Design And Verification Of BOOT Module For Heterogeneous Multi-Core Microprocessor

With the rapid development of integrated circuit technology,the design of digital chips is becoming increasingly complex,and the chip architecture is gradually evolving into a single-chip multi-processor structure.In the context of increasing chip integration,the traditional single-core microprocessor chip has been difficult to meet the application requirements.In order to meet the demand for higher performance and lower power consumption,multi-core architecture system-on-chip and even heterogeneous multi-core microprocessor chips are becoming the mainstream of chip design.Moreover,changes in architecture have also made the self-start function of high-performance,high-reliability chips increasingly complex,making it necessary to develop efficient and reliable self-start modules for multi-core chips.This thesis takes the design and development of a heterogeneous multi-core microprocessor chip at a microelectronics institute as the research context.A self-start(BOOT)module design scheme for heterogeneous multicore microprocessors is proposed based on a thorough knowledge of the working principle and structure of heterogeneous multicore chip systems and chip BOOT modules.The design of the chip BOOT module consists of two parts: hardware and firmware design,to achieve high reliability,high flexibility and high real-time module characteristics.The research results of this thesis are as follows.1.The heterogeneous multi-core chip structure and boot mechanism have been thoroughly studied and analyzed,and the overall planning and design of the BOOT module was carried out according to the characteristics and performance requirements of the chip.2.Through in-depth analysis of the BOOT module function,this design uses the approach of curing code to build the hardware structure(BOOTROM)of the chip BOOT module,implementing the hardware part of the BOOT module based on AXI protocol.3.According to the design objectives and performance requirements,the firmware part of the chip BOOT module has been developed.By designing the ROM boot loader and optimizing the user program format,the primary core matching mechanism,the fast self-start mechanism of the secondary core,and the BOOT mode that can match various peripherals of the heterogeneous multi-core chip are realized.4.NC-Verilog soft-simulation verification platform has been built to verify the designed BOOT module at module level and system level,to deeply analyze the simulation operation process.The results show that the Verilog code coverage reaches99.84% and can reach 100% excluding negligible factors.Functionally,the BOOT module successfully achieves the self-start of multiple devices and multiple modes of heterogeneous multi-core microprocessors,the selectivity of the primary core and the fast parallel self-start of the secondary core.The design meets the expected target,conforms to the design specification,and is finally applied in a high-performance heterogeneous multi-core chip.