Feature based state space coverage of analog circuits

Abstract

This paper proposes a systematic and fast analog coverage-driven verification methodology which could increase the confidence in verification of today’s analog blocks. We define an appropriate coverage metric to score simulations and then minimize the simulation effort for achieving full state space coverage with an algorithm generating appropriate input stimuli. Our proposed method uses characteristic properties of a discretized representation of the state space such as the spatial distribution of eigenvalues, guiding the generation of short and purposeful stimuli. The experimental results show a significant speed-up with similar accuracy compared to the state-of-the-art.