Abstract
We introduce the notion of self-consistency checking, a new methodology for applying formal methods in the debugging process. Intuitively, self-consistency checks functional consistency of a circuit in two different modes or environments. Self-consistency can (1) simplify property verification and (2) enable the use of symbolic simulation in the absence of a concrete specification. We present a correctness model for property verification with self-consistency checking and the formal framework for the technique. Finally, we provide illustrative examples and partial verification results using self-consistency checking on circuits with many thousands of latches.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
V. Bhagwati and S. Devadas. Automatic verification of pipelined microprocessors. In 31st ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference, 1994.
J. R. Burch and D. L. Dill. Automatic verification of microprocessor control. In Computer Aided Verification. 6th International Conference, 1994.
J. R. Burch. Techniques for verifying superscalar microprocessors. In 33rd ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference, 1996.
D. Cyrluk. Microprocessor verification in PVS: A methodology and simple example. Technical Report SRI-CSL-93-12, SRI Computer Science Laboratory, December 1993.
A. Gupta. Formal hardware verification methods: A survey. Formal Methods in System Design, 1:5–92, 1992.
J. L. Hennessy and D. A. Patterson. Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach. Morgan Kaufmann, 1990.
W. A. Hunt, Jr. FM8501: A verified microprocessor. Technical Report 47, University of Texas at Austin, Institute for Computing Science, December 1985.
C. H. Seger. Voss: A formal hardware verification system user's guide. Technical Report 93–45, Department of Computer Science, Univerisity of British Columbia, 1993.
J. B. Saxe, S. J. Garland, J. V. Guttag, and J. J. Horning. Using transformations and verification in circuit design. Technical Report 78, DEC Systems Research Center, September 1991.
R. Wilson. Verification feels strain. Electronic Engineering Times, (840):18–22, March 1995.
P. J. Windley. Formal modeling and verification of microprocessors. IEEE Transactions on Computers, 44(1):54–72, January 1995.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Jones, R.B., Seger, CJ.H., Dill, D.L. (1996). Self-consistency checking. In: Srivas, M., Camilleri, A. (eds) Formal Methods in Computer-Aided Design. FMCAD 1996. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1166. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0031806
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0031806
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-61937-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-49567-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive