Method of and circuit for verifying a data transfer protocol

A method of verifying a circuit implementing a data transfer protocol is disclosed. According to one embodiment of the invention, the method comprises steps of providing a block under test that implements a variable latency data transfer protocol; coupling a verification circuit to the block under test; enabling variable latency data transfers to the block under test; and verifying that the block under test is implementing the variable latency data transfer protocol. The method could be implemented to verify the operation of a memory controller of an FPGA, for example. According to another embodiment, a method enabling a multi-stage verification is disclosed. Finally, specific implementations of a verification circuit coupled to an on-chip memory controller of an FPGA are disclosed.