Development of AMBA-AXI Verification IP Using SystemVerilog Based Methodologies

Abstract

The Verification Intellectual Properties (VIPs) are based on standard protocols and are used to verify such protocols. Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture-Advanced eXtensible Interface (AMBA-AXI) is one of the standard protocols for which VIP is needed to be developed. Since its inception, the scope of AMBA has gone far beyond microcontroller devices, and is now widely used on a range of Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and System-on-Chip (SoC) parts including applications processors used in modern portable mobile devices like smartphones. The need for higher performance applications is driving the requirement for a new age of on-chip communication infrastructure. Increasing the clock frequency no longer addresses this higher performance requirement, as the bottleneck is inherent in the existing bus infrastructure. The AMBA-AXI protocol is targeted at high-performance, high- frequency system designs and includes a number of features that make it suitable for high-speed submicron interconnects. AXI is backward compatible with existing AHB and APB interfaces, provides higher performance and reduces overall system cost. The project is about development of VIP of AMBA-AXI using SystemVerilog based methodology such as UVM (Universal Veri cation Methodology).