Seamless interface for hardware and software data transfer

• US 10,133,683 B1
• Filed: 09/28/2016
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cadence Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Original Assignee: Cadence Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Inventors: Singh, Pratul Kumar, Grewal, Kanwar Preet Singh
• Primary Examiner(s): Sun, Michael
• Application Number:
  US15/279,259
• Time in Patent Office: 783 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/105 where the programme performs an input/output emulation function
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/1642 with request queuing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2205/067 Bidirectional FIFO, i.e. system allowing data transfer in two directions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 5/065 Partitioned buffers, e.g. allowing multiple independent queues, bidirectional FIFO's

Abstract

An interface, a method, and a system are provided. In one or more aspects, the interface is for data transfer between simulation software and a hardware emulator associated with an integrated circuit design and includes a data producer to push a number of elements. A data element includes variable bits of data and variable bits of control information. A first-in-first-out (FIFO) receives the elements pushed by the data producer and stores pushed elements. A data consumer requests the pushed elements from the FIFO. The FIFO includes a buffer array, memory, a first push pointer and a first pop pointer associated with the buffer array, and a second push pointer and a second pop pointer associated with the memory. The buffer array stores elements in software and the memory stores elements in hardware. The interface facilitates moving a portion of hardware emulator functionalities into the simulation software and vice-versa at runtime by utilizing the FIFO.

Claims

1. An interface for data transfer for use by simulation software and a hardware emulator associated with an integrated circuit design, the interface comprising:

a data producer configured to push a plurality of elements,

a first-in-first-out (FIFO) configured to receive the elements pushed by the data producer and to store pushed elements; and

a data consumer configured to request the pushed elements from the FIFO,

the FIFO comprising;

a buffer array configured to store elements in software;

memory configured to store elements in hardware;

a first push pointer and a first pop pointer associated with the buffer array;

a second push pointer and a second pop pointer associated with the memory; and

a policy manager configured to enforce a policy for data transfer between the buffer array and the memory, wherein;

the interface is configured to facilitate moving a portion of hardware emulator functionalities into the simulation software and vice-versa at runtime by utilizing the FIFO, and the policy manager conditions the copying to the buffer array of a content in the memory upon request by the buffer array for synchronization with the memory.

2. The interface of claim 1, wherein the FIFO comprises a hardware-description language (HDL) block and the data transfer is for use by the emulation hardware, wherein the data producer and the data consumer comprise hardware emulator blocks.

3. The interface of claim 2, wherein the FIFO further includes a synchronization scheme to keep the second push pointer and the second pop pointer associated with the memory in sync, and wherein the FIFO is configured to store the pushed elements in the memory and to increment the second push pointer.

4. The interface of claim 1, wherein the FIFO is configured to receive a request for the pushed elements and to retrieve the pushed elements from the memory for sending to the data consumer to increment the second pop pointer, and wherein a pushed element comprises variable bits of data and variable bits of control information.

5. The interface of claim 1, wherein the FIFO comprises a hybrid FIFO including an HDL FIFO and a software FIFO and the data transfer is from the hardware emulator to the simulation software, wherein the data producer comprises HDL and the data consumer comprises software.

6. The interface of claim 5, wherein the HDL FIFO is configured to store the pushed elements in the memory and to increment the second push pointer.

7. The interface of claim 5, wherein the HDL FIFO is configured to write, upon synchronization, content of the second push pointer to the first push pointer, to write a content of the memory to the buffer array, and to clear the memory.

8. The interface of claim 5, wherein the software FIFO is configured to receive a request for the pushed elements, to retrieve the pushed elements from the buffer array for sending to the data consumer, and to increment the first pop pointer.

9. The interface of claim 5, wherein the data producer comprises transport layer HDL and the data consumer comprises link layer software.

10. The interface of claim 1, wherein the FIFO comprises a hybrid FIFO including a software FIFO and an HDL FIFO and the data transfer is from the simulation software to the hardware emulator, wherein the data producer comprises software and the data consumer comprises HDL.

11. The interface of claim 10, wherein the software FIFO is configured to store the pushed elements in the buffer array and to increment the first push pointer.

12. The interface of claim 10, wherein the software FIFO is configured to write, upon synchronization, content of the first push pointer to the second push pointer, to write content of the buffer array to the memory, and to clear the buffer array.

13. The interface of claim 10, wherein the HDL FIFO is configured to receive a request for the pushed elements, to retrieve the pushed elements from the memory for sending to the data consumer, and to increment the second pop pointer.

14. The interface of claim 10, wherein the data producer comprises application layer software and the data consumer comprises transport layer HDL, or wherein the data producer comprises link layer software and the data consumer comprises physical layer HDL.

15. A computer-implemented method of interfacing simulation software and a hardware emulator associated with an integrated circuit design, the computer-implemented method comprising:

providing a first-in-first-out (FIFO) interface configured to facilitate moving a portion of hardware emulator functionalities into the simulation software; and

configuring the FIFO interface to;

receive elements pushed by a data producer,

store pushed elements into a respective one of first or second memory;

increment a respective one of a first or a second push pointer;

send elements from the respective one of the first or second memory to a data consumer; and

increment a respective one of a first or a second pop pointer, wherein configuring the FIFO interface further comprises enforcing a data transfer policy between the first memory and the second memory upon a request for synchronization from either one of the first memory and the second memory.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein providing the FIFO interface comprises providing a hybrid FIFO interface including a software FIFO and an HDL FIFO, wherein the method further comprises configuring the HDL FIFO to:

store pushed elements in the second memory;

increment the second push pointer;

upon synchronization, write content of the second push pointer to the first push pointer;

write content of the second memory to the first memory; and

clear the second memory.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the software FIFO is configured to retrieve elements from the first memory to the data consumer and to increment the first pop pointer, and further comprising accessing content of the FIFO interface at a desired time from software and manipulating the content for enabling advanced verification scenarios.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein providing the FIFO interface comprises providing a hybrid FIFO interface including a software FIFO and an HDL FIFO, wherein the method further comprises configuring the software FIFO to:

store pushed elements in the first memory;

increment the first push pointer;

upon synchronization, write content of the first push pointer to the second push pointer;

write content of the first memory to the second memory; and

clear the first memory.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the HDL FIFO is configured to retrieve elements from the second memory for sending to the data consumer and to increment the second pop pointer.

20. A system for executing simulation software and a hardware emulator associated with an integrated circuit design, the system comprising:

a computing device;

a plurality of servers in communication with the computing device;

an interface configured to facilitate moving a portion of the hardware emulator functionalities into the simulation software by utilizing a first-in-first-out (FIFO) interface; and

a policy manager configured to enforce a policy for data transfer between a first memory and a second memory, wherein;

one or more of the computing device and the plurality of servers are configured to execute one or more design simulation software or hardware emulation runs associated with an integrated circuit design,

the FIFO interface is configured to;

receive elements pushed by a data producer;

store pushed elements into a respective one of first or second memory;

increment a respective one of a first or a second push pointer;

send elements from the respective one of the first or second memory to a data consumer; and

increment a respective one of a first or a second pop pointer, and the policy manager is configured to condition to copy at least a portion of the content of the first memory to the second memory upon a request for synchronization from the second memory.