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Assembly-level test program generation

Technique

Assembly-level test program generation is a verification technique that automatically synthesizes test programs in assembly language for functional verification of microprocessors. It relies on formal specifications of the target architecture to describe verification goals and produces tests that exercise specific microarchitectural situations, enabling coverage-directed validation of instruction set behavior.

First seen 6/27/2026
Last seen 6/27/2026
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Overview

Assembly-level test program generation is an automated verification technique used to produce test programs written in the assembly language of a target microprocessor. These generated programs are then executed (typically on a simulation model or the hardware itself) to check functional correctness of the processor against its specification.

The technique addresses the difficulty of manually authoring assembly-level stimulus that systematically covers instruction behaviors, addressing modes, operand combinations, and interactions between instructions. By automating program synthesis from formal specifications, the technique supports coverage-directed functional verification of complex instruction set architectures.

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RELATIONSHIPS

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MicroTESK ← implements 95% 1e
MicroTESK is described as a framework that generates assembly-language test programs, directly implementing assembly-level test generation.
Functional verification of microprocessors part of → 85% 1e
The assembly-level test generation is explicitly performed for functional verification, making it a component of that verification process.

CITATIONS

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4 citations — click to collapse
[1] The technique generates test programs in assembly language for functional verification of microprocessors, using formal specifications of the target microprocessor configuration. MicroTESK: a test program generator
[2] Generation tasks are described in a special Ruby-based language that allows formulating verification goals in terms of test situations derived from formal specifications. MicroTESK: a test program generator
[3] The specification-driven approach simplifies configuring the framework and improves the level of test coverage. MicroTESK: a test program generator
[4] The technique has been applied in industrial projects for verification of ARMv8 and MIPS64 microprocessors. MicroTESK: a test program generator