status interrupt can be caused by one of four status bits becoming true, this covergroup checks for all four
bits being active and also the error condition where none are active but a modem status interrupt has occurred. The
MSR conditions are crossed with the MCR loopback bit since they can be generated in normal and loopback mode. This
covergroup is sampled when a modem status interrupt occurs followed by a read from the MSR.
covergroup modem_int_src_cg() with function sample(bit[4:0] src);

option.name = "modem_int_src_cg";
option.per_instance = 1;

MODEM_INT_SRC: coverpoint src[3:0] {

wildcard bins dcts = {4'b???1};
wildcard bins ddsr = {4'b??1?};
wildcard bins teri = {4'b?1??};
wildcard bins ddcd = {4'b1???};
illegal_bins error = {0};
}

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UART example covergroups 57

LOOPBACK: coverpoint src[4] {

bins no_loopback = {0};
bins loopback = {1};
}

MODEM_INT_CAUSE: cross MODEM_INT_SRC, LOOPBACK;

endgroup: modem_int_src_cg

Note that the fidelity of this covergroup is reduced since wildcard bins are used to check that each of the MSR interrupt
source bits is seen to be active true, rather than all combinations. The reasoning behind this is that each bit is orthogonal
to the other, and that therefore there is no functional relationship between them.

Baud Rate Divisor coverage

The baud rate divisor registers are sampled every time the baud rate checker determines that the baud rate has settled.
The values sampled have been selected on the basis that they represent values likely to cause problems to the
implementation of the divider.
covergroup baud_rate_cg() with function sample(bit[15:0] div);

coverpoint div {
bins div_ratio[] = {16'h1, 16'h2, 16'h4, 16'h8,
16'h10, 16'h20, 16'h40, 16'h80,
16'h100, 16'h200, 16'h400, 16'h800,
16'h1000, 16'h2000, 16'h4000, 16'h8000,
16'hfffe, 16'hfffd, 16'hfffb, 16'hfff7,
16'hffef, 16'hffdf, 16'hffbf, 16'hff7f,
16'hfeff, 16'hfdff, 16'hfbff, 16'hf7ff,
16'hefff, 16'hdfff, 16'hbfff, 16'h7fff,
16'h00ff, 16'hff00, 16'hffff};
}
endgroup: baud_rate_cg

Register Access Coverage

The purpose of this covergroup is to check that all valid register accesses have occured. It is sampled every time there is
a register access. It has named bins for each of the valid register addresses and for each state of the read/write bit, these
are crossed with an ignore_bins to ensure that the read only LSR and MSR registers are handled correctly.
covergroup reg_access_cg();

option.name = "reg_access_cg";
option.per_instance = 1;

RW: coverpoint we {

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UART example covergroups 58

bins read = {0};

bins write = {1};
}

ADDR: coverpoint addr {

bins data = {0};
bins ier = {8'h4};
bins iir_fcr = {8'h8};
bins lcr = {8'hC};
bins mcr = {8'h10};
bins lsr = {8'h14};
bins msr = {8'h18};
bins div1 = {8'h1c};
bins div2 = {8'h20};
}

REG_ACCESS: cross RW, ADDR {

ignore_bins read_only = binsof(ADDR) intersect {8'h14, 8'h18} && binsof(RW) intersect {1};
}

endgroup: reg_access_cg

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Datapath Coverage 59

Datapath Coverage
What is a datapath block?
A datapath block takes an input data stream and implements a transform function that generates the output data. The
transfer function may have settings which change its characteristics, or it may be a fixed implementation. In its path from
the input to the output, the data does not interact with other blocks, hence the term datapath. Examples of datapath blocks
include custom DSP functions, modems, encoders and decoders and error correction hardware.
A datapath block is generally tested with meaningful, rather than random, data and the output is related to the input by
the transform function and is therefore meaningful as well. The input to a datapath block is most likely generated from a
software (c) based model of the system in which the function was originally modelled, and the output of the block is
usually compared against the output from a golden reference model.
In some cases the output data may require subjective testing. For instance, a video encoding block would require a video
format signal as its input and the encoded output would have to be checked visually to check that the result of the
encoding was of an acceptable quality.

