A Test Vector Minimization Algorithm Based On Delta Debugging For Post-Silicon Validation Of Pcie Rootport

In silicon hardware design, such as designing PCIe devices, design verification is an essential part of the design process, whereby the devices are subjected to a series of tests that verify the functionality. However, manual debugging is still widely used in post-silicon validation and is a major b...

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Main Author:	Toh , Yi Feng
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2017
Subjects:	TK1-9971 Electrical engineering Electronics Nuclear engineering
Online Access:	http://eprints.usm.my/39524/1/Toh_Yi_Feng_24_Pages.pdf
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id	my-usm-ep.39524
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spelling	my-usm-ep.395242019-04-12T05:25:07Z A Test Vector Minimization Algorithm Based On Delta Debugging For Post-Silicon Validation Of Pcie Rootport 2017 Toh , Yi Feng TK1-9971 Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering In silicon hardware design, such as designing PCIe devices, design verification is an essential part of the design process, whereby the devices are subjected to a series of tests that verify the functionality. However, manual debugging is still widely used in post-silicon validation and is a major bottleneck in the validation process. The reason is a large number of tests vectors have to be analyzed, and this slows process down. To solve the problem, a test vector minimizer algorithm is proposed to eliminate redundant test vectors that do not contribute to reproduction of a test failure, hence, improving the debug throughput. The proposed methodology is inspired by the Delta Debugging algorithm which is has been used in automated software debugging but not in post-silicon hardware debugging. The minimizer operates on the principle of binary partitioning of the test vectors, and iteratively testing each subset (or complement of set) on a post-silicon System-Under-Test (SUT), to identify and eliminate redundant test vectors. Test results using test vector sets containing deliberately introduced erroneous test vectors show that the minimizer is able to isolate the erroneous test vectors. In test cases containing up to 10,000 test vectors, the minimizer requires about 16ns per test vector in the test case when only one erroneous test vector is present. In a test case with 1000 vectors including erroneous vectors, the same minimizer requires about 140μs per erroneous test vector that is injected. Thus, the minimizer’s CPU consumption is significantly smaller than the typical amount of time of a test running on SUT. The factors that significantly impact the performance of the algorithm are number of erroneous test vectors and distribution (spacing) of the erroneous vectors. The effect of total number of test vectors and position of the erroneous vectors are relatively minor compared to the other two. The minimization algorithm therefore was most effective for cases where there are only a few erroneous test vectors, with large number of test vectors in the set. 2017 Thesis http://eprints.usm.my/39524/ http://eprints.usm.my/39524/1/Toh_Yi_Feng_24_Pages.pdf application/pdf en public masters Universiti Sains Malaysia Pusat Pengajian Kejuruteraan Elektrik dan Elektronik
institution	Universiti Sains Malaysia
collection	USM Institutional Repository
language	English
topic	TK1-9971 Electrical engineering Electronics Nuclear engineering
spellingShingle	TK1-9971 Electrical engineering Electronics Nuclear engineering Toh , Yi Feng A Test Vector Minimization Algorithm Based On Delta Debugging For Post-Silicon Validation Of Pcie Rootport
description	In silicon hardware design, such as designing PCIe devices, design verification is an essential part of the design process, whereby the devices are subjected to a series of tests that verify the functionality. However, manual debugging is still widely used in post-silicon validation and is a major bottleneck in the validation process. The reason is a large number of tests vectors have to be analyzed, and this slows process down. To solve the problem, a test vector minimizer algorithm is proposed to eliminate redundant test vectors that do not contribute to reproduction of a test failure, hence, improving the debug throughput. The proposed methodology is inspired by the Delta Debugging algorithm which is has been used in automated software debugging but not in post-silicon hardware debugging. The minimizer operates on the principle of binary partitioning of the test vectors, and iteratively testing each subset (or complement of set) on a post-silicon System-Under-Test (SUT), to identify and eliminate redundant test vectors. Test results using test vector sets containing deliberately introduced erroneous test vectors show that the minimizer is able to isolate the erroneous test vectors. In test cases containing up to 10,000 test vectors, the minimizer requires about 16ns per test vector in the test case when only one erroneous test vector is present. In a test case with 1000 vectors including erroneous vectors, the same minimizer requires about 140μs per erroneous test vector that is injected. Thus, the minimizer’s CPU consumption is significantly smaller than the typical amount of time of a test running on SUT. The factors that significantly impact the performance of the algorithm are number of erroneous test vectors and distribution (spacing) of the erroneous vectors. The effect of total number of test vectors and position of the erroneous vectors are relatively minor compared to the other two. The minimization algorithm therefore was most effective for cases where there are only a few erroneous test vectors, with large number of test vectors in the set.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Master's degree
author	Toh , Yi Feng
author_facet	Toh , Yi Feng
author_sort	Toh , Yi Feng
title	A Test Vector Minimization Algorithm Based On Delta Debugging For Post-Silicon Validation Of Pcie Rootport
title_short	A Test Vector Minimization Algorithm Based On Delta Debugging For Post-Silicon Validation Of Pcie Rootport
title_full	A Test Vector Minimization Algorithm Based On Delta Debugging For Post-Silicon Validation Of Pcie Rootport
title_fullStr	A Test Vector Minimization Algorithm Based On Delta Debugging For Post-Silicon Validation Of Pcie Rootport
title_full_unstemmed	A Test Vector Minimization Algorithm Based On Delta Debugging For Post-Silicon Validation Of Pcie Rootport
title_sort	test vector minimization algorithm based on delta debugging for post-silicon validation of pcie rootport
granting_institution	Universiti Sains Malaysia
granting_department	Pusat Pengajian Kejuruteraan Elektrik dan Elektronik
publishDate	2017
url	http://eprints.usm.my/39524/1/Toh_Yi_Feng_24_Pages.pdf
_version_	1747820757916844032

A Test Vector Minimization Algorithm Based On Delta Debugging For Post-Silicon Validation Of Pcie Rootport

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