Extended coverage for sign-off analysis

Real Intent has extended the fault coverage of its Meridian DFT static sign-off tool with improvements to the reporting of issues and the ability to track down root causes.

The latest version of the tool presents violations in tables, with detailed coverage reporting for violating registers, design instances with the most uncovered faults, and selected test points per test mode. The violations can be provided with hyperlinks that make it easier to cross-probe of nets and instances in the schematic or source code viewer.

For tracking potential violations, Real Intent has also made extensive additions to Meridian DFT‘s fine-grained rules, including specialized rules for sequential capture through loops and deep sequences of flip-flops without scan collars. The rules also perform advanced connectivity checks and provide observability through memories.

The company proposes Meridian DFT can be used at several stages in a project: during RTL design to fix asynchronous set/reset, clock, and connectivity issues early; after scan synthesis, to check for scan-chain rule compliance; and after place-and-route