Clock domain crossings (CDC) continue to be a trouble spot for functional verification. Fortunately, new tools and methodologies are available to address these shortcomings. In order to get a handle on this complex problem, this paper gives an overview of the causes and effects of metastability along with a review of the traditional strategies that have generally failed to fully address CDC problems. With this background in place, the paper progresses to a discussion of the techniques and methodologies required to successfully identify all CDC errors.

Finally, a practical solution is presented that has already been proven on real-world designs. The Mentor Graphics 0-In CDC solution integrates advanced verification engines with engineered methodologies. It provides a systematic and comprehensive way to ensure that CDC is handled reliably at the design stage, thus avoiding costly redesign of fielded products.

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