1078: Bus Trace System: Automated Bus Traffic Debugging In IP-XACT Based SoC Beyond Traditional Debugging Methods

The Bus Trace System (BTS) is a novel debugging methodology for verifications about System-on-Chip (SoC) integrated based on IP-XACT. BTS aims to automatically identify and debug an errors such as bus hang and error responses using only simulation logs, without the need for waveform information. BTS works by utilizing SoC bus navigation information that is generated through an in-house bus connection searching algorithm, which searches IP-XACT to find the full bus connection for each instance. Moreover, by analyzing the interface logs connected to Design Under Test (DUT), BTS can precisely determine the scope that needs to be debugged. By using BTS, the debug time and verification Turn-Around-Time (TAT) can be reduced, as it automatically finds the debug scope related to bus hang and error response in SoC verifications. BTS is a powerful debugging methodology that can effectively reduce the debugging time in the trend of increasingly complex SoC architectures.