Figure 1: Datapath Design

Functional coverage for a datapath block is usually focussed on its settings (sometimes referred to as the "knobs"), or the
parameters which affect its transform function. The role of the functional coverage model is to check that the block has
been tested with all desired combinations of parameter settings. The value of the data that is fed into the datapath block
may also be relevant to the coverage since it could be used to prove that a combination of input values has been
processed against each valid set of parameters.

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Datapath Coverage 60

The BiQuad IIR Filter Example

In order to illustrate how the functional coverage model would be designed for a datapath block, a relatively simple
BiQuad IIR filter will be used as an example. This filter takes in a digital stream of data that represents an analog value
and the values of the co-efficients of the different taps in the filter allow the input data to be processed to generate the
output data. Using different co-efficient values the filter can be configured to either be a Low Pass (LP), a High Pass
(HP) or a Band Pass (BP) filter, with different roll-off points. The maths for calculating the co-efficient values is not
presented here, but can be calculated using a spreadsheet.

Figure 2: BiQuad Filter

In theory, the BiQuad filter design can handle a continuous, or infinite, range of possible input and co-efficient values, so
the the verification problem needs to be constrained to something practical. In this case, the IIR filter is going to be used
as a programmable filter for audio data with frequencies between 50 Hz and 20 KHz, and it will be tested for correct
operation as a Low Pass, High Pass and Band Pass filter over the frequency range, varying the co-efficient values to set
the corner frequencies. The co-efficients are stored in registers which can be programmed using an APB interface. The
input data will be a frequency swept sine wave and the resultant output sine wave will be checked to make sure that the
right level of attenuation has been achieved according to the intended characteristics of the filter. The diagram below
illustrates the filter testbench architecture.

Figure 3: BiQuad testbench

For each filter type, the filter parameters for corner frequencies will be tested at 200 Hz intervals in the 0 - 4 KHz range,
and then at 1 KHz intervals in the 4-20 KHz range - this equates to 36 possible sets of co-efficient values, each of which
are valid for a particular corner frequency.

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Datapath Coverage 61

The input frequency sweep waveform will be sampled to ensure that it covers all the frequencies of interest and this
information should be crossed with the set of co-efficient values to ensure that all possible combinations have been
observed. This strategy is summarised in the BiQuad IIR Filter Test Plan.
In terms of sampling, the covergroups for a particular filter type should only be sampled when the filter has been
configured in that mode, and they should be sampled when the input frequency crosses a frequency increment boundary.

Coverage Criterion BiQuad Filter Coverage

Which values are important? The calculated discrete values for the filter co-efficients, ordered by filter type. Several discrete frequencies.

What are the dependencies between the The co-efficients should be crossed with the input frequency to check all options have been tested.
values?

Are there illegal conditions? No since we are representing a sub-set of a continuous range of values, but some filter/frequency values are
out of range.

When is the right time to sample? When the frequency sweep waveform is sampled at one of the frequencies of interest.

When is the data invalid? The right covergroup needs to be sampled for the right type of filter (LP, HP, BP)

See the example implementation of the BiQuad functional coverage model for more details.

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BiQuad IIR Filter test plan 62

BiQuad IIR Filter test plan

As part of the verification planning process a functional coverage/test plan should be created. In the case of the BiQuad
IIR filter, the primary concern is to check that it can be configured to act as a low, high and band pass filter in the audio
frequency range and that it functions correctly in each of these modes.

BiQuad IIR Filter Test Plan

Section Description Coverage Type Priority

Low Pass Filter Operation

The filter can be configured and operates correctly Covergroup 1

as a low pass filter in the audio frequency range (0-20Khz)

High Pass Filter Operation

The filter can be configured and operates correctly Covergroup 2

as a high pass filter in the audio frequency range (0-20Khz)

Band Pass Filter Operation

The filter can be configured and operates correctly Covergroup 3

as a band pass filter in the audio frequency range (0-20Khz)

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BiQuad IIR Filter example covergroups 63

BiQuad IIR Filter example covergroups

The functional coverage model for the BiQuad IIR filter is based on ensuring that all variations of 3 sets of variables
have been checked by the stimulus:
• The filter type - Low Pass, High Pass and Band Pass
• The filter specification, in terms of the co-efficients - b10, b11, b12, a10, a11
• The input frequency, measured in hertz
To create the coverage model, we need to create a set of covergroups and a coverage monitor.

