CN100527138C - Method and apparatus for generating simulation example of integrated circuit element - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a device for generating a simulation example of an integrated circuit element, wherein the method comprises the following steps: establishing a database, wherein the database comprises a plurality of element description files; selecting an element description file corresponding to an integrated circuit element from the element description file; analyzing the content of the element description file to find out an item needing to be edited; and generating a simulation instance for storage by editing the project through a user interface, the apparatus comprising: an organization unit for providing the user interface to receive the component description information; a generating unit connected to the organizing unit and generating the element description file according to the element description information; and a storage unit for storing the element description file.

Description

Method and device for generating analog instances of integrated circuit components

technical field

The present invention is a simulation example generation method and device, especially a simulation example generation method and device applied to the design of integrated circuit components.

Background technique

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a flow chart of a common IC device development. The flowchart mainly includes the following steps: Project Initialization Phase 11 (Project Initialization Phase), Software Planning Phase 13 (Software Plan Phase), Design Phase 15 (Design Phase), Verification Phase 17 (Validation), and Mass Manufacturing Phase 19 ( Mass Production). Among them, in order to allow the design logic (design logic) completed in the design stage 15 to be simulated by software in the verification stage 17 (Validation), and to facilitate the comparison of the completed component entities during the mass production stage 19 (Mass Production) To carry out physical simulation (Emulation, EMU), the designer must aim at the hardware architecture specifications (such as the number of register types, types, etc.) Predefine the special software simulation tool (Simulation tool) required to realize the above software simulation and physical simulation, the most common one is a software simulation instance (Simulation Case, SIM Case for short) composed of a series of read and write command codes .

In the traditional method, developers independently write corresponding software simulation tools (such as software simulation examples) for different integrated circuit components according to their hardware architectures (such as the number and type of registers, etc.). However, since different R&D personnel often have different writing methods for software simulation tools, the development of each integrated circuit component (device) will correspond to a new format of software simulation tool (SIM Tool), and this will cause future problems. The inconvenience of management and maintenance of different versions of the software simulation tool (SIM Tool) will also lead to unnecessary waste of resources.

In order to solve the problem of waste of time and cost caused by writing different software simulation tools (SIM Tool) for different integrated circuit device (device) development plans in the above-mentioned existing integrated circuit device (device) development process, it is the development of this main purpose of the invention.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a general software simulation and physical simulation simulation example generation method, which can be applied to various integrated circuit components, and then can generate simulation examples and perform physical simulation.

The present invention is a method for generating a simulation example of an integrated circuit component, the method comprising: establishing a database, the database including a plurality of component description files; selecting a component description file corresponding to an integrated circuit component from the component description files ; analyzing the content of the component description file to find out an item that needs to be edited; and editing the item through a user interface to generate a simulation instance for storage.

According to the above idea, in the method for generating a simulation instance of an integrated circuit device according to the present invention, the database is established by searching files in a storage unit through a collection unit.

According to the above idea, in the method for generating a simulation example of an integrated circuit component according to the present invention, when a component description file corresponding to the integrated circuit component cannot be selected from the component description file, the user can use the one provided by an organization unit A user interface is used to input a component description information of the integrated circuit component, and a component description file corresponding to the integrated circuit component is generated by a generating unit according to the component description information, and the component description file is stored in a storage unit middle.

According to the above idea, the simulation example generation method of integrated circuit components according to the present invention, wherein an analysis unit is used to analyze the content of the component description file, and then find out the items that need to be edited, and then an editing unit provides a user interface The item is edited, and then a generating unit is used to generate the simulation instance corresponding to the command.

According to the above idea, the method for generating a simulation instance of an integrated circuit element according to the present invention, wherein the simulation instance can provide a software simulation of the integrated circuit element.

According to the above idea, the method for generating a simulation instance of an integrated circuit device according to the present invention, wherein the simulation instance can provide a physical simulation of the integrated circuit device.

According to the idea above, in the method for generating simulation examples of integrated circuit components according to the present invention, an operation unit is used to list all the simulation examples collected into a selection list, and the user can select the corresponding integrated circuit from the selection list. One or more simulation instances of the circuit element, and then the operation unit sends the simulation command of the simulation instance step by step to the entity of the integrated circuit element for physical simulation.

According to the above idea, the method for generating a simulation instance of an integrated circuit component according to the present invention, wherein the simulation instance includes a general command file, which can be used by various integrated circuit components.

