Automated Debugging of Verilog Designs

In this article we report on novel insights in model-based software debugging of hardware description languages (HDLs). Today's simulation driven working process emphasizes the need for exploiting test suites not only for detecting but also for localizing the root cause of misbehavior. We discuss the modeling approaches for the various artifacts of the Verilog hardware description language (blocking and non-blocking statements, expressions, execution ordering) and present a novel model incorporating test suites. The evaluation of our approach on the well-known ISCAS89 benchmarks concerning single and double-fault diagnoses clearly indicates that incorporating test suites into the fault localization technique (and development process) considerably improves the accuracy of the obtained diagnosis candidates