Design verification of a super-scalar RISC processor

The paper provides an overview of the design verification methodology for HaL's Sparc64 processor development. This activity covered approximately two and a half years of design development time. Objectives and challenges are discussed and the verification methodology is described. Monitoring mechanisms that give high observability to internal design states, novel features that increase the simulation speed, and tools for automatic result checking are described. Also presented for the first time, is an analysis of the design defects discovered during the verification process. Such an analysis is useful in augmenting verification programs to target common design defects.<>