阅读说明：本技术 Eda软件工具的比对验证方法及装置 (Comparison verification method and device of EDA software tool ) 是由 陈岚 冯新华 张义恒 张金华 于 2020-12-17 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供的一种EDA软件工具的比对验证方法及装置,通过对待验证软件工具、已验证软件工具和参考模型基于激励数据所输出的处理结果进行交叉比对来验证待验证软件工具的功能。这就可以更方便、更快捷的获取待验证软件工具的功能分析结果,从而解决EDA软件工具验证功能时缺少与对标软件工具功能比对的问题,为EDA软件的开发提供详实可靠的技术参考。(According to the comparison and verification method and device of the EDA software tool, the function of the software tool to be verified is verified by performing cross comparison on the processing results output by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model based on the excitation data. Therefore, the function analysis result of the software tool to be verified can be obtained more conveniently and more quickly, the problem that the function of the EDA software tool is lack of function comparison with a standard software tool when the function of the EDA software tool is verified is solved, and detailed and reliable technical reference is provided for the development of EDA software.)

1. A method for comparing and verifying EDA software tools, which is characterized by comprising the following steps:

acquiring excitation data;

respectively inputting the excitation data into a software tool to be verified, a verified software tool and a reference model, wherein the reference model is a verified functional module with the same function as the software tool to be verified;

and respectively acquiring processing results output by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model based on the excitation data, and verifying the function of the software tool to be verified by performing cross comparison on the acquired processing results.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the acquiring the excitation data comprises:

acquiring excitation configuration information;

and controlling an excitation source to generate excitation data matched with the excitation configuration information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein verifying the functionality of the software tool to be verified by cross-comparing the obtained processing results comprises:

comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the verified software tool to obtain a first comparison result, comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the reference model to obtain a second comparison result, and comparing the processing results of the verified software tool and the reference model to obtain a third comparison result;

if the first comparison result, the second comparison result and the third comparison result all represent the same processing result, determining that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified passes;

and if the first comparison result and the second comparison result are different in representation processing result and the third comparison result is the same in representation processing result, determining that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified fails.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

under the condition that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified is passed, respectively acquiring the running time required by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model to output corresponding processing results;

and verifying the performance difference of the software tool to be verified compared with the verified software tool and the reference model by comparing the obtained running times.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

and outputting a verification report of the software tool to be verified, wherein the verification report at least comprises a verification result of the function and performance difference.

6. An apparatus for alignment validation of EDA software tools, the apparatus comprising:

the excitation acquisition module is used for acquiring excitation data;

the excitation input module is used for respectively inputting the excitation data into a software tool to be verified, a verified software tool and a reference model, and the reference model is a functional module which is verified and has the same function as the software tool to be verified;

and the comparison analysis module is used for respectively acquiring the processing results output by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model based on the excitation data, and verifying the function of the software tool to be verified by performing cross comparison on the acquired processing results.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the excitation acquisition module is specifically configured to:

acquiring excitation configuration information; and controlling an excitation source to generate excitation data matched with the excitation configuration information.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the alignment analysis module, configured to verify the function of the software tool to be verified by performing cross-alignment on the obtained processing results, is specifically configured to:

comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the verified software tool to obtain a first comparison result, comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the reference model to obtain a second comparison result, and comparing the processing results of the verified software tool and the reference model to obtain a third comparison result; if the first comparison result, the second comparison result and the third comparison result all represent the same processing result, determining that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified passes; and if the first comparison result and the second comparison result are different in representation processing result and the third comparison result is the same in representation processing result, determining that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified fails.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the alignment analysis module is further configured to:

under the condition that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified is passed, respectively acquiring the running time required by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model to output corresponding processing results; and verifying the performance difference of the software tool to be verified compared with the verified software tool and the reference model by comparing the obtained running times.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the alignment analysis module is further configured to:

and outputting a verification report of the software tool to be verified, wherein the verification report at least comprises a verification result of the function and performance difference.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of EDA (electronic Design automation) software tool verification, in particular to a comparison verification method and device of an EDA software tool.

