Trace signal selection for visibility enhancement in post-silicon validation

Today’s complex integrated circuit designs increasingly rely on post-silicon validation to eliminate bugs that escape from presilicon verification. One effective silicon debug technique is to monitor and trace the behaviors of the circuit during its normal operation. However, designers can only afford to trace a small number of signals in the design due to the associated overhead. Selecting which signals to trace is therefore a crucial issue for the effectiveness of this technique. This paper proposes an automated trace signal selection strategy that is able to dramatically enhance the visibility in post-silicon validation. Experimental results on benchmark circuits show that the proposed technique is more effective than existing solutions.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: DATE
• Authors: Xiao Liu, Qiang Xu
• Keywords: Automated Trace Signal, DATE 2009, Hardware, Post-silicon Validation, Silicon Debug Technique