From Verilog to Verification

This tutorial will show an example how to

generate Verilog netlists for a FPGA fabric
generate Verilog testbenches for a RTL design
run HDL simulation to verify the functional correctness of the implemented FPGA fabric

Note

Before running any design flows, please checkout the tutorial How to Compile, to ensure that you have an operating copy of OpenFPGA installed on your computer.

Netlist Generation

We will use the openfpga_flow scripts (see details in OpenFPGA Task) to generate the Verilog netlists and testbenches. Here, we consider a representative but fairly simple FPGA architecture, which is based on 4-input LUTs. We will map a 2-input AND gate to the FPGA fabric, and run a full testbench (see details in Testbench)

We will simply execute the following openfpga task-run by

python3 openfpga_flow/scripts/run_fpga_task.py basic_tests/full_testbench/configuration_chain

Detailed settings, such as architecture XML files and RTL designs, can be found at ${OPENFPGA_PATH}/openfpga_flow/tasks/basic_tests/full_testbench/configuration_chain/config/task.conf.

Note

${OPENFPGA_PATH} is the root directory of OpenFPGA

After this task-run, you can find all the generated netlists and testbenches at

${OPENFPGA_PATH}/openfpga_flow/tasks/basic_tests/full_testbench/configuration_chain/latest/k4_N4_tileable_40nm/and2/MIN_ROUTE_CHAN_WIDTH/SRC/

Note

See Fabric Netlists and Testbench for the netlist details.

Run icarus iVerilog Simulation

Through OpenFPGA Scripts

By default, the configuration_chain task-run will execute iVerilog simulation automatically. The simulation results are logged in

${OPENFPGA_PATH}/openfpga_flow/tasks/basic_tests/full_testbench/configuration_chain/latest/k4_N4_tileable_40nm/and2/MIN_ROUTE_CHAN_WIDTH/vvp_sim_output.txt

If the verification passed, you should be able to see Simulation Succeed in the log file.

All the waveforms are stored in the and2_formal.vcd file. To visualize the waveforms, you can use the GTKWave.

gtkwave ${OPENFPGA_PATH}/openfpga_flow/tasks/basic_tests/full_testbench/configuration_chain/latest/k4_N4_tileable_40nm/and2/MIN_ROUTE_CHAN_WIDTH/and2_formal.vcd &

Manual Method

If you want to run iVerilog simulation manually, you can follow these steps:

cd ${OPENFPGA_PATH}/openfpga_flow/tasks/basic_tests/full_testbench/configuration_chain/latest/k4_N4_tileable_40nm/and2/MIN_ROUTE_CHAN_WIDTH

source iverilog_output.txt

vvp compiled_and2

Debugging Tips

If you want to apply full visibility to the signals, you need to change the following line in

${OPENFPGA_PATH}/openfpga_flow/tasks/basic_tests/full_testbench/configuration_chain/latest/k4_N4_tileable_40nm/and2/MIN_ROUTE_CHAN_WIDTH/SRC/and2_autocheck_top_tb.v

from

$dumpvars (1, and2_autocheck_top_tb);

to

$dumpvars (12, and2_autocheck_top_tb);

Run Modelsim Simulation

Alternatively, you can run Modelsim simulations through openfpga_flow scripts or manually.

Note

Before starting, please ensure that Mentor Modelsim has been correctly installed on your local environment.

Through OpenFPGA Scripts

You can simply call the python script in the following line:

python3 openfpga_flow/scripts/run_modelsim.py basic_tests/full_testbench/configuration_chain --run_sim

The script will automatically create a Modelsim project at

${OPENFPGA_PATH}/openfpga_flow/tasks/basic_tests/full_testbench/configuration_chain/latest/k4_N4_tileable_40nm/and2/MIN_ROUTE_CHAN_WIDTH/MSIM2/

and run the simulation.

You may open the project and visualize the simulation results.

Manual Method

Modify the fpga_defines.v (see details in Fabric Netlists) at

${OPENFPGA_PATH}/openfpga_flow/tasks/openfpga_shellfull_testbench//configuration_chain/latest/k4_N4_tileable_40nm/and2/MIN_ROUTE_CHAN_WIDTH/SRC/

by deleting the line

`define ICARUS_SIMULATOR 1

Create a folder MSIM under

${OPENFPGA_PATH}/openfpga_flow/tasks/basic_tests/full_testbench/configuration_chain/latest/k4_N4_tileable_40nm/and2/MIN_ROUTE_CHAN_WIDTH/

Under the MSIM folder, create symbolic links to SRC folder and reference benchmarks by

ln -s ../SRC ./

ln -s ../and2_output_verilog.v ./

Note

Depending on the operating system, you may use other ways to create the symbolic links

Launch ModelSim under the MSIM folder and create a project by following Modelsim user manuals.

Add the following file to your project:

${OPENFPGA_PATH}/openfpga_flow/tasks/basic_tests/full_testbench/configuration_chain/latest/k4_N4_tileable_40nm/and2/MIN_ROUTE_CHAN_WIDTH/SRC/and2_include_netlists.v

Compile the netlists, create a simulation configuration and specify and2_autocheck_top_tb at the top unit.

Execute simulation with run -all You should see Simulation Succeed in the output log.