External Simulator

External Simulator Control

TestBencher Pro can control external simulators through it's graphical interface, so that compilation and simulation of the project can be handled without having to exit TestBencher. This is particularly useful when multiple tools are needed to compile and simulate a project. For example, if you are using one of the new verification languages you will need a tool to compile the test bench into either a dynamically linked library or byte code. You will also need a VHDL or Verilog simulator and a make file containing all of the information about your model under test and the commands to dynamically link to the test bench library. With TestBencher, all of these details are automatically handled for you. TestBencher stores information about both your simulator and verification compiler and can remotely call those programs and display the results of the simulation.

Automatically Launch External Simulators

When the external program integration feature is enabled, TestBencher employs the user specified programs to handle the compilation and simulation of the project. The simulator settings are saved for each language independently so that it is easy to build and simulate a test bench in different languages.

Automatically launches ModelSim and sends commands to the graphical interface to display the test bench control and status signals.

Graphical integration and control of VCS, VERA, and Verilog-XL using TestBencher's simulation button bar.

Automatic launching of Microsoft's C++ and GNU compilers for SystemC and TestBuilder code.

Remote execution of VCS and Vera running on different computers and even under different operating systems. This means you can use a Windows PC as your desktop machine and transparently run your simulations as batch jobs on a Solaris box.

Simulator settings are saved for each language individually, so that you can (for instance) simulate OpenVera projects with VCS and VHDL projects with ModelSim, without having to change the settings each time you switch between languages.