Timer validation of automotive microcontroller using motor application

Post-Silicon validation is a major bottleneck in System-on-Chip (SoC) design methodology due to increasing design complexity and it is very difficult to detect all the design flaws at Pre-Silicon verification level. Timer module in an automotive microcontroller is used for many applications like power train, power steering, transmission control and chassis so validation of the timer module is very critical. Most of the recent automotive microcontroller uses Generic Timer Module (GTM) due to its scalable and configurable architecture. GTM combines sub-modules of different functionality in a configurable manner to form a complex timer module that serves different application domain. This paper presents a methodology to validate different submodules of GTM like Timer Input Module (TIM), Timer Output Module (TOM), Sensor Pattern Evaluation (SPE) and Clock Management Unit (CMU) using Brushless DC motor (BLDC) application.