Reconfigurable Computing - VHDL – Signals, Generics, etc John Morris The University of Auckland Iolanthe ‘on the hard’ at South of Perth Yacht Club

Shift Register  Remember  Part outside the dashed yellow line is defined in the ENTITY  It’s the interface with other circuit blocks  Inside the yellow line is defined in the ARCHITECTURE  There may be several ways to achieve the same function!

Details of the PROCESS block on the next slide  Example  Here’s the shift register in VHDL  Entity first  Architecture ENTITY shift_register IS PORT ( clk, reset, shift_in : IN std_logic; shift_out: OUT std_logic; q : OUT std_logic_vector );END shift_register; ARCHITECTURE a OF shift_register IS SIGNAL q_int : std_logic_vector( q’RANGE ); BEGIN PROCESS( clk, reset )... END PROCESS; q <= q_int; shift_out <= q_int( q_int’HIGH );END a;

Aggregate initializer … full explanation later Example  Here’s the shift register example again  Process block PROCESS( clk, reset ) BEGIN IF reset = ‘0’ THEN q_int ‘0’ ); ELSIF clk’EVENT AND clk = ‘1’ THEN q_int( q’LOW ) <= shift_in; FOR j IN q’LOW+1 TO q’HIGH LOOP q_int( j+1 ) <= q_int( j ); END LOOP; END IF; END PROCESS; q <= q_int; shift_out <= q_int( q_int’HIGH );END a; Does this actually work?

??? If these were assignments in a normal programming language, shift_in would be copied to each storage element in the register! Shift Register Example  What happens if we write out the assignments, one by one?  Look at the ‘q_int’ assignments only  Use some real values for the indices q_int( q’LOW ) <= shift_in;FOR j IN q’LOW+1 TO q’HIGH LOOP q_int( j ) <= q_int( j-1 ); END LOOP; q_int(0) <= shift_in;q_int(1) <= q_int(0);q_int(2) <= q_int(1);…q_int(31) <= q_int(30); However, this code is actually correct … and produces the desired behaviour of a shift register. Why? 

In this case, shift_in IS copied to each storage element in the register! Shift Register Example  If we had used the standard assignment - :=  Then the statements would have been executed sequentially - as in a normal programming language! q_int( q’LOW ) := shift_in;FOR j IN q’LOW+1 TO q’HIGH LOOP q_int( j ) := q_int( j-1 ); END LOOP; q_int(0) := shift_in;q_int(1) := q_int(0);q_int(2) := q_int(1);…q_int(31) := q_int(30); However, with signal assignment ( <= ), the story is different … 

Shift Register Example  With signal assignment, all the assignments take place at the same time (in parallel)  Each signal acquires its new value in the next simulation interval q_int( q’LOW ) <= shift_in;FOR j IN q’LOW+1 TO q’HIGH LOOP q_int( j ) <= q_int( j-1 ); END LOOP; q_int(0) <= shift_in;q_int(1) <= q_int(0);q_int(2) <= q_int(1);…q_int(31) <= q_int(30); So in this set of statements, - all assignments take place at the same time and - all use the current values stored in q_int The new values appear in q_int in the next simulation interval.

Signal assignment  Effectively, we are allowing for an infinitessimally small, but finite, propagation delay to drive a signal to its new value  Thus, even though a signal may be driven with a new value in a PROCESS block†, if it appears on the right in any assignment, its current value will be used.  This phenomenon is sometimes described in terms of the simulation delta - the smallest interval that a discrete event simulator will consider  the infinitessimally small propagation delay  In contrast, ordinary assignments ( := ) are considered to take effect immediately, so the order in which a sequence of := operators appear may be significant! †Note that the delayed assignment of new values applies to all signals – whether they’re in PROCESS blocks or data flow statements within an ARCHITECTURE

