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How do you choose the best test coverage metric for your IC design?

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Testing is a crucial stage in integrated circuit (IC) design, as it ensures the quality, reliability, and functionality of the final product. However, testing can also be time-consuming, costly, and complex, especially for large and sophisticated ICs. Therefore, choosing the best test coverage metric for your IC design is an important decision that can affect your testing efficiency and effectiveness. In this article, we will explain what test coverage metrics are, why they matter, and how to select the most suitable one for your IC design.

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RONY THOMAS

SoC Design Verification Engineer at Intel Corporation | IEEE Volunteer | Chair of Industry Relations, IEEE Kerala…

1 What are test coverage metrics?

Test coverage metrics are quantitative measures that indicate how thoroughly your test cases cover the features, functions, and specifications of your IC design. They can help you evaluate the completeness, adequacy, and quality of your testing process and identify any gaps or errors that need to be fixed. There are different types of test coverage metrics, such as code coverage, functional coverage, specification coverage, and fault coverage, each focusing on a different aspect of your IC design.

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RONY THOMAS

SoC Design Verification Engineer at Intel Corporation | IEEE Volunteer | Chair of Industry Relations, IEEE Kerala Section
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One other types of coverage metric is called toggle coverage where we check for the transition of various signals within the design from one state to the other. There can also be custom coverage metrics specific to a particular design.

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2 Why do test coverage metrics matter?

Test coverage metrics are essential for optimizing testing resources, reducing testing time, and improving testing results. Tracking your testing progress and performance, as well as ensuring test cases cover the relevant and critical aspects of your IC design, are key. Additionally, it is important to detect and eliminate any redundant, ineffective, or missing test cases. Prioritizing areas that need more testing or improvement, as well as verifying and validating that your IC design meets customer and stakeholder requirements and expectations, should also be done.

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RONY THOMAS

SoC Design Verification Engineer at Intel Corporation | IEEE Volunteer | Chair of Industry Relations, IEEE Kerala Section
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Coverage metrics can sometime help identify bugs in the design. For example if a design is expected to give 100% code coverage but not doing so even after multiple test runs means that certain lines of code in the design are not being executed and this could point to a bug in the design. Take note that this is not happening because of mistake in the testbench or the coverage metrics itself.

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3 How to select the best test coverage metric for your IC design?

When selecting the best test coverage metric for your IC design, there is no one-size-fits-all answer as it depends on various factors, such as design complexity, size, type, and purpose, testing objectives, scope and criteria, and testing tools, methods and standards. To make an informed decision, it is important to define your testing goals and requirements clearly and realistically. Additionally, you should understand the strengths, limitations and trade-offs of different test coverage metrics. It may also be beneficial to choose a combination of test coverage metrics to capture different dimensions of your IC design and testing. Ultimately, you should evaluate the results of different test coverage metrics and adjust your testing strategy accordingly. Choosing the right test coverage metric can make a considerable difference in your testing outcomes and IC design quality.

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4 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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RONY THOMAS

SoC Design Verification Engineer at Intel Corporation | IEEE Volunteer | Chair of Industry Relations, IEEE Kerala Section
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The coverage goals also should be set properly according to the design. Not all the coverage metrics need to hit 100 percent. Since coverage goals are one of the parameters that companies use to sign off on the validation of a design, it is necessary to decide what percentage of coverage is an acceptable parameter before the validation of a deign can be considered complete.

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How do you choose the best test coverage metric for your IC design?

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1 What are test coverage metrics?

2 Why do test coverage metrics matter?

3 How to select the best test coverage metric for your IC design?

4 Here’s what else to consider

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