Background

At present, the EDA field is almost monopolized by foreign companies, and the market scale and products of Chinese EDA software have obvious gaps compared with foreign EDA tools, so that the design requirements of advanced chip enterprises cannot be supported. Under the background of the aggravation of international scientific and technological competition, if the chip industry wants to realize autonomy in a real sense, the localization substitution of EDA software as a 'mother of chip' is imperative, and the verification of EDA software tools becomes more and more important.

The traditional EDA software tool mainly adopts the steps of performing function verification aiming at a local software algorithm function or performing function verification aiming at a certain specific scene, and finally performing integrated verification, wherein the comparison analysis with the international advanced EDA software tool is lacked in the verification process.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method and an apparatus for comparing and verifying EDA software tools, and the technical solution is as follows:

a method of alignment validation of an EDA software tool, the method comprising:

acquiring excitation data;

respectively inputting the excitation data into a software tool to be verified, a verified software tool and a reference model, wherein the reference model is a verified functional module with the same function as the software tool to be verified;

and respectively acquiring processing results output by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model based on the excitation data, and verifying the function of the software tool to be verified by performing cross comparison on the acquired processing results.

Preferably, the acquiring the excitation data includes:

acquiring excitation configuration information;

and controlling an excitation source to generate excitation data matched with the excitation configuration information.

Preferably, the verifying the function of the software tool to be verified by cross-comparing the obtained processing results includes:

comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the verified software tool to obtain a first comparison result, comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the reference model to obtain a second comparison result, and comparing the processing results of the verified software tool and the reference model to obtain a third comparison result;

if the first comparison result, the second comparison result and the third comparison result all represent the same processing result, determining that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified passes;

and if the first comparison result and the second comparison result are different in representation processing result and the third comparison result is the same in representation processing result, determining that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified fails.

Preferably, the method further comprises:

under the condition that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified is passed, respectively acquiring the running time required by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model to output corresponding processing results;

and verifying the performance difference of the software tool to be verified compared with the verified software tool and the reference model by comparing the obtained running times.

Preferably, the method further comprises:

and outputting a verification report of the software tool to be verified, wherein the verification report at least comprises a verification result of the function and performance difference.

An alignment validation apparatus for EDA software tools, the apparatus comprising:

the excitation acquisition module is used for acquiring excitation data;

the excitation input module is used for respectively inputting the excitation data into a software tool to be verified, a verified software tool and a reference model, and the reference model is a functional module which is verified and has the same function as the software tool to be verified;

and the comparison analysis module is used for respectively acquiring the processing results output by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model based on the excitation data, and verifying the function of the software tool to be verified by performing cross comparison on the acquired processing results.

Preferably, the excitation obtaining module is specifically configured to:

acquiring excitation configuration information; and controlling an excitation source to generate excitation data matched with the excitation configuration information.

Preferably, the comparison analysis module, configured to verify the function of the software tool to be verified by performing cross comparison on the obtained processing result, is specifically configured to:

comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the verified software tool to obtain a first comparison result, comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the reference model to obtain a second comparison result, and comparing the processing results of the verified software tool and the reference model to obtain a third comparison result; if the first comparison result, the second comparison result and the third comparison result all represent the same processing result, determining that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified passes; and if the first comparison result and the second comparison result are different in representation processing result and the third comparison result is the same in representation processing result, determining that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified fails.

Preferably, the alignment analysis module is further configured to:

under the condition that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified is passed, respectively acquiring the running time required by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model to output corresponding processing results; and verifying the performance difference of the software tool to be verified compared with the verified software tool and the reference model by comparing the obtained running times.

Preferably, the alignment analysis module is further configured to:

and outputting a verification report of the software tool to be verified, wherein the verification report at least comprises a verification result of the function and performance difference.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects:

according to the comparison and verification method and device of the EDA software tool, the function of the software tool to be verified is verified by performing cross comparison on the processing results output by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model based on the excitation data. Therefore, the function analysis result of the software tool to be verified can be obtained more conveniently and more quickly, the problem that the function of the EDA software tool is lack of function comparison with a standard software tool when the function of the EDA software tool is verified is solved, and detailed and reliable technical reference is provided for the development of EDA software.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the provided drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for comparing and verifying EDA software tools according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of cross-alignment provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial flowchart of a method for comparing and verifying EDA software tools according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of another method for comparing and verifying EDA software tools according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a comparison verification apparatus of an EDA software tool according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in further detail below.