Another aspect of the present invention is a device for generating simulation examples of integrated circuit components, the device comprising: an organization unit for providing a user interface to receive a component description information; a generation unit connected to the organization unit, and Generate a component description file according to the component description information; a storage unit for storing the component description file; an analysis unit connected to the storage unit for extracting the component description file and performing content analysis on the file; and a The editing unit is connected to the analysis unit to receive the data output by the analysis unit, and provide the user interface to modify the content of the component description file to generate a simulation example, and store it in the form of a special command file .

According to the above idea, the generation unit of the present invention receives the items defined by the user through the user interface, and generates a general command file, which can be used by various integrated circuit components for the same type of simulation.

According to the above idea, the device for generating simulation examples of integrated circuit components according to the present invention further includes a collection unit connected to the storage unit and used to collect multiple component description files, multiple special-purpose command files or multiple general-purpose command file.

According to the above idea, the device for generating simulation examples of integrated circuit components according to the present invention further includes an operation unit connected to the collection unit, the operation unit is based on the component description file, the special command file or the general The command file lists a selection list.

According to the above idea, in the device for generating a simulation example of an integrated circuit device according to the present invention, the operation unit also provides the user interface for the user to select a simulation example in the selection list.

According to the above idea, in the device for generating a simulation instance of an integrated circuit device according to the present invention, the operating unit sends a plurality of simulation commands to a physical integrated circuit device for simulation according to the simulation instance.

Description of drawings

The present invention is illustrated by the following drawings to gain a deeper understanding:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a conventional integrated circuit device development.

FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram of the software simulation and physical simulation system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of internal functional blocks of the core module of the software simulation and physical simulation tool of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of generating simulation instances and performing physical simulation of an integrated circuit device in the software simulation and physical simulation tool architecture of the present invention.

Description of reference symbols

Project Initiation Phase 11 Software Planning Phase 13

Design Phase 15 Validation Phase 17

Mass Manufacturing Stage 19

Component description information 30 Core modules of software simulation and physical simulation tools 31

Component introduction 320～32n Component entity 330～33n

Simulation example 34 Collection unit 313

Analysis unit 315 Editing unit 317

Operation unit 319 Organization unit 411

Generating Unit 413 Dedicated Command File 416

Component description file 415 General command file 417

storage unit 419

Detailed ways

Please refer to Fig. 2, which is a system block diagram of a software simulation and physical simulation tool (SIM/EMU Tool) of the present invention, which is mainly for the user to input the component description corresponding to the hardware specification of an integrated circuit component (device) Information (Device Description Information, DDI) 30, and the core module 31 of the software simulation and physical simulation tool developed by the present invention organizes the component description information (Device Description Information, DDI), and then becomes a software simulation and physical simulation tool A component profile (device profile) that the core module 31 can recognize. And along with the component description information (Device Description Information, DDI) of different integrated circuit components (device) is input, the core module 31 of software simulation and physical simulation tool of the present invention just can organize the component brief introduction of corresponding integrated circuit component (device) (device profile) and store it to form a database of component profiles. In other words, the software simulation and physical simulation tool core module 31 can identify a plurality of component profiles 320-32n as shown in the figure, so that users can use the software simulation and physical simulation tool core module 31 of the present invention To call any recognizable component profile, and use a user interface provided by the software simulation and physical simulation tool core module 31 to allow the user to describe the simulation task, and then generate the corresponding integrated circuit component (device) One or more simulation instances (SIM Case) 34, which can then be provided to the design logic (design logic, not shown in the figure) and device entities 330-33n generated in the design process of the corresponding integrated circuit element (device) Carry out software simulation and physical simulation respectively.

To give a simple example, the user inputs two device description information (Device Description Information, DDI) corresponding to the hardware specifications of a PCI component and a USB component, and the software simulation and physical simulation tool core module 31 developed by the present invention Then, the device description information (Device Description Information, DDI) is organized, and then becomes a device profile (device profile) of a PCI component and a device profile ( device profile). In this way, when the user wants to develop a PCI component, he can call out the component brief introduction of the PCI component that has been established before, and then use the user interface provided by the software simulation and physical simulation tool system 31 to input Data, and then generate one or more simulation examples (SIM Case) corresponding to the PCI element, and then can be provided to the design logic (designlogic, not shown in the figure) and element entity 33 produced in the PCI element (device) design process To carry out software simulation and physical simulation respectively.

