Simulation and Verification

[dag1]

I could only find the following documentation:

http://www.xilinx.com/itp/xilinx10/isehelp/ism_r_simulation_command_overview.htm

and I am still not clear on the process of running simulation from command line.

1. After I create the .vhd describing the components, for instance suppose the file name is T.VHD,

    do I need to write a testbench file  .vhd ? (suppose I did it and it is called T1.VHD)

2. I do:   vhpcomp t.vhd   (I do not need to specify the t1.vhd that contains the testbench ?)

3. I do:       fuse -top t -o a.exe

After I get

C:\batch>dir
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is C00C-03F0

 Directory of C:\batch

06/24/2009  04:37 PM    <DIR>          .
06/24/2009  04:37 PM    <DIR>          ..
06/24/2009  04:37 PM            17,201 a.exe
06/24/2009  04:37 PM             1,000 fuse.log
06/24/2009  01:20 PM    <DIR>          isim
06/24/2009  01:04 PM               913 t.vhd
06/24/2009  02:45 PM             1,899 t1.vhd
               4 File(s)         21,013 bytes
               3 Dir(s)  99,432,960,000 bytes free

4.   I run a.exe 

which of the commands in http://www.xilinx.com/itp/xilinx10/isehelp/ism_r_simulation_command_overview.htm  do I need

to issue in order  to execute my testbench (t1.vhd) ?

5. how do I see the output waveforms ?

thanks

Dag 

 

[kdeepak]

Dear ISim user,  

You are on the right track. Yes, you need to write your own test bench HDL file to drive the DUT (Design Under Test).

You need to compile all your HDL files using vhpcomp (for VHDL) and vlogcomp (for Verilog).

Then you use fuse to elaborate your design for given top(s) and get a simulation executable.   

Then you run this generated simulation executable to effect simulation.

The steps for your design are:  

For 10.x ISE Simulator (ISim): 

1.       vhpcomp t.vhd T1.vhd (If you have lots of files, you may want to list all your VHDL files in a file say comp.f and use vhpcomp -f comp.f)

2.       fuse -top t -o a.exe

3.       Create a Tcl simulation command file to control your simulation as desired. Say, create a file call run.tcl with following entries:  ntrace select -m / -l this -o on;  run 1000 ns; quit

4.       Then run a.exe –tclbatch run.tcl

5.       The usage of "ntrace" tcl command creates a file called isimwavedata.xwv that has your waveform data. Now call isimwave isimwavedata.xwv to view your simulation results. 

For 11.x ISE Simulator (ISim): 

1.       vhpcomp t.vhd T1.vhd (If you have lots of files, you may want to list all your VHDL files in a file say comp.f and use vhpcomp -f comp.f)

2.       fuse work.t -o a.exe

3.       Create a Tcl simulation command file to control your simulation as desired. Say, create a file call run.tcl with following entries:  wave add /;  run 1000 ns;

4.       Then launch a.exe -tclbatch run.tcl -gui (This will bring up ISim GUI and you can interactively drive and view simulation) 

Check out the hugely improved 11.1 ISim User Guide, a new tutorial and a demo video for more details. 

ISim User Guide (v. 11.1)http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/sw_manuals/xilinx11/plugin_ism.pdf 

ISim In-Depth Tutorial (v 11.1)http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/sw_manuals/xilinx11/ug682.pdf  

A demo video on ISim is at: http://www.xilinx.com/products/design_resources/design_tool/resources/index.htm (Click on How To Use ISE Simulator (ISim))

Enjoy!

KD

Message Edited by kdeepak on 06-27-2009 07:48 AM

[edv]

dag1,

Additionaly to kdeepak's instructions, you can use the ISim User Guide and the ISim In-Depth Tutorial to learn more about using ISim batch commands.  Refer to the "Available Documentation" forum sticky in order to find these documents.

Hope this helps.