Re: [vhdl-200x] VHDL Testbench Enhancements

hi, 
I believe that testbench and verification related enhancements need not be made to VHDL., if the verification flow cannot be modeled so as to have powerful links with the system level design flow. With the automation tools also available for full featured SystemVerilog Testbench to use with VHDL simulators, and  SystemVerilog being  adopted by 100's of semiconductor design companies and supported by more than 75 EDA, IP and training solutions worldwide,  it is more compatible for a VHDL user as of now to adopt something like SystemVerilog. 

However, the following features can be added to VHDL verification mode to make it somewhat better than likes of SystemVerilog. 
1) Boolean, integer, real vector and multidimensional data types. 
2) Associative arrays for holding sparse data
3) The routines for basic queuing theory, such as fork and join. 
4) FIFO s
5) Constrained random generation.
6) Access to coverage data
7) Loading and dumping memories.
8) Object orientation
9) Synchronization and handshaking 
10) Expected value detectors. 

Regards, 
Sukrit Shankar 
Conexant Systems

wallacerim@aol.com wrote: 
   .AOLPlainTextBody {     margin: 0px;     font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif;     font-size: 12px;      color: #000;      background-color: #fff;  }  .AOLPlainTextBody pre {     font-size: 9pt; }  .AOLInlineAttachment {     margin: 10px; }  .AOLAttachmentHeader {     font: 11px arial;     border: 1px solid #7DA8D4;     background: #F9F9F9; }  .AOLAttachmentHeader .Title {     font: 11px arial;     background: #B5DDFA;     padding: 3px 3px 3px 3px; }  .AOLAttachmentHeader .FieldLabel {     font: 11px arial;      color: #000000;     padding: 1px 10px 1px 9px;     background: #F9F9F9; }  .AOLAttachmentHeader .FieldValue {     font: 11px arial;      color: #000000;     background: #F9F9F9; }  .AOLAttachmentHeader a, .AOLImage a {     color: #2864B4;     text-decoration: none; }  .AOLAttachmentHeader a:hover, .AOLImage a:hover {     color: #2864B4;     text-decoration: underline; }  .AOLWebSuiteCompose .AOLPicturesFullSizeLink, .AOLWebSuite
 .AOLPicturesFullSizeLink {     height: 1px;     width: 1px;     overflow: hidden; }  body {     background-color: white;     font-family: "Verdana";     font-size: 10pt;     border: 0px; }  .AOLWebSuiteCompose p {     margin: 0px;     padding: 0px; }  img.managedImg {     width: 0px;     height: 0px; }  img.placeholder {     width: 275px;     height: 206px;     background: #F4F4F4 center center no-repeat;     border: 1px solid #DADAD6 !important;   }     Jim Lewis wrote: 
 > Hi, 
 > The VHDL standards community has been considering whether 
 > to enhance VHDL to add advanced testbench features. 
 > > If you are a VHDL user, 
 > Do you want these features added to VHDL? 
 > Would you rather adopt a verification language that 
 > already supports these (SystemVerilog, SystemC, E, Vera). 
 > > I think VHDL needs to enhance testbench capability to 
 > stay competitive. 
 
    
   Looking at the proposals from both the long term (I was at AFWAL as the Project Engineer that gave birth to VHDL, I took over from Al Dewey and brought the language out of the Lab to the IEEE) and the short term (as a design engineer at Northrop Grumman) I do not see a reason to have one language cover all elements of both HDL and test/verification scripting.
    
   My answer is: No, don't do this.
    
   If anything needs to be done it is to open any number of scripting languages to handle the proper temporal, typed interfaces.
    
   My industry does not want a language that resembles: "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them."   What we do want is clear escapes from one form to another allowing the right tools to be used at the right times.  I can't imagine any good coming from a mash-up of different lexical and semantic issues from a disjunct of purposes expressed in one highly bastardized syntax.
    
   We buy large installations of tools and we have lots of them rotting in the pile due to their cumbersomeness, lack of true utility and other such.  We'd rather have a tool set that does it's job well and can flow from one tool to another.
    
   Richard Wallace
   Northrop Grumman 
   
  
   
---------------------------------
 AOL now offers free email to everyone.  Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.
 
  
--  
This message has been scanned for viruses and 
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is 
believed to be clean. 
   
       
---------------------------------
Need a vacation? Get great deals to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel. 
-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.