To facilitate an understanding of the present invention, the EDA software tool is first briefly described below:

EDA software tools, as a semiconductor underlying base technology support, have irreplaceable roles in the field of integrated circuits. In the chip design link, the EDA software can not only highly accurately express complex physical problems by using a mathematical model and reproduce various physical effects and problems in the chip manufacturing process in virtual software, but also solve the multi-target multi-constraint optimization problem by using a mathematical tool on the premise of ensuring the correct logic function so as to obtain the optimal solution of performance, power consumption, area, electrical characteristics, cost and the like under specific semiconductor process conditions. Most importantly, the EDA can verify the problem of model consistency, ensure that the logic function of the chip is consistent in the iteration of a plurality of design links, and avoid the phenomenon that all previous work is in a heavy stream due to slight difference.

The basic flow of the current software test is as follows: unit testing- > integration testing- > system testing. The unit test is mainly a test work for checking correctness aiming at a unit-program module with minimum software design. The unit test needs to design a test case from the internal structure of the program, and a plurality of modules can independently perform the unit test in parallel; the integration test (assembly test) refers to that all program modules are orderly and progressively tested on the basis of unit test, and the interface parts among the modules are mainly tested; the system test is a test which is performed on the whole software system after the integration test is completed.

In the research of the testing method of the software tool, the current mainstream practice is to start with the functions and the testing efficiency of the optimized and improved verification platform, and continuously improve and optimize the functions and the performances of the software tool, but specific comparison analysis data is lacked in the comparison verification of the functions and the performances of competitive products, so that the function optimization and the performance improvement of the software tool lack definite technical indexes, and some software tools lack sufficient market competitiveness in certain specific aspects.

Therefore, in order to overcome the defects, the invention provides a comparison verification scheme of the EDA software tool, which verifies the function and the performance of the EDA software tool to be verified through the verified EDA software tool and the reference model, and provides corresponding technical support for the development of the EDA software tool.

The embodiment of the invention provides a comparison verification method of an EDA software tool, the flow chart of the method is shown in figure 1, and the method comprises the following steps:

and S10, acquiring the excitation data.

In the embodiment of the invention, the excitation data can comprise slow excitation, high-speed excitation, fixed excitation, random excitation, abnormal excitation and the like according to the type, and the excitation data of at least one excitation type can be selected according to the requirement of the test function.

In a specific implementation process, the following steps can be adopted:

acquiring excitation configuration information; and controlling the excitation source to generate excitation data matched with the excitation configuration information.

In the embodiment of the invention, the excitation data required by software verification can be generated through the excitation source configuration information, and the configuration information represents the control information for generating the excitation type according to the test requirement and can be obtained by responding to the input operation of a user.

For example, for the excitation types such as slow excitation, high-speed excitation, fixed excitation, random excitation, abnormal excitation and the like required by functional verification, relevant fields can be set on the operation interface of the user, and the fields are assigned by the user to indicate the excitation types, so that the excitation configuration information is generated. For example, the field "slow _ speed _ gen" represents slow excitation, the field "high _ speed _ gen" represents high-speed excitation, and the field "random _ gen" represents random excitation, and if the field "random _ gen" is assigned with a valid value of 1, the excitation configuration information includes the excitation type of the random excitation.

In addition, the stimulus source is used as the front-end input of the software test, provides required stimulus data for software tool verification, and particularly can generate the stimulus data of corresponding stimulus types according to the stimulus configuration information in response to the control instruction. Of course, after the excitation source generates the excitation data, the excitation source can be further selected, the actually required excitation data is selected, and the excitation data is transmitted to the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model through the data bus.

And S20, respectively inputting the excitation data into the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model, wherein the reference model is a verified functional module with the same function as the software tool to be verified.

In the embodiment of the invention, the software tool to be verified is the EDA software tool needing to be verified. And after receiving the input excitation data, the software tool to be verified processes the excitation data according to the function to be tested, so as to obtain a corresponding processing result.

The verified software tool refers to an EDA software tool which is verified and has accurate functions, such as EDA tools of three EDA manufacturers, EDA tools which are made in China and are already in commercial use, and the like. The verified software tool is used as the benchmarking software of the software tool to be verified, the realized function is the same as the function to be tested of the software tool to be verified, and the comparison information is provided for the software tool to be verified. And after the verified software tool receives the input excitation data, processing the excitation data according to the function to be tested so as to obtain a corresponding processing result.

