Debugging hardware designs using dynamic dependency graphs

Abstract

Debugging is a time consuming task in hardware design. In this paper a new debugging approach based on the analysis of dynamic dependency graphs is presented. Powerful techniques for software debugging, including reverse debugging, dynamic forward and backward slicing, and spectrum-based fault localization are combined and adapted for hardware designs. A case study on designs with multiple faults approved the power of the proposed debugging methodology reducing the debugging time to 50% in comparison to conventional techniques.