In both pre-silicon and post-silicon validation, the detection of design errors requires both stimulus capable of activating the errors and checkers capable of detecting the behavior as erroneous. Most functional and code coverage metrics evaluate only the activation component of the testbench and ignore propagation and detection. In this document, we describe our innovations in developing improved metrics that account for propagation and/or detection of design errors.

These techniques represent a significant improvement to the validation process, which for years has been the dominant portion of chip design costs. Their application can reduce both the computational complexity as well as the manual effort required for validation, all while facilitating a higher standard of quality than previous methods.