As can be seen from the above, the present invention can use the established device profile to provide the user with the editing of the simulation instance (SIM Case), so it is not necessary to start from scratch every time as the existing means Start writing the simulator code verbatim, thus effectively improving the lack of existing means.

Referring to Fig. 3 again, it is a schematic diagram of the internal functional block of the above-mentioned software simulation and physical simulation tool core module 31, which mainly includes a collection unit 313 (Collector), an analysis unit 315 (Parser), and an editing unit 317 (Editor) , an analysis unit 319 (Operator), an organization unit 411 (Organizer), and a generation unit 413 (Generator). Wherein, the organization unit 411 (Organizer) provides a user interface so that the user can input the device description information 30 (Device Description Information, DDI) of the integrated circuit device (device) according to the specification (Spec) of the integrated circuit device (device). ; Wherein the device description information (DDI) mainly describes the register (Register) and other information of the integrated circuit device (device). And when the user inputs the device description information (DDI) of the integrated circuit device (device), the organization unit 411 (Organizer) will forward it to the generation unit 413 (Generator) for processing, and then generate the corresponding integrated circuit device ( device) and store a component description file 415 (Device Descriptionfile) in a storage unit (such as a hard disk) 419. In this way, after inputting the device description information (DDI) of different integrated circuit devices (device), the present invention can establish a database in the storage unit (such as a hard disk) 419, and the database includes a plurality of device description files . Then through the search function of the collection unit 313 (Collector), the various device description files (Device Description File) generated by the user through the organization unit 411 (Organizer) and the generation unit 413 will be managed in a list and become highly recognizable The file data also form a plurality of component profiles 320-32n that can be identified by the core module 31 of the above-mentioned software simulation and physical simulation tool.

Therefore, when a user wants to develop a certain type of integrated circuit component and needs to make a simulation example (SIMCase), he can search through the collection unit 313 (Collector) through the user's instruction, and then from the searched component profile 320 ~32n, and finally select a component description file 415 similar to the integrated circuit component. The parsing unit 315 (Parser) then parses the content of the selected file to find out the item that needs to be edited, and then the editing unit 317 (Editor) generates a user interface for the user to edit the item . For example, through the user interface, the user can fill in the appropriate value in the register of the integrated circuit device (device), that is, issue a read/write command (Command) to the integrated circuit device (device). ); when the user edits the read/write command (Command) for the integrated circuit element (device) through the user interface provided by the editing unit 317 (Editor), the editing unit 317 (Editor) will transfer these data Pass to this generating unit 413 to produce the analog instance (SIM Case) corresponding to the order, and store the dedicated command file 416 formed by this analog instance (SIM Case), and also can pass through this collection unit 313 (Collector ) to become a member of the file list. Because the above-mentioned dedicated command file 416 can only be used specifically for certain integrated circuit components (device), and in order to save time, a kind of general command file 417 (Pattern) is just defined, and it can be used by multiple integrated circuit components ( The general command file 417 used by device) can be defined through the user interface provided by the editing unit 317 (Editor), and then generated by the generating unit 413 (Generator). When next time the user needs to issue the same type of test command to the integrated circuit element (device) under the similar hardware architecture, only need to select the general command file 417 from the user interface provided by the editing unit 317 (Editor), then the generating unit 413 (Generator) will generate a simulated instance (SIM Case) corresponding to the general command file 417, and in this way, it will simplify the user's need to, in the user interface provided by the editing unit 317 (Editor), to The process by which certain registers of the integrated circuit device are filled with appropriate values.

The various files in the above-mentioned file list can be used, and most importantly, they can be provided to the design logic (not shown in the figure) and the device entity 330 generated in the design process of the corresponding integrated circuit device (device). ~33n to carry out software simulation and physical simulation respectively. And due to the search function of the collection unit 313 (Collector), the user can quickly take out the component description file 415, the special command file 416 and the general command file 417 to simulate.

Therefore, when the entity of the integrated circuit device (device) has been developed during the development process, and corresponds to one or more simulated instances of the integrated circuit device (device) (such as the specific command file 416 and/or the general command file 417) has been stored in the storage unit 419, the integrated circuit device (device) will be able to perform physical simulation (EMU) by the present invention. First of all, the operation unit 319 (Operator) responsible for entity simulation first lists a selection list according to the dedicated/common command files of all simulation instances (SIM Cases) collected by the collection unit 313 (Collector), and the user can select from Pick out one or more simulation instances (SIM Case) corresponding to the integrated circuit element (device) in the selection list, and then the operation unit 319 sends the simulation command of the simulation instance (SIM Case) step by step to the integrated circuit element Entities for entity simulation.

