SystemC provides very basic verification support. This support is same what Verilog 1995 provided. The SCV or SystemC Verification standard, provides APIs for transaction-based verification, constrained and weighted randomization, exception handling, and other verification tasks. We will seeing following topics in detail in next few pages.

• Data Introspection
• Randomization
• Constraints
• Transaction Recording
• Dynamic Threads
• Data Structures

The SystemC Verification Standard uses data introspection to enable the manipulation of arbitrary data types. It allows a library routine to extract information from data objects of arbitrary types, regardless of whether it is a C/C++ built-in type, a SystemC data type, a user-specified composite type (struct), or a user-specified enumeration.

Using C++ template specialization, the Verification Standard maps these data types to an abstract interface called scv_extensions_if, through which the following operations can be performed on the data object.

• Extraction of type information
• Value access and value assignment
• Randomization
• Callback registration

Using data introspection, a piece of code can manipulate a data object without explicit type information at compiletime. This facility can be considered as a C++ version of the Verilog PLI standard. It is a crucial building block for constrained randomization, variable recording, and transaction attribute recording.

This facility includes the following classes and templates:

• The scv_extensions_if abstract interface: This abstract interface enables the manipulation of arbitrary data types without compile-time type information.
• The scv_extensions template: Data objects are extended to support the abstract interface through partial template specialization of this template
• The scv_shared_ptr template: This template enables sharing of data objects among multiple threads, with reference counting to perform automatic memory management.
• The scv_smart_ptr template: This template combines scv_extensions and scv_shared_ptr to implement dynamic extensions that require instance-specific auxiliary data, such as randomization and callback handling.

Data introspection of SystemC Verification library provided following API's

• util : Basic utility methods
• rw : Methods to read and write to data object, its fields, its array elements
• type : Methods to extract type information
• rand : Methods for randomization-related operations
• callback : Methods for callback registration

Manipulation of data objects without compile-time information is supported through the scv_extensions_if abstract interface. The postfix '_if' indicates that this is an abstract interface class with C++ abstract methods and without member variables.

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Deepak Kumar Tala - All rights reserved

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