Functional verification of a RISC-V vector accelerator

We present the functional verification efforts for an academic RISC-V based vector accelerator, successfully taped-out in the context of the European Processor Initiative. For our novel RISC-V based decoupled vector accelerator, we built a verification infrastructure consisting of a UVM environment,...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Jiménez Arador, Víctor, Rodriguez, Mario, Dominguez de la Rocha, Marc, Sans, Josep, Díaz Ortega, Iván, Valente, Luca, Guglielmi, Vito Luca, Quiroga Esparza, Josué Vladimir, Genovese, Roberto Ignacio, Sonmez, Nehir, Palomar Pérez, Óscar|||0000-0001-6729-4187, Moretó Planas, Miquel|||0000-0002-9848-8758
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/382717
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/382717
https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MDAT.2022.3226709
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Microprocessors -- Verification
European Processor Initiative (EPI)
Verification
RISC-V
Vector accelerator
UVM
Coverage
Random binary generation
Microprocessadors -- Verificació
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Arquitectura de computadors
Descripción
Sumario:We present the functional verification efforts for an academic RISC-V based vector accelerator, successfully taped-out in the context of the European Processor Initiative. For our novel RISC-V based decoupled vector accelerator, we built a verification infrastructure consisting of a UVM environment, performing step by step co-simulation of all vector instructions, using the Spike instruction set simulator as a reference model. Furthermore, for validating this complex design connected to a scalar core using a custom interface, we provided automated constrained-random test generation, simulation and error reporting, and CI/CD infrastructure. We found 3005 errors during this process and reached 95.79% functional coverage.