Verilator-based Fast Verification Methodology for BLE MAC Hardware

Abstract

Following the market trend, fast and strict verification of hardware architecture is essential for saving cost and time of production. Recently, Verilator, an open-source Verilog simulator, is widely used due to its fast simulation time as well as easy-to-use property. In this paper, we present a fast verification methodology for BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) MAC (Medium Access Control) hardware based on Verilator. Since C++-based modeling can be easily integrated into the Verilog-based hardware platform with Verilator, complex verification scenarios with various parameter configurations can be supported. Compared to the commercial Verilog simulator, our verification platform shows up to 5.94 times of improvement in terms of simulation time.