Verification of transaction-level SystemC models using RTL testbenches

Abstract

System architects working on SoC design have traditionally been hampered by the lack of a coherent methodology for architecture evaluation and co-verification of hardware and software. SystemC 2.0 facilitates the development of transaction-level models (TLMs), which are models of the hardware system components at higher level of abstraction than RTL. Due to lower modeling effort yet higher simulation speed, TLMs are useful for architectural exploration, algorithmic evaluation, hardware-software partitioning and software development. The problems posed by SOC design methodologies require development of models at higher abstraction also for the earlier developed IP's. The development time of a TLM IP is already low, so if we can reduce the verification time by re-use of the earlier RTL test benches we can reduce the overall cost of such an IP TLM. This paper focuses on the methodology to use the RTL testbenches for verification of a SystemC model of the same IP at a higher abstraction level (transaction level), some tools available in the market to support this testbench reuse and the implementation challenges posed by the mentioned verification technique.