How PVS Surpassed Traditional Exercisers to Validate Custom In-Band Interrupts Effortlessly

Protocol exercisers have long been standard tools for validating protocols like I2C, SPI, and MIPI I3C^®. They can simulate bus activity, send commands, and verify compliance at the functional level. While effective for basic and straightforward use cases, their limitations become apparent when the validation scenario demands real-time responsiveness, custom test flows, deep protocol behavior analysis, or specific use cases.

This case study explores how a leading semiconductor company encountered limitations while using conventional protocol exercisers to validate 50ms In-Band Interrupts (IBIs) over MIPI I3C^®, and how Soliton’s Protocol Validation Suite (PVS) overcame these challenges through real-time responsiveness, no-code customization, and complete test coverage.

Inside the Validation Hurdles Faced by the Customer 

When one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers began to develop a sensor product for a device, they leveraged the MIPI I3C^® protocol’s In-Band Interrupts (IBIs) to send data every 50ms. For validation, the team opted to use a protocol exerciser, drawn by its ease of use, cost-effectiveness, and minimal hardware setup requirements. However, validating the sensor required more than basic testing. They had to develop several customizations including software wrappers to perform essential functional tests and custom test procedures and sequences. But in spite of these efforts, the semiconductor company quickly faced critical limitations on multiple fronts. 

• Challenge in Reliably Handling 50ms IBIs 

The existing protocol exerciser struggled with real-time responsiveness, particularly in reliably capturing and reacting to 50ms In-Band Interrupts (IBIs). The timing-critical nature of the application exposed limitations in asynchronous communication handling. To bridge these gaps, engineers had to patch together firmware, manually configure test setups, and build custom software layers, introducing unnecessary complexity, delays, and risk of errors in the validation process. 

• Limited Support for Custom, DUT-Specific Validation Flows 

The tool lacked flexibility to create device-specific validation flows. Engineers had to write extensive scripts and create software wrappers just to perform basic functional tests, including real-time data comparisons and threshold validations. 

• Fragmented Workflow and Incomplete Coverage 

 Even after heavy customization, the team could validate only ~43% of required timing parameters. The hardware setup also wasn’t protocol-agnostic, requiring reconfiguration for each new use case. 

The team needed a tool capable of emulating the controller and accurately validating sensor behaviour for protocol compliance. Specifically, it had to support In-Band Interrupt (IBI) handling, reliably read data from IBI requests at 50ms intervals, compare the received values against pre-defined thresholds, and verify the results with precision.

Discover How the Customer Achieved >90% Test Coverage and Validated In-Band Interrupts with Minimal Effort  

Soliton’s Protocol Validation Suite (PVS) stood out as the tool of choice in the customer’s market exploration. With PVS, the customer achieved:  

• Seamless validation of timing-critical IBI at 50ms intervals. 

• Customizable I3C^® test flows in minutes. 

• And eliminated weeks of manual scripting with comprehensive coverage.