Simulation Based Verification with Range Based Signal Representations for Mixed-Signal Systems

Abstract

Verification of either analog or digital systems is known to be difficult. Verifying modern mixed-signal systems increases the complexity further. This paper presents a range based approach to verify mixed-signal systems including parameter variation by a single simulation run. Analog systems are simulated by a SPICE-like simulator which uses a special range arithmetic, called affine arithmetic. The simulation of digital systems is extended to include the earliest and latest possible arrival times for every signal. Special converters transform the signals between each domain. The speed-up of this framework compared to traditional Monte-Carlo simulations was up to 500.