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From: Paul on 14 Feb 2010 12:41
On 14 Feb, 17:15, rickman <gnu...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I tend to use self-checking test benches.  There is some question as
> to what is best, but I find that often my design has to be tweaked
> after I have it working and once I have the test bench working, the
> tweaked design can be tested very easily.  I guess it is a question of
> whether the test bench is a one time thing or will be "reused".  I
> often find I "reuse" my test benches in both ways, I often run them
> more than once and I use parts of one test bench in others as I test
> my way up the integration process.
>
> Oh, also, there has been more than once that my test bench was
> actually another FPGA design that ended up on a test fixture to
> production test the real board.  That can be a fair amount of work,
> but not as much work as separately testing two FPGA designs.
>
> Rick

I thought non-checking test benches was the most prevalent method
used, because that's what I do and almost all engineers I've come
across do as well. Hmmmm...... maybe I need to change my mind :-)
From: Petter Gustad on 14 Feb 2010 12:55
nico(a)puntnl.niks (Nico Coesel) writes:

> Petter Gustad <newsmailcomp6(a)gustad.com> wrote:
>
>>nico(a)puntnl.niks (Nico Coesel) writes:
>>
>>> Bottom line is that VHDL is more powerful & complicated than Verilog
>>> but neither are the perfect language. For people with a background in
>>
>>Depends upon which Verilog standard you refer to as Verilog. IEEE-1800
>>is way more powerful than any of the VHDL standards IMHO.
>
> I'm talking about the Verilog you can actually use with todays tools.

I actually used IEEE-1800 several years ago (VCS and DC). Today it's
supported by even more tools, including Quartus.

Petter
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From: Petter Gustad on 14 Feb 2010 13:12
Paul <pault.eg(a)googlemail.com> writes:

> visual inspection of results. That method I find is the quickest way
> of getting to a working FPGA design.

Visual inspection does not scale. If you run the test more a couple
times you have probably saved the time it takes to write the
self-checking test bench.

Petter
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From: Martin Thompson on 15 Feb 2010 09:54
Paul <pault.eg(a)googlemail.com> writes:

> I do use unit tests on occasion for software, but I don't use test
> driven development. For VHDL, unit tests would mean I would have to
> write self-checking testbenches, and unfortunately I don't tend to get
> the time for that. It would be nice however to have a unit test
> environment for VHDL. One day I might get the time to use it....

I usually don't have time to *not* write a self-checking testbench :)

And on the occasions I think I'll get away without it, I often end up
writing one anyway!

Cheers,
Martin

--
martin.j.thompson(a)trw.com
TRW Conekt - Consultancy in Engineering, Knowledge and Technology
http://www.conekt.net/electronics.html
From: rickman on 15 Feb 2010 13:03
On Feb 14, 12:41 pm, Paul <pault...(a)googlemail.com> wrote:
> On 14 Feb, 17:15, rickman <gnu...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > I tend to use self-checking test benches.  There is some question as
> > to what is best, but I find that often my design has to be tweaked
> > after I have it working and once I have the test bench working, the
> > tweaked design can be tested very easily.  I guess it is a question of
> > whether the test bench is a one time thing or will be "reused".  I
> > often find I "reuse" my test benches in both ways, I often run them
> > more than once and I use parts of one test bench in others as I test
> > my way up the integration process.
>
> > Oh, also, there has been more than once that my test bench was
> > actually another FPGA design that ended up on a test fixture to
> > production test the real board.  That can be a fair amount of work,
> > but not as much work as separately testing two FPGA designs.
>
> > Rick
>
> I thought non-checking test benches was the most prevalent method
> used, because that's what I do and almost all engineers I've come
> across do as well. Hmmmm...... maybe I need to change my mind :-)

I can't say I have worked with that many engineers well enough to know
how their test benches work, but I can only think of one designer (I
hate to call him an engineer even if he has a degree) who does not use
self-checking test benches. But then this guy also doesn't use static
timing analysis. He claims a post-route simulation will find timing
errors. I actually could not get him to understand why everyone else
uses static timing analysis and why the vendors put so much effort
into providing the tool!

Rick
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