Cadence Perspec System Verifier 23.03 (001)

PSS Updates

Supporting Sized Enums and Instantiation Enums in Packed Structs
When defining a user-defined enum, you can now define its size (width in bits). For example, the kind_t type in the following example is defined as a two bits type. If you define the size of an enum, you can instantiate a field of this type in a packed struct.


Added 'print' and 'format' Methods
Two new functions, "print" and "format," are added to the PSS core library in the std_pkg. These functions are available only during solve time and will replace the existing "outf" and "appendf" methods. The usage of outf and appendf in PSS is now under deprecation.
Usage example:


Get Address Region Using get_tag()
The get tag() function returns the tag of the region where the specified address handle resides. get_tag() is a target function and can only be used in the exec body, run_start, run_end, or functions called from these exec blocks. The following code shows how to print the tag of the handle.


Calling get_target_dir() in post_solve
Until the Perspec version 23.02, DVE.get_target_dir() was available only after starting the code generation. Starting from the Perspec version 23.03, users can call DVE.get_target_dir() in exec post_solve.

Support for Const Strings in Annotations
You can now use global const strings in PSS annotations, which is already supported in SLN. For example, you can define a const of the device name and use it in the annotation, as shown in the following example:


Primitive Memory Operations are Declared in the Library
Previous Perspec releases did not declare the primitive memory operations (read8/16/32/64 and write8/16/32/64) within the executor_base_c component. As a result, user errors in their signature when defining customized versions within executors were not flagged. This Perspec release flags such errors.
In addition, as a temporary limitation, if a customized function needs to call the built-in implementation, it cannot do so using super.<function>. Instead, use the built-in read_scalar()/write_scalar() functions.


Library Updates

Added New Stress Scenarios to the Coherency Library
Added the following new noise scenarios to the Coherency library. In each scenario, one thread does the main activity (parallel_exclusive), while another irritates the same address/cache line.
1. parallel_exclusive_w_st_noise
2. parallel_exclusive_w_ex_noise
3. parallel_exclusive_w_atomic_noise_rt
4. parallel_excluisive_w_cache_noise_rt
5. parallel_exclusive_w_tlb_noise_rt

Tools Updates

Added a fill_detailed Flag to Report FILL Failure Cause
A fill_detailed flag is added to perspec generate. You can use this flag with the -fill or -fill_id flags. Using this flag, Perspec prints the information of why specific scenario/s failed. For example, assume the following code.


The following log is the effect of applying fill to the previous code using perspec generate -sln fill_ex.sln -top_action test -fill -fill_detailed command.


'save' Command Exits with A Non-zero Code on Error
The Perspec "Save" command will now provide a non-zero exit code if it fails to save the model snapshot. For example, due to a loading error.

Defining Initialize and Finalize Actions
The user can now annotate actions as initialize or finalize. For each component, all the actions that are annotated as initialize will be added automatically to be executed first before any other action. All the actions that are annotated as finalize will be automatically added after all other actions.
For example, the following pieces of code annotate the action read_regs always to run when the test starts and the action check_regs to always run at the end of the test.


Backward Incompatibilities and Deprecated Features/Options

New Deprecations, WARNING Severity
- PS_DEPR_PSS_OUTF: reported when using outf(). Replace with the new print() or format().
- PS_DEPR_PSS_APPENDF: reported when using appendf(). Replace with the new print() or format().

New Deprecations, ERROR Severity
The following are new keywords in PSS (to be in PSS2.1). The usage of these keywords as userdefined types is deprecated. Using any of these words as user-defined types will result in PS_DEPR_PSS_KEYWORD. The new PSS constructs involving these keywords will be implemented in upcoming Perspec versions.
- randomize
- float32
- float64

Deprecations Advanced from WARNING to ERROR:
Advanced severity level of the following deprecation IDs from WARNING to ERROR:
- PS_DEPR_LEGACY_ERROR_SYNTAX: reported when using the error() old format in SLN.
- PS_DEPR_PSS_ILLEGAL_CAST: reported when using illegal cast operations.
- PS_DEPR_PSS_NON_REF_UPCAST: reported when casting non-compatible types.
- PS_DEPR_PSS_REF_TO_NON_REF_CAST: reported when trying to perform illegal casting of two reference types.

