ECE 511 Microprocessors - Fall 2009

VHDL Help

Our TA Abirami Prabharkaran is going to schedule individual VHDL help-session with each group after the Midterm exam. In addition, this page should help you getting started with the tools. VHDL help can also be obtained from the excellent ECE 545 Webpage (Fall 2009) from Dr. Gaj and the ECE 545 Webpage (Fall 2008) from Dr. Hwang.

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VHDL CAD Tools at GMU

There are two major design environments: the Aldec Active-HDL Environment or the Xilinx ISE Environment. The recommended environment for this course is Xilinx. This is what we will focus on in the hands-on sessions.

Please note: These tools don't run on 64-bit windows

There are two synthesis tools available on the machines at school: Synplicity Synplify Pro or Xilinx XST. Both of these tools can be invoked by the Xilinx Environment. All tools run on the Windows XP operating system; they have not been tested on Microsoft Vista or Windows 7.

The design environment is available at school in ENGR rooms 3204 and 3208. Note that the machines in these rooms have both Xilinx 10.1 and Xilinx 11 installed on them.

Xilinx Environment (School)

• GUI/Environment: Xilinx ISE Foundation (10.1 SP3)
• VHDL Simulator: Modelsim Special Edition (SE 6.4)
• Synthesis: Synplicity Synplify Pro (8.6.2) or Xilinx ISE Foundation XST (ISE 10.1 SP3)
• Implementation: Xilinx ISE Foundation (ISE 10.1 SP3)

How to set up Xilinx Environment (School)

When you open a new project in Xilinx ISE Foundation for the first time, initialize the environment to point to the correct tools.

1. Go to File...New Project. Create a project name and push "Next."
2. For Product Category, choose "All."
3. For Family, choose "Spartan3."
4. For Synthesis tool, choose "Simplify Pro (VHDL/Verilog)" or "XST (VHDL/Verilog)."
5. For Simulator, choose "Modelsim-SE VHDL."
6. For Preferred Language, choose "VHDL."
7. Push "Next" and choose the rest of your options (by default, continue to push "Next" without making changes) until you push "Finish."

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VHDL CAD tools at home

Some students like the flexibility of working from home. Xilinx provides free tools to students as described below. However be forewarned: These tools often carry feature limitations and simulations run much slower than the full versions installed at school. Please investigate the vendor websites to understand the limitations in further detail.

Note: Since the tools are not exactly the same at school and at home, you may run into some discrepancies or incompatibilities. If you are working from home and from school, be sure to save a copy of your project before trying to transfer from the home environment to the school environment or vice-versa. In the past CAD tools which are not the exact same edition have had tendencies to corrupt data and projects. I do not anticipate any problems, but it is better to be safe than sorry--save before trying to transfer. It is best and safest to transfer source code (.vhd files) only.

If you work from home, for compatibility reasons, here are the configurations I would like you to use. Details on how to download and install software to attain these configurations are given below. If you have problems with the software running on your personal computers, the best solution is to use the computers in the lab at school.

Xilinx Environment (Home)

• GUI Environment: Xilinx ISE Webpack (Webpack 10.1 SP3)
• VHDL Simulator: Modelsim Xilinx Edition (MXE 6.4)
• Synthesis: Xilinx ISE Webpack XST (Webpack 10.1 SP3)
• Implementation: Xilinx ISE Webpack (Webpack 10.1 SP3)

How to set up Xilinx Environment (Home)

This may take a few hours depending on your internet connection speed.

1. Download and install Xilinx Webpack 10.1 SP3
   Note: For compatibility with the school tools, do not install Xilinx Webpack 10.2. Instead install a "classic" version, Xilinx Webpack 10.1, per the instructions below.
   1. Go to the ISE webpack design software and click "Download ISE WebPACK software for Windows and Linux".
   2. Create an account with Xilinx.
   3. Once you have created an account you can return to ISE webpack design software and click "Download ISE WebPACK software for Windows and Linux".
   4. Once you sign in, the immediate available download link is for Xilinx 11. Instead click on the "Looking to register 10.1 or earlier software products?" link at the top to get to the "ISE webpack 10.1" download page.
   5. There you can download the ISE webpack 10.1 and the Webinstall client.
2. Download and install Modelsim Xilinx Edition 6.2c
   1. On the ModelSim Xilinx Edition-III click Download MSE-III and download the evaluation version of Modelsim 6.4
      Modelsim Xilinx Edition Starter is a Xilinx-specific version of Modelsim that is slower than the Modelsim Special Edition installed on the lab computers.
   2. You will also have to register for a license for MXE 6.2c.
3. When you open a new project in Xilinx ISE Webpack for the first time, initialize the environment to point to the correct tools.
   1. Go to File...New Project. Create a project name and push "Next."
   2. For Product Category, choose "All."
   3. For Family, choose "Spartan3."
   4. For Synthesis tool, choose "XST (VHDL/Verilog)."
   5. For Simulator, choose "Modelsim-XE VHDL."
   6. For Preferred Language, choose "VHDL."
   7. Push "Next" and choose the rest of your options (by default, continue to push "Next" without making changes) until you push "Finish."