A cache based algorithm to predict HDL modules faults

Verification is the most challenging and time consuming stage in the integrated circuit development cycle. As designs complexities double every two years, novel verification methodologies are needed. We propose an algorithm that dynamically builds and updates an HDL module error proneness list. This list can be used to assist the development team to allocate resources during verification stage. The algorithm is build up using the idea that problematic modules usually hide many uncovered errors. Thus, our algorithm caches the most frequently modified and fixed modules. In an academic experiment composed by 17 modules, using a cache of size 3, we were able to correctly predict almost 80% of the faults occurrences.