Re-useable hardware/software co-verification of IP blocks

A novel use of remote procedure call techniques gives access to the software driver API of an IP block from a high-level verification testbench. This allows an IP block to be validated through its software interface as well as its hardware interface. Such a unified methodology has immediate benefits for IP block development. More importantly, it allows re-useable, system level verification components to be produced, which greatly enhance the value of an IP block. A combination of commercial testbench and co-simulation tools is used to demonstrate this methodology.