Role of SystemVerilog-UVM in Modern Hardware Verification

Abstract

The paper discusses the widespread applications of SystemVerilog and Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) in present-day hardware verification. As integrated circuits (ICs) and systems-on-chip (SoCs) are becoming more complicated, the traditional methods of verification are no longer able to keep up with the stipulation to be both accurate and efficient. It looks at the application of SystemVerilog, a Verilog extension, to incrementally improve the hardware verification with the full capabilities provided by the technology, including randomization, functional coverage, and UVM standards, and the creation of scalable and reusable verification environments. Some of the considerable conclusions made in the paper include the fact that UVM can alleviate times of verification by up to 40%. It can also increase the error detection rates by a margin of up to 25%, as was observed during the case studies conducted on UVM of big semiconductor players like Intel and Qualcomm. The important issues that are also examined in the work comprise the issues of engaging the UVM in practice, where the UVM resources are limited, and the learning curve involved in the process of installing the UVM. The study concludes that UVM has streamlined hardware verification, made it more reliable and scalable, and, above all, in the case of large projects. In addition, the adoption of AI and machine learning into the UVM-based verification systems has the potential to come up with automated test generation and fault prediction. The paper proves helpful in both the perspectives of perceiving the effects of UVM, as well as recommendations on how its application can be improved in the future.