Mentor Graphics Delivers Emulation Solutions for the Verification of USB SuperSpeed (3.0) Products

The first of two new products is the iSolveTM USB SuperSpeed (3.0) Host Controller, which has a ‘plug-and-play’ hardware interface to the Veloce family of hardware emulators, providing a cost-effective and efficient solution to verify USB SuperSpeed peripherals that are part of an SoC design. This new solution adds to the existing iSolve family of solutions for the accelerated verification of applications such as multimedia, networking, embedded systems, wireless, and storage devices.

Complementing the iSolve solution is a new Veloce USB 3.0 Host Transactor, which delivers an accelerated simulation environment for the verification of USB SuperSpeed (3.0)-compliant devices. It generates the appropriate stimuli for the DUT, passing packets (or transactions) of protocol data for tests. The transactor also provides high-level Application Programming Interface (API) and example tests to model a test environment that can exercise the emulated USB SuperSpeed (3.0) device.

USB is a pervasive technology across a wide range of products, with billions of devices having been created that use the protocol. With the ever increasing demands for system-level verification of such products, a heavy burden is placed on SoC designers who need to verify how their USB SuperSpeed devices interact with the software and hardware in their SOCs.

“New computer and consumer products are increasingly dependent upon the use of the latest-generation USB SuperSpeed peripheral devices, and design engineers are concerned with the quick and efficient verification of software drivers and achieving compliancy testing with an SoC having one or more USB SuperSpeed ports,” said Jim Kenney, director of marketing, Mentor’s Emulation Division. “To solve these challenges, we created both hardware and software solutions for USB SuperSpeed verification, providing more flexibility, ease-of-use, and configurable test models our customers require for pre-silicon testing.”

Combined with the Veloce platform, the USB SuperSpeed solutions deliver high-performance, and easy-to-use system verification environments to develop new SoCs containing a USB SuperSpeed peripheral device, without compromising delivery schedules. The solution offers several key benefits:

Industry-standard xHCI controller provides connection to Windows or Linux-based software environment for driver development

Standard USB SuperSpeed (3.0) PIPE interface to the emulated design in Veloce

Transactor solution that provide built-in SystemVerilog/OVM compliancy sequences used to check emulated USB SuperSpeed device compliancy to the protocol standard

Compliant to USB SuperSpeed (3.0) standard

The new USB SuperSpeed products can be used with traditional in-circuit emulation (ICE) as well as a high-performance, transaction-based acceleration modes of operation. The ability to mix and match traditional ICE capabilities with high-performance, transaction-based acceleration facilitates the smooth transition from a simulation-centric use model to in-circuit emulation. The solution is available for deployment at customer sites effective immediately.