Why The UVM Is Ready For Production Use Today -- Part 3

This is the final installment of my blog posts based on the three common questions I heard at DAC regarding the Universal Verification Methodology (UVM). I've already answered the questions "What does the UVM mean for the future of the OVM and VMM?" and "Why is the first release of the UVM labelled as "Early Adopter (EA)?"

The third and final question that I'd like to address is "Will there be a UVM e and UVM SystemC?" Actually, there were a few variations on this question, including "I'm a user of OVM e [or OVM SystermC], so how can I move to the UVM if it only supports SystemVerilog?" The same answer will suffice for all the variants.

At DAC, Cadence clearly committed to provide base-class libraries and documentation for e and SystemC versions of the UVM, just as we did for the OVM. We believe strongly that verification methodology need not be language-specific. Most of the techniques and guidelines for building reusable verification testbenches, verification IP, and models are equally applicable to all three languages.

This answer will lead some questioners to refine their query to "Will Accellera even release a multi-language UVM?" I'm not in the position of speaking for Accellera, but I understand that there are other members of the VIP Technical Subcommittee (VIP-TSC) who would like the UVM to evolve to be a multi-language methodology so perhaps this will come to pass.

In the meantime, the very close relationship between the OVM and the UVM means that you can easily use existing OVM VIP (in any of the three languages) in a UVM SystemVerilog testbench. We live in a multi-language verification world, and so the OVM and the UVM were architected for multiple languages from the beginning.

So that's it! I answered the three big questions from those who were a bit hesitant to jump on the UVM juggernaut. If you have any additional questions that I didn't address, please post them in a reply Otherwise, visit UVM World and join your peers in embracing the UVM for your next verification project; you'll be glad you did.