UVM 1.2: Open Public Review

UVM 1.2 Release is Imminent

As vice chair of DVCon 2014, I can share with you that the Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) remains a topic of great interest.  It sets the pace for tutorials and given the pending release by Accellera, learning what is new in UVM 1.2 is a compelling reason to attend DVCon.

The Accellera Day tutorial series on Monday at DVCon is popular with UVM being a session of great interest.  Aside from the “verification crisis” driving the need to explore this industry standard, the first major update is also a reason to generate this interest.  The UVM tutorial is meant for the novice and expert alike.  UVM experts can expect to walk away with more information on the new UVM 1.2 features and how they might plan to deploy them.

Naturally, I suggest you consider registering for the conference to attend this tutorial.  (There are still a few seats left; but you will need to hurry!)

UVM Working Group Discussions

As a member of the Accellera UVM Working Group, I have asked the team to consider adopting the SystemC development scheme of an open public review of a pending release of open source code.  While the merger of OSCI and Accellera to form Accellera Systems Initiative inherited the OSCI style of public review, Accellera has not fully embraced it for all its projects.

In a disclosure of a bit of insider conversation I had with the UVM WG this last week, I asked the group to confirm that we were going to bypass the “official” public review option and go to an internal 30-day review cycle only – then release to the public.  While the conclusion was to stay on the 30-day internal review path, the group also noted that one who may be familiar with Git might be able to locate the source code (and many have) and do testing.

Since the bleeding-edge users know they can access as it is being developed, why not share the Git commands for everyone to gain access?  So the group has done just this.  When last minute changes for Release Candidate 4 were put in place, the Git script to offer access for early review was shared publicly.  You can find can find this public message here, thanks to UVM WG member Adiel Khan (from Synopsys).

If you are a seasoned UVM user and are attending DVCon the week of March 3rd, I would encourage you to do some testing now so you can connect with the developers first hand.  And even if you are not attending DVCon but want to migrate to UVM 1.2, you might want to get an early start to determine what you might need to do to adopt this release.

If you are not going to attend the DVCon UVM tutorial and want a short update on what this version will offer, the UVM WG secretary, Adam Sherer (from Cadence), put together a brief slide set that he presented at the TVS DVClub event in September 2013 that you can download.  You may find it a useful companion to the download of the open source code.

Even if you are not attending DVCon, the adoption of UVM is globally substantial and it might be good to reflect on the need for broader testing.  In the first releases of UVM, this may not have been as important as few were using it and the number of tests limited to the main developers.  However, as its popularity has grown and adoption increased, it is probably a good idea for the Accellera UVM Working Group to consider the impact of a new release on teams actively using it now.  While the UVM WG drives to closure on its release candidate and the UVM 1.2 standard, you are offered the opportunity to give us feedback.  For those who have time, please do!

Mentor Commentary on Standards Development

Lastly, for those attending DVCon, check out our own Tom Fitzpatrick’s Wednesday morning paper – Of Camels and Committees: Standards Should Enable Innovation, Not Strangle It. His commentary on the development process may shed some additional light into how technology additions, changes and enhancements are judged for inclusion in updates to standards, like UVM.