Testbench
Beginner
A test setup built around a chip design inside a computer. It feeds the design inputs and checks what comes out.
Novice
The test program wrapped around a design inside a simulator. It creates inputs, applies them to the design, watches the outputs and checks them against the right answers. It is never built into the chip; it exists only for testing.
Expert
Usually layered. Sequences create transactions (whole operations, such as one write to memory), drivers turn them into signal changes, monitors turn observed signals back into transactions, and scoreboards and coverage collectors check and count. Keeping the checks independent of how inputs were chosen lets one environment serve every test and be reused from block to chip level.
Explained in Verification (Design Flow).
See also: Design under test (DUT), Scoreboard, Reference model.