Method and apparatus for automated signal integrity checking based on storage device functionality

摘要

A method of characterizing and simulating electronic systems for signal integrity is presented. Each device in the electronic system is associated with at least one vulnerability table and at least one vulnerability window. The vulnerability table is a three dimensional table that characterizes the operation of the device and includes line length on one axis, coupling efficiency on another axis and drivers size of a gate, on the third axis. In addition a number of vulnerability windows are presented. The vulnerability window is a time period when a storage device may store the wrong data because of signal integrity issues in the electronic system. A vulnerability window is developed for each input to a storage device in the system. In addition a vulnerability window is developed based on a number of failure mechanisms used to characterize the system. Lastly, a mapped vulnerability window is presented for devices such as logical gates, which provide input to the storage device. The mapped vulnerability windows are a function of the vulnerability windows for the storage device and the time delay for a signal communicated from a gate under study to the storage device.