Signal assignment  Another way of looking at signal assignment is to examine the waveforms  A shift register circuit looks something like this:  On clock edges, q k is transferred - after a delay - to q k+1  The waveforms look like this (with some arbitrary values given to the q’s): DQDQDQDQ q0q0 q1q1 q2q2 q n-1 q0q0 q1q1 q2q2 clk These are the propagation delays in a real circuit - or the deltas - intervals between evaluations by the simulator

Declaring signals and variables  Signals are declared in the body of an architecture  Variables are declared in the body of a PROCESS block ARCHITECTURE a OF entity_x IS SIGNAL a, b, c: std_logic := ‘0’; SIGNAL x, y: std_logic_vector( wordsize ); BEGIN... END a; PROCESS( clk, reset ) VARIABLE a, b, c: std_logic := ‘0’; VARIABLE x, y: std_logic_vector( wordsize ); BEGIN... END PROCESS;

Signals and waveforms  You can specify precisely the delay for signal assignment  Synthesizers will generally ignore the “ AFTER time ” part, but you can use this capability to check for race conditions, etc, in the simulator by adding realistic delays to critical elements  A signal assignment may also be a waveform  A sequence of values to be applied in turn to the target  This capability is very useful when setting up test benches  You can generate test waveforms relatively painlessly! x <= ‘0’ AFTER 5 ns; x <= ‘0’ AFTER 5 ns, ‘1’ AFTER 7ns, ‘Z’ AFTER 2ns;

Conditional signal assignment  Creating a process block just so that you can write an IF … clause is somewhat painful ……  Conditional waveform elements alleviate the pain  This enables you to write dataflow models with simple choices in them - without needing to include the complex syntax of a PROCESS block!  A complex signal assignment can include a delay, a condition and a list of these... x <= ‘0’ WHEN enable = ‘0’ ELSE ‘Z’; x <= ‘0’ AFTER 5 ns WHEN en = ‘0’ ELSE ‘Z’ AFTER 4 ns, ‘1’ AFTER 7ns WHEN grant = ‘1’ ELSE ‘Z’ AFTER 4 ns, … -- and several more if you need!

Example  Simple state machine to recognize “111” on w and output ‘1’ on z on success ARCHITECTURE behavioural OF simple IS TYPE STATE_TYPE IS (A, B, C) ; SIGNAL y : STATE_TYPE ; BEGIN PROCESS ( reset, clk ) BEGIN IF reset = '0' THEN y <= A ; ELSIF (clk'EVENT AND clk = '1') THEN CASE y IS WHEN A => IF w = '0' THEN y <= A ; ELSE y <= B ; END IF ; WHEN B => IF w = '0' THEN y <= A ; ELSE y <= C ; END IF ; WHEN C => IF w = '0' THEN y <= A ; ELSE y <= C ; END IF ; END CASE ; END IF ; END PROCESS ; z <= '1' WHEN y = C ELSE '0' ; END behavioural; One way to set state machine outputs!

Initializing arrays  As we’ve already seen, it’s useful to be able to initialize arrays  Arrays are aggregates (in the formal description of VHDL)  Use an aggregate initializer  The initializer is a list of the elements - separated by commas and enclosed in parentheses (..., …, …, … )  An initializer must include every element of an array, but  There is a very convenient convention, which allows an array to be ‘finished off’ with OTHERS => value.  In fact, you can use OTHERS to set the whole array  This form has a significant advantage: it doesn’t need to be changed if the length of the array is changed SIGNAL x : std_logic_vector( 0 TO 15 ); x ‘Z’ );

‘Slice’ Assignment  Often you need to assign part of a datapath to another signal or direct it to a component  For example, in a CPU, you might want to ‘steer’ the op code portion of an instruction to an instruction decoder  The instruction decoder is modeled with this entity ENTITY inst_decoder IS PORT( opcode : IN std_logic_vector( 0 TO 7 ); inst_type : OUT std_logic_vector( 0 TO 36 ); ); END inst_decoder; Instruction decoder Remainder of datapath Instruction word

