After reviewing 20+ verification projects, I see the same pattern:
5 well-written sequences
All of them exercising the "happy path"
Corner cases added as an afterthought at week 8
By then, coverage holes require surgical constrained-random surgery that takes 2x as long as getting it right in week 1.
The fix is boring but it works:
Before you write a single line of driver code, define your sequence taxonomy:
baseline_seq — protocol-compliant, valid stimulus
stress_seq — back-to-back transactions, max burst length
error_inject_seq — bad addr, illegal burst, protocol violations
mixed_seq — interleaved read/write with randomized gaps
Map each to a functional coverage bin. If your sequence can't hit a bin, the sequence is incomplete — not your coverage model.
This one habit saves 3–4 weeks of closure pain at tape-out.
Hashtags: #SystemVerilog #UVM #HardwareVerification #ASIC #ChipDesign #EDA
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