Effortless MIPI Low-Speed Protocol Validation with Soliton’s Turnkey Solution

In this article, discover how Soliton’s Protocol Validation Suite (PVS) for MIPI low-speed protocol validation revolutionizes protocol compliance testing, offering seamless validation with its out-of-the-box features. 

Digital protocol compliance validation has long been marred by complex and time-consuming procedures. Validation engineers need to manually emulate test cases for AC characterization, design verification, parametric stress tests, fault injection, functional tests, custom device-specific tests, and many other custom tests to confirm protocol compliance. This results in significant time and effort spent navigating various tools and systems to generate compliance reports.  

Additionally, performing protocol validation also requires an in-depth knowledge of specific protocols and technology stacks. These inefficiencies in conventional methods often result in prolonged release cycles, ultimately delaying time-to-market.  

Therefore, the imperative for a comprehensive protocol validation tool to ensure device interoperability and compliance with digital protocol standards in a timely and efficient manner has never been more pressing.   

Introducing Soliton's Protocol Validation Suite for MIPI Low-Speed Protocols

Soliton's Protocol Validation Suite for MIPI Low-Speed Protocol emerges as an off-the-shelf solution designed to streamline compliance testing and validate devices' conformance with digital protocol specifications. In addition to functional and parametric tests, it can also validate the device’s tolerance, recovery from a variety of protocol faults & exceptions and provide a comprehensive set of reports. The protocol validation suite is complemented by a robust and protocol-agnostic hardware setup integrated seamlessly to ensure comprehensive testing across multiple protocols like MIPI I3C®, MIPI RFFESM, MIPI SPMISM, I2C, SPI, UART, I2S & TDM, SMBus, PMBus, etc.

Users have claimed that using this automated solution for protocol validation has brought down the test/validation time from a few weeks to a couple of days, with a test coverage of >90% achieved effortlessly with just a few clicks and at a 50% lesser cost. 

Out-of-the-Box Attributes of the Validation Suite  

Soliton’s Protocol Validation Suite for MIPI Low-Speed Protocol encompasses an array of features, including support for various protocol modes, comprehensive functional and parametric tests, fault testing capabilities, and automation API capabilities. Its user-friendly interface facilitates simplified testing workflows, while its comprehensive reporting capabilities ensure detailed insights into device performance.   

Here are some key features of Soliton’s Protocol Validation Suite for MIPI Low-Speed Protocol that demonstrate its robust capabilities in action: 

Out-of-the-Box Attributes of the Validation Tool

⇒ Faster Validation
 Expedite protocol validation with a swift 3–4-hour turnaround, transforming validation timelines from weeks to mere hours. 

⇒ Enhanced Coverage
The suite’s intuitive interface ensures a quick learning curve and seamless adoption, boosting engineer efficiency and delivering over 90% out-of-the-box validation test coverage.  

⇒ Fault Injection Capabilities
The suite supports injecting faults into the protocol commands and verifies the fault tolerance capabilities of the DUT. 

⇒ Protocol Agnosticism
Empower validation engineers to leverage the same setup for low-speed protocols like MIPI I3C®, MIPI RFFESM, MIPI SPMISM, I2C, SPI, UART, I2S & TDM, SMBus, PMBus, etc., facilitated by its adaptable software that enables protocol validation without the need for extensive coding. 

⇒ Integration with External Test Automation Infrastructure
The tool comes with automation APIs that can be readily imported into automation frameworks based on Python, C#, LabVIEW, and TestStand, enabling complete automation by using existing test infrastructure to perform tests like environmental condition sweeps, temperature tests, etc.

Covering both functional and parametric aspects, the validation suite ensures comprehensive testing of device behavior and electrical characteristics. With support for various modes and exhaustive functional and parametric coverage, validation engineers can gain valuable insights into device performance, enabling thorough validation and compliance testing.   

Customary Use Cases of the Validation Suite

Validation Engineers can leverage our Protocol Validation Suite and its out-of-the-box features to address a wide array of testing scenarios and use cases. Below are some examples of the versatility it offers:

  • Design validation of the Target Integrated Circuit (IC) Devices like an I3C sensor, Power Amplifier, etc., by acting as a Controller.
  • Design validation of Microcontroller and Microprocessor Devices that can act as a Target.
  • Conduct System-level testing of a PMIC through an I2C/SPI Interface.
  • Perform Functional and System-level testing of products like Isolators and Logic Translators.
  • Validate the Stream of Data sent by an I3C Proximity Sensor using In-band Interrupts.
  • Perform Stress Tests on registers of memory devices like Flash Memories through I2C/SPI or MIPI I3C®.

 

Written by

Eswar S and Adam Jayahar B

April 5, 2024

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