Patent attributes
A computer-based simulation process executes a checkpoint operation while simulating behavior of an electronic circuit by forking an active checkpoint process having the same state as the original simulation process. While simulation time for the simulation process continues to increase after executing the checkpoint operation, simulation time for the checkpoint process remains unchanged so that the checkpoint process remains in the state of the simulation at the simulation time it executed the checkpoint operation (the “checkpoint time”). When the checkpoint process subsequently receives a request to resume simulating the circuit, it forks a new simulation process that mimics the original simulation process as of checkpoint time, and the new simulation process then begins to advance its simulation time, thereby enabling it to re-simulate behavior of the electronic circuit previously simulated by the original simulation process starting from the checkpoint time.