Deprecation Advanced from ERROR to FULLY DEPRECATED:
Advanced severity level of the following deprecation IDs from ERROR to FULLY DEPRECATED:
- PS_DEPR_IMPORT_STATEMENT_NOT_FIRST: reported when the 'import' statement is after any other statement.
- PS_DEPR_GET_MODEL_DIR: reported when calling method DVE.get_model_dir().
- PS_DEPR_EXECUTABLE_EXTENSION: reported when extending ps_executable as a struct rather than a component.
- PS_DEPR_COMP_INSTANCE_ASSIGNMENT: reported when attempting to assign a component instance.
- PS_DEPR_REF_VARIABLES: reported when defining action, component, or flow/resource object type variables.
- PS_DEPR_REF_FUNC_RETURN_TYPE: reported when function return type is not a reference of action, component, or flow/resource object type.
- PS_DEPR_REF_FUNC_PARAMS: reported when function parameters of actions, components, or flow/resource object types are not reference types.
- PS_DEPR_EXECUTABLE_STRUCT: reported when defining a ps_executable as a struct instead of a component.
- PS_DEPR_PS_THREAD_STRUCT: reported when the ps_thread type is a component instead of a struct.

Primary Executable Tool Version #
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perspec 23.03-a001
pslib v96
vipcat 11.30.061-s

Compatible with Version #
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Any supported Xcelium version
Any supported VXE version
Any supported vManager version

Defects and Enhancements fixed in PERSPEC 23.03.001
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JIRA ID | COMPONENT | SUMMARY
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PERSPEC-10704 | PS_LIB_PCIE | Update BAR and aperture configuration code for 64-bit addressing
PERSPEC-10638 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | Perspec-test mismatch in pslib180 on top action stress_coherency: data merging not done right for a CMO transaction by the VIP
PERSPEC-10593 | EXECUTION | Simulation issue due to CPU reading uninitialized value from the the doorbell at the start of the embedded test
PERSPEC-10590 | CODE_GENERATION | get_tag() generated code uses incorrect address range
PERSPEC-10588 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | Improve the types of dvm_swipe_all PTE fields
PERSPEC-10587 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | Update documentation for PTE attributes in dvm actions
PERSPEC-10585 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | dvm_swipe_all action should report errors using the error() method
PERSPEC-10584 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | Improve error message for dvm_swipe_all
PERSPEC-10579 | PS_LIB_INTEGRATION | Update loop counter to be 64 bits for write_data using int type
PERSPEC-10572 | PSM | How to use core_restrict feature in PSS/SML
PERSPEC-10469 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | fill_dvm_vmid test is getting exception while executing DSB instruction as part of jump_el2_to_el1 function
PERSPEC-10462 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | mix_fs_ts data mismatch in PSLIB 180 and 181
PERSPEC-10409 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | Enhance exclusive scenarios to pick IO coherent cores
PERSPEC-10312 | PS_LIB_PCIE | Update README and README_AVIP for PCIe library integration
PERSPEC-10311 | PS_LIB_PCIE | Getting Compilation Error: No corresponding System Verilog task/function was identified for export task/function slnp_mbox_read/write_word_mem
PERSPEC-10257 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | Getting a misleading library warning: The number of 'ways' in the 'Cache Info' table is not power of 2. ways is: 12
PERSPEC-10219 | LANGUAGE | Implement string formatting routines as per PSS 2.1 spec
PERSPEC-10170 | LANGUAGE | Define annotations for initialize/finalize actions
PERSPEC-10137 | PS_LIB_PERFORMANCE | Reduce debug-prints for improving Simulation Performance when using Embedded Platforms
PERSPEC-9985 | DEBUGGER | Pane sync issue
PERSPEC-9904 | CODE_GENERATION | Provide get_target_dir() for PSS users in post_solve
PERSPEC-9846 | PS_LIB_PERFORMANCE | Enable SPA scenario logging
PERSPEC-9824 | SOLVER | Getting a wrong(?) Resource-conflict failure on a scenario with tokens and runtime operators
PERSPEC-9800 | SOLVER | Solving a scenario from Test-Table fails with inappropriate Error: "=> RE … Retrieving the error has failed - no details are available."
PERSPEC-9713 | SOLVER | Add failure information when using FILL operation
PERSPEC-9553 | PSS_DSL | Allow constant strings as string literals in PSS annotations
PERSPEC-9482 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | Getting constraint error in library for certain memory blocks
PERSPEC-9441 | PSS_DSL | Support user-defined tags for memory regions in PSS core library
PERSPEC-9392 | LANGUAGE | Support enum types inside packed structs
PERSPEC-9179 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | Add support all atomic ops and an updated reference model
PERSPEC-8519 | PS_LIB_COHERENCY | Getting memory allocation error when using the fill_parallel_exclusive_alternate_atomic_lock_width vplan scenario
PERSPEC-5023 | SOLVER | Enable annotation of initialization and finalization actions