An eVC is an e Verification Component. It is a ready-to-use, configurable verification environment, typically focusing on a specific protocol or architecture (such as Ethernet, AHB, PCI, or USB).
Each eVC consists of a complete set of elements for stimulating, checking, and collecting coverage information for a specific protocol or architecture. You can apply the eVC to your device under test (DUT) to verify your implementation of the eVC protocol or architecture.
You can use an eVC as a full verification environment or add it to a larger environment. The eVC interface is viewable and hence can be the basis for user extensions. It is recommended that such extensions be done in a separate file. Maintaining the eVC in its original form facilitates possible upgrades.
An eVC implementation is often partially encrypted, especially in commercial eVCs where authors want to protect their intellectual property. Most commercial eVCs require a specific feature license to enable them.
In this chapter, we take a sample XSerial eVC to show how a typical eVC should be constructed. The XSerial eVC is an example of how to code a general-purpose eVC for a point-to-point protocol.
Certain standard files are typically available with an eVC. Some files may be missing depending on the architecture of the eVC.