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Lab Exercise Management. Steven P. Levitan, University of Pittsburgh Design Automation Conference Sunday, June 9, 2002. Lab Environment. Multiple Sun Servers Running Solaris 8 Tool Binaries and User Home Directories in AFS filespace PC-based Computer Lab Running Windows 2000
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Lab Exercise Management Steven P. Levitan, University of Pittsburgh Design Automation Conference Sunday, June 9, 2002
Lab Environment • Multiple Sun Servers • Running Solaris 8 • Tool Binaries and User Home Directories in AFS filespace • PC-based Computer Lab • Running Windows 2000 • Connected through X-Win32
Lab Assignments • Calculator Labs • Using Verisity Specman & Mentor Graphics ModelSim • GenBuf Rule Creation • Using IBM RuleBase
Calculator 1 • Black Box Testing • Removed Internal Signals with compiler flag • Done Using Two methods • By Hand (waveform inspection, .do scripts) • With Specman
Calculator 1 cont’d Dual method reasoning • Students gain: • Familiarity with simulator • Insight on why test automation tools are needed • It also proved useful in learning how to write effective “e” code • Students knew the bugs from the 1st assignment, and could focus on learning how to stress those bugs in a new language
Calculator 2 • Black Box Testing • Done Using Specman/ModelSim • Students provided with • a “shell” .e file where they fill in the functions • The combined solution to the Calc1 assignment w/Specman
Calculator 3 • Black Box Testing • Done Using Specman/ModelSim • Students worked in groups • Previous were individual assignments • Most divided the workload into functional testing areas (arithmetic, memory, concurrency, etc)
Calculator Assignment Grading • Each calculator revision has ~8 bugs • Individuals had to find 4 or more to receive an A for the assignment • Groups had to find 6 or more to get an A
RuleBase Lab • Students were to complete the IBM online RuleBase tutorial, and verify 2 new properties • Each sender speaks to each receiver • Every word of FIFO is used • These include both new “rules” and “envs” definitions • The DUT is a generalized 4-port buffer
Role of the TA • The teaching assistant for the course • Should know the design tool flow used • Instructions already available for NCSim and ModelSim • False Positives often found by students due to incorrect tool setup/initialization • Should Understand the DUT • Specs are ambiguous – there will be questions! • Have Unix experience • Not required, but helpful
Scripts/Administration • Website has scripts for • User Environment tool setup • Calc2 bugfix applier • Calc3 bugfix applier • The TA’s account has to be given write permission to run the bug fixes • Users need a relatively large quota • Runtime simulation files