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Open Source IDE for FPGAs as QtCreator Learns Verilog
- Traster 8y agoSorry, the example image is using non-blocking statements. I'm out. On a more serious note, I'm not sure what this offers me beyond the SystemVerilog plugin for sublime-text. This may be a great tool for exclusively open source developers, but in reality I think most people are using free versions of proprietary tools (Quartus, ISE) and you can't really do much integration with those.
- BooneJS 8y ago= are blocking assignments, and they’re what you’re supposed to use in a combinatorial always block. Are you thinking of non-blocking <= used to assign to a dff?
- Taniwha 8y agoIt's an IDE, not a compiler or synthesis tool - it replaces your editor and make files, not the tools that actually process the language
- mhh__ 8y agoI don't do FPGA, but I thought the issue was the vendor lock in and lack of open source tooling (Synthesis?) rather than IDEs alone?
- sehugg 8y agoThat's still the case, but open-source tools are useful for simulation, and there are synthesis tools for the Lattice iCE40 family: http://www.clifford.at/icestorm/ http://www.clifford.at/icestorm/
- analognoise 8y agoFOSS simulators are almost totally useless; they can't handle mixed languages, they can't work with encrypted RTL (found in various Xilinx IP), and ones like Verilator are cycle simulators that don't even handle testbench code. There's a very, very narrow niche where FOSS simulations are useful, and I'd wholly recommend against wasting your time with them.
- gravypod 8y agoAre there any simulators that would be good for entry level "I want to learn verilog from no understanding of electronics"?
- analognoise 8y agoSure, get the Vivado Webpack (which is free as in beer, but not as in Freedom) and use the built in simulator, XSim. It's multi-language, handles encrypted Xilinx IP blocks, and is more than enough. As a side benefit you'll be getting familiar with Vivado, which is broadly used in industry. It's not "Free as in Freedom!" but it's actually useful.
- gravypod 8y agoThanks! I'll check that out!
- microcolonel 8y agoLots of people use Verilator in production, as far as I can tell. But sure, if your upstream tooling produces DRM blobs instead of actual RTL, then your software has to implement those DRM mechanisms to use it; but that's more to do with your specific industry than with anything else. Your hyperbole is already confusing newcomers, I'd dial it back a bit.
- analognoise 8y agoI don't know that it's hyperbole - Verilator is a huge leap for a newcomer. We're going to take someone who is just getting into Verilog, and add C/C++, makefiles, then we're going to add the problems you've got with a cycle simulator (testbench code won't work) - we have to explain what a delta cycle is, and the most popular tutorials online (ZipCPU's Verilator blogs) mention using a delta-cycle simulator (like Icarus) just to check that you're getting what you expect. It's frustrating that people keep suggesting FOSS tools when they're either orders of magnitude more complex, not very good in a huge number of cases, require an experienced engineer to actually use, and can't simulate simple Xilinx IP. People think they're familiar with it because they looked up "FOSS Verilog Simulator" once because they were curious, but they can't actually tell you about these things. We should direct newcomers to Xilinx Vivado, getting started with ISim, and if they're far more sophisticated and have a handle on the language already, then move them to Verilator in certain cases. But starting with Verilator would be like saying, "Just write a C compiler in assembly, then start using that C compiler." - Nobody starts there!
- jabl 8y agoThere's the symbiflow umbrella project that subsumes icestorm. In addition to ice40, they have apparently a working synthesis toolchain for lattice ecp5, and are working on supporting xilinx series 7. https://symbiflow.github.io/ https://symbiflow.github.io/ That being said, AFAIU newer generation fpgas from xilinx and Intel have encrypted bitstreams, foiling reverse engineering attempts. One can hope that the emergence of an open source synthesis toolchain would encourage new entrants by lowering the entry barrier.
- bri3d 8y agoNow that there's some open-source synthesis tooling for iCE40 it's nice to have a fully open solution, even if it does really only address the needs of the open-source diehard and entry-level hobbyist. Without an IDE it's harder for open-source toolchains to gain momentum so anything helps.