Covergroup Design
Each filter configuration is represented by a set of co-efficient values. These are effectively unique and can be separated
out into groups of values that apply to each of the three filter types, these values then need to be crossed with the filter
input frequency to check that coverage has been obtained for all possible combinations.
One way to do this would be to create a single covergroup with separate coverpoints for each filter type, with bins for
each combination of filter co-efficient values. However, at any particular time the BiQuad filter can only be configured
to operate in one mode, so there is a covergroup for each of the filter types, and only one of each of the covergroups will
be sampled at each particular frequency change. The example shown in the code example is for the Low Pass filter type,
but the other covergroups only differ in terms of the co-efficient values.
class LP_FILTER_cg_wrapper extends uvm_object;

`uvm_object_utils(LP_FILTER_cg_wrapper)

// Co-Efficient values
bit[15:0] b10;
bit[15:0] b11;
bit[15:0] b12;
bit[15:0] a10;
bit[15:0] a11;

// LP_FILTER Covergroup:
covergroup LP_FILTER_cg() with function sample(int frequency);

option.name = "LP_FILTER_cg";
option.per_instance = 1;

// Bins for frequency intervals:

IP_FREQ: coverpoint frequency {
bins HZ_100 = { 100 };
bins HZ_200 = { 200 };
bins HZ_400 = { 400 };
bins HZ_800 = { 800 };
bins HZ_1k = { 1000 };

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BiQuad IIR Filter example covergroups 64

bins HZ_1k5 = { 1500 };

bins HZ_2k = { 2000 };
bins HZ_2k5 = { 2500 };
bins HZ_3k = { 3000 };
// .......
bins HZ_17k = { 17000 };
bins HZ_18k = { 18000 };
bins HZ_19k = { 19000 };
bins HZ_20k = { 20000 };
}

// Co-efficient bins for different low pass knee frequencies:

CO_EFFICIENTS: coverpoint {b10, b11, b12, a10, a11} {
bins CE_200 = {80'h000200050002FF663F71};
bins CE_400 = {80'h000B0016000BFEB83EE4};
bins CE_800 = {80'h001800310018FDF53E59};
bins CE_1000 = {80'h002C0058002CFD1E3DCE};
bins CE_1200 = {80'h004400890044FC333D46};
bins CE_1400 = {80'h006200C40062FB363CBF};
bins CE_1600 = {80'h0085010A0085FA253C3A};
bins CE_1800 = {80'h00AD015A00ADF9023BB6};
// ....
bins CE_16k = {80'h26574CAF26572A722EEB};
bins CE_17k = {80'h29F253E429F237ED2FDA};
bins CE_18k = {80'h2D775AEF2D7744D2310D};
bins CE_19k = {80'h30DE61BC30DE50F73281};
bins CE_20k = {80'h3419683334195C313435};
}

LP_X: cross CO_EFFICIENTS, IP_FREQ;

endgroup: LP_FILTER_cg

function new(string name = "LP_FILTER_cg_wrapper");

super.new(name);
LP_FILTER_cg = new();
endfunction

function void sample(int frequency);

LP_FILTER_cg.sample(frequencey);
endfunction

endclass: LP_FILTER_cg_wrapper

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BiQuad IIR Filter example covergroups 65

A SystemVerilog covergroup is intantiated inside a class, it has to be constructed in the class constructor method
(new()). The Low Pass filter covergroup is instantiated inside a wrapper class, this allows it to be created when required
by constructing the wrapper object. The covergroups sample() method is then chained into the wrapper object's sample()
method. This is the recommended way to implement covergroups in a class environment.
Inside the covergroup itself there is a coverpoint for the frequency which has a set of bins which correspond to each of
the input frequencies of interest. The coverpoint for the co-efficients is based on the concatonated value of all of the
co-efficients (an 80 bit value), and the bins correspond to the co-efficient values for different configurations from a 200
Hz knee frequency up to 20 Khz. The cross product of the two coverpoints is LP_X.

