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chipyard/docs/Simulation/FPGA-Accelerated-Simulation.rst
2020-02-23 22:53:14 -08:00

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.. _firesim-sim-intro:
FPGA-Accelerated Simulation
==============================
FireSim
-----------------------
`FireSim <https://fires.im/>`__ is an open-source cycle-accurate FPGA-accelerated full-system hardware simulation platform that runs on cloud FPGAs (Amazon EC2 F1).
FireSim allows RTL-level simulation at orders-of-magnitude faster speeds than software RTL simulators.
FireSim also provides additional device models to allow full-system simulation, including memory models and network models.
FireSim currently supports running only on Amazon EC2 F1 FPGA-enabled virtual instances.
In order to simulate your Chipyard design using FireSim, if you have not
already, follow the initial EC2 setup instructions as detailed in the `FireSim
documentation <http://docs.fires.im/en/latest/Initial-Setup/index.html>`__.
Then clone Chipyard onto your FireSim manager
instance, and setup your Chipyard repository as you would normally.
Next, initalize FireSim as a library in Chipyard by running:
.. code-block:: shell
# At the root of your chipyard repo
./scripts/firesim-setup.sh --fast
``firesim-setup.sh`` initializes additional submodules and then invokes
firesim's ``build-setup.sh`` script adding ``--library`` to properly
initialize FireSim as a library submodule in chipyard. You may run
``./sims/firesim/build-setup.sh --help`` to see more options.
Finally, source the following environment at the root of the firesim directory:
.. code-block:: shell
cd sims/firesim
# (Recommended) The default manager environment (includes env.sh)
source sourceme-f1-manager.sh
.. Note:: Every time you want to use FireSim with a fresh shell, you must source this ``sourceme-f1-manager.sh``
At this point you're ready to use FireSim with Chipyard. If you're not already
familiar with FireSim, please return to the `FireSim Docs
<https://docs.fires.im/en/latest/Initial-Setup/Setting-up-your-Manager-Instance.html#completing-setup-using-the-manager>`__,
and proceed with the rest of the tutorial.
Running your Design in FireSim
------------------------------
Converting a Chipyard config (one in ``chipyard/src/main/scala`` to run in FireSim is simple. We are using the same target (top) RTL, and only need to specify a new set of connection behaviors for the IOs of that module. Simply create a matching config within ``generators/firechip/src/main/scala/TargetConfigs`` that inherits your config defined in ``chipyard``.
.. literalinclude:: ../../generators/firechip/src/main/scala/TargetConfigs.scala
:language: scala
:start-after: DOC include start: firesimconfig
:end-before: DOC include end: firesimconfig
Only 3 additional config-mixins are needed.
* ``WithFireSimConfigTweaks`` modifies your design to better fit the FireSim usage model. For example, FireSim designs typically include a UART. Technically, adding this in is optional, but *strongly* recommended.
* ``WithDefaultMemModel`` sets the external memory model in the FireSim simulation. See the FireSim documentation for details.
* ``WithDefaultFireSimBridges`` sets the ``IOBinders`` key to use FireSim's Bridge system, which can drive target IOs with software bridge models running on the simulation host. See the FireSIm documnetation for details.