1. A computer system for generating functional test patterns for diagnostics, characterization and manufacture test comprising a memory having computer executable instructions; and a processor for executing the computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions including: receiving from a system designer, via a design verification tool module of an automatic functional test pattern generation (FTPG) system, a plurality of verification sequences configured to test system functional design; executing the plurality of verification sequences received at a functional exerciser module of a functional test pattern generation (FTPG) system against a device to generate a plurality of traces; capturing the plurality of traces generated via a trace processor module of the FTPG system in an emulation compatible format; processing, via the trace processor module, the plurality of traces captured, the processing including parsing the plurality of traces captured, verifying data integrity of the plurality of traces captured, and summarizing statistics of the plurality of traces captured; generating, via an emulated pattern generator module of the FTPG system, a plurality of emulated test patterns having tester independent format streams of data compatible with a device test port, the generating based on output of the trace processor module; and processing, via a tester specific post-processor module of an automatic test equipment (ATE) system, the plurality of emulated test patterns to generate a plurality of functional test patterns using the tester specific post-processor module the ATE system.