Patent ID: 8417504

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for converting results from a simulation of a description of a circuit into one or more transactions of a protocol, wherein a message of the protocol is a subpart of a transaction of the protocol, the method comprising: using one or more computers: receiving a set of simulation data, the set of simulation data corresponding to a time-slice of results from a simulation of a circuit description; comparing signal values of the set of simulation data to signal values associated with messages of the protocol; determining a sequence of messages by identifying matches between the set of simulation data and messages of the protocol; comparing the determined sequence of messages to paths within a state machine corresponding to the protocol, wherein; the state machine has a plurality of states and transitions between states, and the plurality of transitions corresponds to messages of the protocol; determining transactions by identifying a path between states of the state machine that corresponds to the determined sequence of messages, wherein the path has a known first state and a known last state; selecting a group of the determined transactions; comparing the selected group of determined transactions to predetermined groups of transactions; determining a match between the selected group of determined transactions and one of the predetermined groups of transactions; based on the match, converting the selected group of determined transactions into a single sequence of transactions; and storing the sequence of transactions to a memory storage location.