Functional Coverage Monitor Design

The functional coverage monitor component that is used to sample the different covergroups is an extension of a
uvm_subscriber component class. The monitor has a write() method which is called each time the frequency monitor in
the testbench detects a change in the input frequency. The monitor contains a covergroup wrapper for each of the filter
type covergroups. The write method checks which mode the filter is being tested in and then samples the corresponding
covergroup. Since the co-efficients for the BiQuad filter are stored in registers, the co-efficient values are stored in a
UVM register model and then assigned to the appropriate covergroup wrapper object before its sample() method is
called. The write() method is effectively ensuring that the right covergroup is sampled when there is a change in the input
frequency.
class biquad_functional_coverage extends uvm_subscriber #(freq_sample);

`uvm_component_utils(biquad_functional_coverage)

// Filter mode is defined in the env configuration object

// together with the register model:

biquad_env_config cfg;

// Cover groups - one for each type of filter:

LP_FILTER_cg_wrapper lp_cg;

HP_FILTER_cg_wrapper hp_cg;

BP_FILTER_cg_wrapper bp_cg;

extern function new(string name = "biquad_functional_coverage", uvm_component parent = null);

extern function void build_phase(uvm_phase phase);

extern function void write(T t);

endclass: biquad_functional_coverage

function biquad_functional_coverage::new(string name = "biquad_functional_coverage", uvm_component parent = null);

super.new(name, parent);

endfunction

function void biquad_functional_coverage::build_phase(uvm_phase phase);

lp_cg = LP_FILTER_cg_wrapper::type_id::create("Low_Pass_cg");

UVM/OVM Documentation - Copyright (c) 2012 Mentor Graphics Corporation - http://verificationacademy.com/uvm-ovm

BiQuad IIR Filter example covergroups 66

hp_cg = HP_FILTER_cg_wrapper::type_id::create("High_Pass_cg");

bp_cg = BP_FILTER_cg_wrapper::type_id::create("Band_Pass_cg");

endfunction: build_phase

function void biquad_functional_coverage::write(T t);

// Update the filter co-efficients and then sample

// according to the filter mode:

case(cfg.mode)

LP: begin

lp_cg.b10 = cfg.RM.B10.f.value[15:0];

lp_cg.b11 = cfg.RM.B11.f.value[15:0];

lp_cg.b12 = cfg.RM.B12.f.value[15:0];

lp_cg.a10 = cfg.RM.A10.f.value[15:0];

lp_cg.a11 = cfg.RM.A11.f.value[15:0];

lp_cg.sample(t);

end

HP: begin

hp_cg.b10 = cfg.RM.B10.f.value[15:0];

hp_cg.b11 = cfg.RM.B11.f.value[15:0];

hp_cg.b12 = cfg.RM.B12.f.value[15:0];

hp_cg.a10 = cfg.RM.A10.f.value[15:0];

hp_cg.a11 = cfg.RM.A11.f.value[15:0];

hp_cg.sample(t);

end

BP: begin

bp_cg.b10 = cfg.RM.B10.f.value[15:0];

bp_cg.b11 = cfg.RM.B11.f.value[15:0];

bp_cg.b12 = cfg.RM.B12.f.value[15:0];

bp_cg.a10 = cfg.RM.A10.f.value[15:0];

bp_cg.a11 = cfg.RM.A11.f.value[15:0];

bp_cg.sample(t);

end

endcase

endfunction: write

Although, the functional coverage model has been implemented as a UVM class, the same principles could be applied to
a module or interface based implementation.

UVM/OVM Documentation - Copyright (c) 2012 Mentor Graphics Corporation - http://verificationacademy.com/uvm-ovm

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