The author tells a true story of proposing a change to a client’s ASIC IP, adding CRC checking based on out-of-band memory. This change took much longer than anticipated due to buried magic numbers in the test bench. Lessons learned include the importance of proper reset timing, avoiding hard-coded constants, and handling changing requirements. The author emphasizes the need for thorough testing and reflected on the challenges of merging changes in the wrong version of the IP. Refactoring the interrupt handling logic to address faults was a significant improvement, showcasing the importance of proper design practices in creating efficient and effective test benches.
https://zipcpu.com/blog/2024/04/01/chasing-resets.html