‘Slice’ Assignment  Often you need to assign part of a datapath to another signal or direct it to a component  A slice assignment allows you to steer or select part of the vector to another signal  or directly to an instantiated component: id: inst_decoder( opcode => inst_word(0 TO 7), inst_type => … ); SIGNAL inst_word: std_logic_vector( 0 TO 31 );... opcode <= inst_word( 0 TO 7 );

Generic models  Generic models are parameterized  You specify a GENERIC parameter when writing an ENTITY  You specify an actual values for this parameter when the ENTITY is instantiated  Add a GENERIC clause to an ENTITY before the PORT clause  When you instantiate the component, use a GENERIC MAP to set the actual value You can set a default value: if there’s no GENERIC MAP, this value will be used ENTITY adder IS GENERIC( n_bit: positive := 8 ); PORT( a, b : IN std_logic_vector; sum : OUT std_logic_vector ); END adder; Note the (highly recommended) use of named association here too! a : adder GENERIC MAP( n_bit => 22 ) PORT MAP( a => …, b => …, sum => … );

Generic models  Generic models are flexible  Almost anything can be a generic parameter!  Another example  can be used for checking for race conditions  The architecture is ENTITY or2 IS GENERIC( td: time := 1 ns ); PORT( a, b : IN std_logic; c : OUT std_logic ); END or2; Remember that a synthesizer will generally just ignore the AFTER time phrase ARCHITECTURE timed OF or2 IS BEGIN c <= a OR b AFTER td; END timed;

Component Instantiation  We have already seen how structural models are built  Components which have already been modeled are instantiated in a higher level architecture  These components are ‘wired up’ by mapping ports to signals in the higher level architecture  The syntax is straightforward (except for the annoying need to repeat the PORT declarations!!) ARCHITECTURE x OF y IS COMPONENT or2 IS GENERIC( td: time := 1 ns ); PORT( a, b : IN std_logic; c : OUT std_logic ); END COMPONENT; … BEGIN a: or2 PORT MAP( a => …, b => …, c => … ); … END x;

Component Instantiation - Generate  When multiple elements of a simple component are needed, use GENERATE  Permits rapid build-up of complex models  The classic example is a ripple carry adder ARCHITECTURE structural OF adder IS COMPONENT full_adder IS PORT( a, b, c : IN std_logic; s, c_out : OUT std_logic ); END COMPONENT; SIGNAL c_int : std_logic_vector( 0 TO n-1 ); BEGIN fa0: full_adder( a=>a(0), b=>b(0), c=>c_in, s=>sum(0), c_out => c_int(0); fa_blk: FOR j IN 1 TO n-1 GENERATE fa_j: full_adder(a(j),b(j),c_int(j-1), sum(j), c_int(j)); END GENERATE; c_out <= c_int( n-1 ); END structural;

Making sure your design is correct - ASSERT  At many points in a design, it is possible to make assertions about the state of signals and variables  For example, in counting bits, you might know that there should always be at least one bit set (because there is some statement in the problem specification that tells you this) ARCHITECTURE a OF bitcounter IS BEGIN PROCESS VARIABLE count : natural := 0; BEGIN FOR j IN x’RANGE LOOP IF x(j) = ‘1’ THEN count := count + 1; END LOOP; cnt <= count; ASSERT count > 0 REPORT “bitcounter: zero count” SEVERITY warning; END PROCESS; END a; Boolean expression which should produce a TRUE Message string - Make it as useful as possible! Cryptic error messages are sometimes as bad as no messages at all! Can be warning | report | … Check your simulator for behaviour!

Making sure your design is correct - ASSERT  ASSERT may not be supported by Altera’s MAX+ VHDL (although their own AHDL supports it!)  If so, this is a definite weakness in Altera’s VHDL!  ASSERT can save much time when debugging complex models!