The reference model is a standard functional module which completes the same function as the software tool to be verified, and the function of the reference model is completely consistent with that of the software tool to be verified. The processing result of the reference model can be regarded as standard data, and compared with the result of the software tool to be verified. In practice, the reference model and the software tool to be verified may be developed by different workers using different design languages. And the reference model is used as a standard specification for verifying whether the function is correct, and after receiving the input excitation data, the reference model processes the excitation data according to the function to be tested so as to obtain a corresponding processing result. And providing comparison data which is used as the correctness of the comparison result for the software tool to be verified and the verified software tool.

And S30, respectively acquiring processing results output by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model based on the excitation data, and verifying the function of the software tool to be verified by performing cross comparison on the acquired processing results.

In the embodiment of the invention, the processing results output by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model are compared in a cross mode. Referring to the schematic diagram of cross-comparison shown in fig. 2, the specific comparison manner includes comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the verified software tool, comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the reference model, and comparing the processing results of the verified software tool and the reference model.

Specifically, the comparison result between the software tool to be verified and the verified software tool can analyze the difference between the functions and the performances of the software tool to be verified and the verified EDA software tool, the comparison result between the software tool to be verified and the reference model can analyze whether the functions of the software tool to be verified are correct, and the comparison result between the verified software tool and the reference model can provide a reliable theoretical basis for the verification result of the environment to be verified.

In a specific implementation process, in order to improve the accuracy of the function verification, in step S30, "verifying the function of the software tool to be verified by performing cross comparison on the obtained processing result" may adopt the following steps, and a flowchart of the method is shown in fig. 3:

s301, comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the verified software tool to obtain a first comparison result, comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the reference model to obtain a second comparison result, and comparing the processing results of the verified software tool and the reference model to obtain a third comparison result.

S302, if the first comparison result, the second comparison result and the third comparison result are the same in representation processing result, determining that the function verification of the software tool to be verified is passed.

And S303, if the first comparison result and the second comparison result are different in representation processing result and the third comparison result is the same in representation processing result, determining that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified fails.

In the embodiment of the invention, only when the first comparison result, the second comparison result and the third comparison result both represent the same processing result, that is, the processing results of the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model are all the same, the functional verification of the software tool to be verified is determined to pass.

If the first comparison result and the second comparison result both represent different processing results and the third comparison result represents the same processing result, it indicates that the processing results of the verified software tool and the reference model are the same, and the processing results of the software tool to be verified are different from the processing results of the verified software tool and the processing results of the reference model, and at this time, it is determined that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified does not pass.

In addition, the third comparison result represents that the processing results are different, and no matter what the first comparison result and the second comparison result are, whether the function of the software tool to be verified passes or not cannot be verified. Further analysis of the feasibility of the validated software tools and reference models is required.

It should be noted that different prompting manners may be adopted to notify the user of different function verification results.

In other embodiments, to implement performance verification of a software tool to be verified, the embodiment of the present invention further includes, on the basis of the comparison verification method for an EDA software tool shown in fig. 1, the following steps, and a flowchart of the method is shown in fig. 4:

and S40, respectively acquiring the running time required by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model to output corresponding processing results under the condition that the function verification of the software tool to be verified is passed.

And S50, comparing the obtained running times to verify the performance difference of the software tool to be verified compared with the verified software tool and the reference model.

In embodiments of the present invention, runtime is employed to characterize the performance of a software tool/reference model. The software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model execute the same test verification, and if the time spent on the software tool to be verified is 2S, the time spent on the software tool to be verified is 3S and the time spent on the reference model is 1S, the performance of the software tool to be verified is better than that of the verified software tool and is worse than that of the reference model. And the performance of the software tool to be verified is 1/2 times that of the reference model, which is 1.5 times that of the verified software tool.

It should be noted that, based on the idea of the present invention, in addition to verifying the function and performance, efficiency, coverage, syntax, script support, and the like may be further verified, and details are not described here in the embodiments of the present invention.