4 is a flow chart of generating a simulation instance (SIM Case) for an integrated circuit device (device) and performing software simulation and physical simulation (EMU) on the integrated circuit device (device) in the framework of the present invention. First, whether the collection unit has searched out the component description file corresponding to the integrated circuit component (step 51); if not found, it means that there is no component description file corresponding to the integrated circuit component in the storage unit, so the user will search through the organization The user interface provided by the unit re-inputs the component description information of the integrated circuit component (step 53); the generating unit will generate a component description file corresponding to the integrated circuit component according to the component description information, and store the component description file In the storage unit (step 55); until the collection unit can search out the component description file corresponding to the integrated circuit component, the analysis unit will analyze the content of the selected component description file, and then find out the item that needs to be edited, and then The editing unit provides a user interface (step 57); and the user can use the user interface to allow the user to describe the simulation task of the integrated circuit component (step 59); according to the user's description of the simulation task, The generation unit will generate a simulation instance corresponding to the test command (step 61); finally, according to the simulation instance, the operation unit will perform software simulation or physical simulation on the integrated circuit element (step 63).

In summary, the present invention can indeed solve the lack of existing means, and then realize the main purpose of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make some modifications without violating the spirit of the present invention, so the protection scope of the present invention Determined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A method for generating an analog instance of an integrated circuit element, the method comprising: Establish a database, the database contains a plurality of component description files; selecting a device description file corresponding to an integrated circuit device from the plurality of device description files; Analyzing the content of the component description file to find out an item that needs to be edited; and Editing the item through a user interface generates a simulation instance for storage. 2. The method for generating simulation instances of integrated circuit devices as claimed in claim 1, wherein the database is established by searching files in a storage unit through a collection unit. 3. The method for generating a simulation example of an integrated circuit component as claimed in claim 1, wherein when a component description file corresponding to the integrated circuit component cannot be selected from the plurality of component description files, the user can select an organization unit The user interface is provided to input a component description information of the integrated circuit component, and then a generating unit generates a component description file corresponding to the integrated circuit component according to the component description information, and stores the component description file in a in the storage unit. 4. The method for generating simulation examples of integrated circuit components as claimed in claim 1, wherein an analysis unit is used to analyze the content of the component description file, and then find out the items that need to be edited, and then an editing unit provides the user interface The item is edited, and then a generating unit is used to generate the simulation instance corresponding to the command. 5. The method for generating simulation examples of integrated circuit components as claimed in claim 1, wherein an operation unit is used to list all the simulation examples collected into a selection list, and the user can select the corresponding integrated circuit from the selection list. One or more simulation instances of the circuit element, and then the operation unit sends the simulation commands of the simulation instance step by step to the entity of the integrated circuit element to perform a physical simulation. 6. The method for generating a simulation instance of an integrated circuit device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the simulation instance includes a common command file that can be used by various integrated circuit devices. 7. A device for generating simulation examples of integrated circuit components, the device comprising: an organizational unit for providing a user interface to receive a component description information; a generating unit, connected to the organization unit, and generating a component description file according to the component description information; a storage unit for storing the component description file; an analysis unit, connected to the storage unit, for extracting the component description file and performing content analysis on the file; and An editing unit, connected to the analysis unit, is used to receive the data output by the analysis unit, and provide the user interface to modify the content of the component description file to generate a simulation example, and in the form of a special command file store. 8. The device for generating simulation examples of integrated circuit components as claimed in claim 7, wherein the generating unit receives items defined by the user through the user interface, and generates a general command file, which can be used by multiple integrated circuits Used when the component is doing the same type of simulation. 9. The device for generating simulation examples of integrated circuit components as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a collection unit connected to the storage unit, and used to collect a plurality of the component description files, a plurality of the dedicated command files or a plurality of The general command file further includes an operation unit connected to the collection unit, and the operation unit lists a selection list according to the component description file, the special command file or the general command file. 10. The simulation example generation device of integrated circuit components as claimed in claim 9, wherein the operation unit also provides the user interface to allow the user to select a simulation example in the selection list and the operation unit will generate multiple simulation examples according to the simulation example. A simulation command is sent to a physical integrated circuit device for simulation.

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