Trace signal selection for visibility enhancement in post-silicon validation

Abstract

Today's complex integrated circuit designs increasingly rely on post-silicon validation to eliminate bugs that escape from pre-silicon verification. One effective silicon debug technique is to monitor and trace the behaviors of the circuit during its normal operation. However, designers can only afford to trace a small number of signals in the design due to the associated overhead. Selecting which signals to trace is therefore a crucial issue for the effectiveness of this technique. This paper proposes an automated trace signal selection strategy that is able to dramatically enhance the visibility in post-silicon validation. Experimental results on benchmark circuits show that the proposed technique is more effective than existing solutions.