Making your own library  For large system designs, you might want to make your own library  Simply create a PACKAGE (with all the declarations) and a PACKAGE BODY (with all the bodies or architectures)  A package declaration looks like this  Packages can contain types, subtypes, constants, procedures, functions, signals, files, components and several other less useful things PACKAGE image_proc IS TYPE pixel IS std_logic_vector(0 TO 7); CONSTANT line_length : positive := 256; COMPONENT adder IS GENERIC( n_bit : positive := 8 ) PORT( a, b: std_logic_vector; … ); END COMPONENT; END PACKAGE;

Making your own library  The PACKAGE BODY contains procedure and function bodies  Architectures are placed in secondary units  If you compile package bodies in the usual way, they will usually be placed in a library called work.  The work library is generally always accessible so the  clause may be omitted, but you will need to include  Check your simulator / synthesizer documentation for the exact story - this convention may not be universally followed! PACKAGE BODY image_proc IS PROCEDURE BODY sobel IS... END sobel; END PACKAGE; LIBRARY work; use work.image_proc.ALL;

Disclaimer*  This section of the course has covered only the most important features of VHDL  There are many more!  The Ada standard requires 400+ pages and VHDL has many additional features!  The features described to this point are sufficient for you to write a wide variety of quite complex models  However, if you undertake a serious modeling project in VHDL, you should arm yourself with one of the texts and study the features passed over here! *This disclaimer is brought to you by the American legal system - which makes them essential nowadays. American lawyers don’t seem to have noticed that these disclaimers are becoming ridiculous - like those on software that typically say: “You can expect this software to have bugs” “We do not guarantee this software to do anything correctly.”...

Other things  Select?  Packages?  Arithmetic  +, -  Multipliers  Dividers  Floating point

Example - Generate ENTITY adder IS GENERIC ( n : INTEGER := 16 ) ; PORT (c_in : IN std_ulogic ; a, b : IN std_ulogic_vector(n-1 DOWNTO 0) ; sum : OUT std_ulogic_vector(n-1 DOWNTO 0) ; c_out : OUT std_ulogic ) ; END adder; ARCHITECTURE rc_structure OF adder IS SIGNAL c : STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(1 TO n-1) ; COMPONENT fulladd PORT (c_in, x, y : IN std_ulogic ; s, c_out : OUT std_ulogic ) ; END COMPONENT ; BEGIN FA_0: fulladd PORT MAP ( c_in=>c_in, x=>a(0), y=>b(0), s=>sum(0), c_out=>c(1) ) ; G_1: FOR i IN 1 TO n-2 GENERATE FA_i: fulladd PORT MAP ( c(i), a(i), b(i), sum(i), c(i+1) ) ; END GENERATE ; FA_n: fulladd PORT MAP (C(n-1),A(n-1),B(n-1),Sum(n-1),Cout) ; END rc_structure ;

Exploiting a manufacturer’s fast carry logic  To use the Altera fast carry logic, you need to write your adder like this: LIBRARY ieee; USE ieee.std_logic_1164.all; LIBRARY lpm ; USE lpm.lpm_components.all ; ENTITY adder IS PORT (c_in : IN STD_LOGIC ; a, b : IN STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(15 DOWNTO 0) ; sum : OUT STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(15 DOWNTO 0) ; c_out : OUT STD_LOGIC ) ; END adderlpm ; ARCHITECTURE lpm_structure OF adder IS BEGIN instance: lpm_add_sub GENERIC MAP (LPM_WIDTH => 16) PORT MAP (cin => Cin, dataa => A, datab => B, result => Sum, cout => Cout ) ; END lpm_structure ;

IEEE 1164 standard logic package  Bus pull-up and pull-down resistors can be ‘inserted’  Initialise a bus signal to ‘H’ or ‘L’:  ‘0’ or ‘1’ from any driver will override the weak ‘H’ or ‘L’: SIGNAL not_ready : std_logic := ‘H’; IF seek_finished = ‘1’ THEN not_ready <= ‘0’; END IF; /ready 10k V DD DeviceADeviceBDeviceC