Ex__3_vhdl_setup.md

Modern Computer Architecture and Organization Second Edition, by Jim Ledin. Published by Packt Publishing.

Chapter 2, Exercise 3

Search the internet for free VHDL development software suites that include a simulator. Get one of these suites, set it up, and build any simple demo projects that come with the suite to ensure it is working properly.

Answer

Some freely available VHDL development suites are as follows:

• Xilinx Vivado Design Suite is available at https://www.xilinx.com/support/download.html
• Intel® Quartus® Prime Software Lite Edition is available at https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/software/programmable/quartus-prime/download.html
• The open source GHDL simulator for VHDL is available at https://github.com/ghdl/ghdl
• Mentor ModelSim PE Student Edition is available at https://www.mentor.com/company/higher_ed/modelsim-student-edition
• Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Playground is available at https://www.edaplayground.com/

Vivado Design Suite will be used for the examples in this chapter and in following chapters, including installing circuit designs in a low cost FPGA development board. These steps describe the installation and setup process for Windows 10:

1. Visit https://www.xilinx.com/support/download.html and select the web installer for the latest version of Vivado Design Suite for Windows. Be sure to select the full Vivado installer, and not an update. During this process you will need to create a Xilinx account if you do not already have one. Be sure to save your account username and password for later use.
2. Provide the requested information, download the Windows Self Extracting Web Installer, and run it. You may need to change your Windows app installation settings to allow the installer to run.
3. You will be asked to login with you Xilinx account information and accept the license agreements.
4. Select the tool suite you want to install. The examples in this book use Vivado. Select Vivado and click Next.
5. Select Vivado HL WebPack (this is the free version). Click Next.
6. Accept the default design tools, devices, and installation options for Vivado HL Webpack. Click Next.
7. Accept the default installation directory and other options. Click Next.
8. On the Installation Summary page, click Install. Downloading and installation will take some time. The time required depends on your Internet connection speed. Plan for a few hours.

After the installation completes, follow these steps to build an example project:

1. You should find an icon on your desktop with a name similar to Vivado 2021.2. Double-click this icon (and not the icon that says Vivado HLS) to start the application.
2. In the Vivado main window, click Open Example Project.
3. Click through to the Select Project Template screen and select CPU (HDL).
4. Click through and accept the defaults on the next screens and click Finish to create the project.
5. In the Project Manager page you'll find the Sources panel. Expand the tree listing and double-click some of the files to open them in the editor. Most of the files in this design are in the Verilog hardware design language.
6. Click Run Synthesis in the Project Manager panel. The Design Runs panel will update the status as synthesis proceeds. This may take several minutes.
7. After synthesis completes, a dialog will appear offering to run the implementation. Click Cancel.
8. Click Run Simulation in the Vivado main dialog Project Manager section, then select Run behavioral simulation. This may, again, take several minutes.
9. After the simulation completes you will see a timing diagram in the Simulation window showing the simulated CPU signals using the input data provided by the simulation source files.
10. This completes the exercise. You may close Vivado.