OVERVIEW

System simulation is the first time the verification team brings all the logic together into one simulation environment. Previous levels of verification focus on all the functions contained within one unit or chip, whereas system-level verification concentrates on the connectivity and interaction of all the units and chips. System simulation focuses on how the customer uses the system as an end application of all the chips. Still, system can mean many different things. The application of the chip or chips defines the system. For example, a system for a server might include the processor, an oscillator, memory, a chip that bridges transactions to and from the processor to a memory subsystem (called a north bridge), a chip that bridges transactions to and from the input and output ( I/O) subsystem (called a south bridge), a graphics controller, and the board that connects them all together. For a networking processor chip, the system includes an oscillator, memory, physical interface (PHY) modules (gigabit Ethernet PHY, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) PHY, etc.), switch fabric, and the network processor. An embedded system would contain an embedded processor, memory, Ethernet PHY, universal serial bus (USB) port, and application specific logic. Many times this embedded system is self-contained within one chip, which is called a system on a chip (SoC).

Regardless of what kind of system it is, the verification environment for that system contains stimulus components (both initiators and responders), monitor components, scoreboard components, and checking components. To leverage the...