On this basis, the embodiment of the present invention may further output a verification report of the software tool to be verified, where the verification report at least includes a verification result of the functional and performance differences. Therefore, the verification result of the software tool to be verified is visually displayed to the user.

In addition, the verification report can be further classified, such as a functional analysis report, a performance analysis report, a differential analysis report, and the like. The embodiment of the present invention will not be described in detail.

The comparison verification method of the EDA software tool provided by the embodiment of the invention can utilize the verified software tool and the reference model to realize the verification of the software tool to be verified, the software tool to be verified can be verified more fully through comparison verification, the accuracy of the function can be verified, and the performance difference can be determined, so that the practical value and the market competitiveness of the software tool to be verified can be judged quickly.

Based on the comparison and verification method for the EDA software tool provided by the above embodiment, an embodiment of the present invention correspondingly provides a device for executing the comparison and verification method for the EDA software tool, where a schematic structural diagram of the device is shown in fig. 5, and the device includes:

an excitation obtaining module 10, configured to obtain excitation data;

the excitation input module 20 is used for respectively inputting excitation data into a software tool to be verified, a verified software tool and a reference model, wherein the reference model is a verified functional module with the same function as the software tool to be verified;

and the comparison analysis module 30 is configured to obtain processing results output by the to-be-verified software tool, the verified software tool, and the reference model based on the excitation data, and verify the function of the to-be-verified software tool by performing cross comparison on the obtained processing results.

Optionally, the excitation obtaining module 10 is specifically configured to:

acquiring excitation configuration information; and controlling the excitation source to generate excitation data matched with the excitation configuration information.

Optionally, the comparison analysis module 30, configured to cross-compare the obtained processing result to verify the function of the software tool to be verified, is specifically configured to:

comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the verified software tool to obtain a first comparison result, comparing the processing results of the software tool to be verified and the reference model to obtain a second comparison result, and comparing the processing results of the verified software tool and the reference model to obtain a third comparison result; if the first comparison result, the second comparison result and the third comparison result all represent the same processing result, determining that the function verification of the software tool to be verified passes; and if the first comparison result and the second comparison result are different in representation processing result and the third comparison result is the same in representation processing result, determining that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified fails.

Optionally, the alignment analysis module 30 is further configured to:

respectively acquiring the running time required by the software tool to be verified, the verified software tool and the reference model to output corresponding processing results under the condition that the functional verification of the software tool to be verified is passed; and comparing the obtained running time to verify the performance difference of the software tool to be verified compared with the verified software tool and the reference model.

Optionally, the alignment analysis module 30 is further configured to:

and outputting a verification report of the software tool to be verified, wherein the verification report at least comprises a verification result of the function and performance difference.

It should be noted that, for the detailed functions of each module in the embodiment of the present invention, reference may be made to the corresponding disclosure of the embodiment of the comparison and verification method of the EDA software tool, which is not described herein again.

The comparison and verification device for the EDA software tool provided by the embodiment of the invention can utilize the verified software tool and the reference model to realize the verification of the software tool to be verified, the software tool to be verified can be verified more fully through comparison and verification, the accuracy of the function can be verified, and the performance difference can be determined, so that the practical value and the market competitiveness of the software tool to be verified can be rapidly judged.

Based on the comparison and verification method for the EDA software tool provided by the above embodiment, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an electronic device, where the electronic device includes a processor, a memory, and a program or an instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor, and the program or the instruction implements the comparison and verification method for the EDA software tool when executed by the processor.

Based on the comparison and verification method of the EDA software tool provided by the above embodiment, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a storage medium, where a program or instructions are stored on the storage medium, and the program or instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the comparison and verification method of the EDA software tool.

The comparison and verification method and device of the EDA software tool provided by the present invention are introduced in detail, and the principle and implementation manner of the present invention are explained in detail by applying specific examples, and the description of the above embodiments is only used to help understanding the method and the core idea of the present invention; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

It should be noted that, in the present specification, the embodiments are all described in a progressive manner, each embodiment focuses on differences from other embodiments, and the same and similar parts among the embodiments may be referred to each other. The device disclosed by the embodiment corresponds to the method disclosed by the embodiment, so that the description is simple, and the relevant points can be referred to the method part for description.

It is further noted that, herein, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Also, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include or include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.