Study Of X Microprocessor Function Verification Method

Nowadays, in order to improve microprocessor performance, designers apply new architectures. These architectures improve the performance as well as making the processor more complex. The increase of the complexity adds the load of the designers, and makes the verification mach more difficult. Different from other digital circuits, the microprocessor design often uses full-custom method. The full-custom method is different from the semi-custom method. Most people pay their attention to the verification method of semi-custom design, and there is a lack of verification method for full-custom.This paper is mainly about the function verification of X processor. X processor uses full-custom design method, includes dynamic branch prediction and super scalar technology, and its scale is very large. In order to validate the design, we must apply function verification.Base on the study of architecture and the design method of X processor, this paper raise a new verification method for full-custom microprocessors. The new method can be divided into two parts: the construction of verification model and the construction of verification platform. Not like the semi-custom verification model is built from the design specification, the full-custom verification model is built from full-custom design data. The difficulty of this method is that the workload is heavy, and it's hard to ensure the consistency of design model and verification model. We raise a method to instruct these works. Under the instructing of this method, it's much easier to build verification model, and can make sure the design model and verification model is consistent. When we build the verification platform, we study the state-of-art commercial verification platform, raise the unified verification environment, and put it into practice. The X processor verification unified verification environment consists of three parts: software simulation platform, hardware emulation platform and FPGA prototype platform. In this project, using our verification method, X processor is well validated.