Novas Extends Behavior-Based Debug Platform to Support Assertion-Based SoC Verification; Verdi Behavior-Based Debug System Enhanced with New Assertion-Driven Debug Capabilities

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 2003--Novas Software, Inc., the leader in debug systems for complex chip designs, has extended its Verdi(TM) Behavior-Based Debug System to support emerging assertion-based verification methods. The new release of Novas' Verdi software integrates assertion languages and the results of assertion-based verification tools to accelerate debug and understanding of complex integrated circuit (ICs) and system-on-chip (SoC) designs.

Verdi's new assertion-driven debug capabilities enable engineers to use assertions and the results of their evaluation within the context of the design and the familiar Novas debug platform. To do this, Verdi employs a combination of structure-based visualization tools, enhanced behavior query and analysis features, and new interactive control utilities. Based on compiler and database extensions to Novas' Design Knowledge Architecture, these advancements align Verdi's behavior-based debug platform with assertion-based verification methodologies and provide interoperability with third-party assertion-based verification tools.

"Assertions are a natural extension of Verdi's behavior-based debug approach, because they clearly define functional boundaries that focus the search for causes of design behavior," said Scott Sandler, president and CEO of Novas. "Verdi already gives users easy access to both the structure and the behavior of the design. Now, they can use assertions in the same context to accelerate the exploration that results in thorough understanding of a design. In this way, Verdi significantly compounds the benefits of using new assertion technologies in chip verification."

First released in 2002, chip designers are realizing the benefits of Verdi's behavior-based approach. Verdi is also receiving industry-wide recognition, recently highlighted as one of the "Top 100 Products" for 2002 by EDN Magazine and selected as finalist for the EDN 2002 Innovation Award.

"Verdi has been very useful to debug complex logic. Without Verdi, I would have had to understand unfamiliar logic and then hand calculate to generate the results for a given input," commented Suba Durairajan, senior design engineer at ATI Technologies. "With Verdi, all I have to do is generate a temporal flow graph, plug in the input values and hit evaluate. It is so quick and very intuitive. It reduced debug time by at least 70 percent. We thought Debussy (Novas' structure-based debug system) was the best, but Verdi beats it!"

Novas Embraces Emerging Verification Methodologies

Higher levels of abstraction and automation are required to improve the validation of today's larger, more intricate chip designs. This is true more now than ever before because new nanometer semiconductor technologies allow designers to integrate more functionality on chip, which in turn exponentially complicates verification and debug tasks.

In response, Novas introduced Verdi and behavior-based debug last year, enabling chip designers to automatically analyze cause and effect relationships, visualize design behavior over time, and explore alternate behaviors. Novas' new release of Verdi extends its behavior-based debug platform to align with new assertion-based verification methods.

Assertions express intended behavior to augment the hardware description language (HDL) description of a design. They provide observable points within the design where expected/unexpected functionality can be checked by simulators or formal and semi-formal tools. Results of assertion checking can be viewed and traced along with the HDL design and the assertion source code. Assertions provide excellent starting points for debug because they clearly define regions of logic over a time period that can be used to drive Verdi's behavior-based capabilities and further automate the debug process. The new assertion-driven capabilities also provide a foundation for future extensions that will support transaction-based verification methods.

Extending Behavior-Based Debug

Verdi's assertion-driven debug capabilities extend behavior-based debug. Users can now browse and trace assertion source code along with HDL source, and see the results of assertion evaluation annotated in the source view as well as in the waveform view. New behavior query tools use assertions to quickly locate and isolate causes and effects with fast, efficient behavior tracing. In addition, Verdi provides post-simulation assertion checking. This enables users to increase assertion coverage without re-running simulation. Verdi analyzes simulation data files to verify that assertions are triggered and to understand better why they pass or fail. They can also add and verify assertions at any time during debug.

Underlying Verdi's new assertion-driven debug capabilities are extensions to its core Design Knowledge Architecture and behavior-based debug technology. These include an enhanced waveform database format, assertion language compilers initially supporting the OpenVera Assertions (OVA) language, and knowledge database extensions. Support of additional Accellera assertion standards is planned as they emerge.

"We have a strong relationship with Novas to bring powerful debug features to Synopsys VCS(TM) and Vera(R) users," said Farhad Hayat, vice president of marketing, Verification Technology Group at Synopsys, Inc. "The combination of native support for OpenVera Assertions in VCS with Novas' debugging capabilities further enhances productivity for our joint customers. We will continue to work together to deliver leading solutions."

Industry Support for Assertion-Driven Debug

Steve Wang, vice president of marketing for Axis Systems stated, "Our Xtreme and Xcite acceleration and emulation systems are important components of SoC assertion-based verification strategies, as is Novas' behavior-based debug platform. And, now with the assertion-driven debug capabilities of Novas' Verdi, our mutual customers will be able to use the power of embedded assertions to further accelerate their debug cycles."

"Effective assertion-based verification couples assertions and verification engines with a debug platform that provides feedback on how designs function over time," said Emil Girczyc, president and CEO of 0-In Design Automation. "Assertion support by Novas' Verdi will enable designers to trace the cause of assertions flagged at the source and signal level during simulation with 0-In Check and dynamic formal and static formal verification by 0-In Search and 0-In Confirm."

Availability & Pricing

Verdi is a complete mixed-language debug system for RTL and gate-level designs. Novas delivered its behavior-based debug capabilities for Verilog in 2002. The new assertion-driven debug capabilities are now available for customer beta test. Behavior-based debug for VHDL and mixed-language designs ships to early adopters in the second quarter of 2003. The U.S. list price starts at $14,000 for a one-year subscription license. Verdi customers with software maintenance contracts will receive the new assertion-based debug and mixed-language releases at no additional charge.

About Novas

Novas is the pioneer of knowledge-based debug systems that reduce the functional verification costs for complex IC designs. Building upon the strength of its market-leading Debussy(R) Debug System, Novas' Verdi(TM) Behavior-Based Debug System improves the efficiency of designers in the system-on-chip era with advanced design exploration and debug capabilities. These allow design teams to better understand and analyze complex or unfamiliar design behavior, and cut by half or more the time it takes to locate, isolate and understand the root causes of design problems. There are more than 10,000 Novas systems in use today at customer sites worldwide. Novas is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. with offices in Europe, Japan and Asia-Pacific. For more information visit http://www.novas.com or send email to info@novas.com

Debussy is a registered trademark and Verdi is a trademark of Novas Software, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

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