Testing my HDL Code (Verilog/VHDL) without an FPGA? - testing

I've written a module in Verilog using vi as my editor and now I want to test it.
What are my options if I have no board?
How can I give my module inputs? Where can I see the results?
I have access to VCS by the way.
Thank you.


You are probably looking for a simulator.
First, you have to write a testbench which wraps around your Verilog module and drives the input signals. This testbench can also check that the output of your module matches the expected output. You can find many tutorials on writing testbenches online.
This testbench and your module are then "executed" in a simulator. I'm not familiar with all the options, but I know the free Xilinx ISE Web Pack includes a simulator.
Modelsim is a commercial package. They also offer a free student edition.


For anyone else who has the same question, I found a testbench tutorial, like Vortexfive suggested, in the link bellow:
http://www.asic-world.com/verilog/art_testbench_writing.html

Related

Pointcloud to Model with CGAL complete beginner, Tutourial? Guide or tips?

I've stumbled upon CGAL and it seems amazing.
Anyone know of any simple ways I can test some of it's magic out without knowing any prior C++ or programming? Or a really thorough guide?
Just to get you an understanding of my general tech level(unrelated to CGAL) I know printf.. prints.. stuff.. but I have no idea how to put that into practice. And I've managed to install npm modules by slamming commands into cmd and run a module afterwards.
If there's no easy beginning to get a taste of this, other tips is also welcome if I have to take a longer route to understanding this.
What I want to achive is my input is pointcloud data scans -> magic/CGAL/ -> 3D models is my output

You can try the 3D polyhedron demo that contains most of the functionalities of CGAL.
You can compile it yourself by compiling the code in demo/Polyhedron from a release or use the pre-compiled windows demo available: demo + dlls to be extracted in the directory of the demo.
Also here is a WIP version of a tutorial that should be integrated in the official documentation soon.

Controlling Nikon camera with MTP

I was wondering how i would be able to get started with controlling my nikon DSLR camera? I have been reading on the Nikon SDK and MPT/PTP and is really confused on how to start with writing a script to control it. Thanks for helping me.

If you are just wanting to script stuff, under Linux libgphoto2 and gphoto2 are a good start.
You can use them under windows, I'm not sure if there are pre-compiled build available, but that would also require installing the USB wrapper libraries, and that a touch fiddly.
The next step above that is to compile libgphoto2 in cygwin (there are some good guides how to this on the web), but that overkill.
I am currently using digicamcontrol in windows, and for Nikon and C# code it's really nice to use, and very fast, plus it has no hassle on the USB front. It wouldn't be too hard to write a small C# that does what you want (unknown) and then run that from scripts.

this is what you are looking for:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/nikoncswrapper/
Good luck

In case anybody is still looking at this: the answer is a bit more complex if what you are looking to do is write your own code to access a Nikon DSLR. Thomas Dideriksen's SDK wrapper referenced above is great in making it easy to access Nikon's SDK to control almost all camera functions - but it is restricted to USB-cable access since that SDK does not support wireless access. If the latter is what you want, your best option may be Duka Istvan's digiCamControl, which Simeon suggests above. This open-source C# project can be used as a standalone library. (See the development documentation page.) It is not all that well documented, though, so figuring out how to control all camera parameters can be tricky.

Professional VHDL IDE? [closed]

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Is there a good IDE to work with VHDL projects ?
Or are most of the professionals working with emacs/vim/notepad++ ?

I use Emacs+VHDL-mode which is great if you don't mind (or have already climbed) the learning curve of Emacs.
Alternatively, you could try Sigasi-HDT which is Eclipse-based and has more GUI. And some more powerful refactoring tools by the look of it.

I have been using Sigasi HDT since it was released in january (I think) and am very pleased with it so far. Previously I used Vim for all my editing (C or VHDL), but since I switched to Sigasi I have not looked back. The Eclipse based plugin is much more than just syntax highlighting. The auto-completion of components and entities is a real time-saver and you avoid a lot of errors. You can download a free trial from their website (http://www.sigasi.com) and I encourage you to give it a try with grlib (http://www.gaisler.com) to see the real power of the plugin.

Maybe Xilinx ISE or Altera Quartus.
I once tried - at least I wanted to try - Altera Quartus, but I soon switched to a normal editor and took GHDL for simulation.
But I am no professional, so I suppose they are using some of the former two products.

Engineers in large semiconductor companies are using emacs/vim for code editing.
Integrated Development Environment doesn't make much sense there, since a project is a few thousand HDL files taken from different places on a *NIX network, setup scripts for a dozen different tools, and cron jobs to do frequent builds.
For simpler FPGA projects developed on Windows I've seen people using Borland CodeWright, UltraEdit, and Crimson Editor.

I've been using Notepad++ along with the free vendor tools to edit my VHDL on Windows.

My best bet is to use VIM to do whatever i need to for VHDL formatting. VIM has an extremely powerful facility to develop custom plugins, and no amount of IDE hopping will give you all the customization you would ever need.
Things like signal names < 20 characters, procedure lengths < 100 lines, no use of linkage ports -- all of these can be coded in VIM with minimal effort. You could actually run vcom or ncvhdl from within VIM and then see where the errors are.
Having said all this, you might want to take a look at what Sigasi has to offer. If you need more help on this, let me know -- it'd be fun coding a VIM plugin.

Emacs + VHDL mode + a compiler / simulator + source control.
The VHDL mode is configured to use the compiler to compile the design and optionally run the simulation.
Emacs can link with the source control to correctly check in, diff and tag.
I personally like this set up because the editor is open source and I can use it anywhere (Mac, Linux, Windows). The compiler / simulator can be anything from a free download (FPGA vendor sponsored Modelsim or GHDL) to a grid engine. Once set up, it pretty much becomes invisible.

Simplifide also has an eclipse plugin which supports VHDL, Verilog and SystemVerilog which contains all of the standard IDE features and more.
It can be downloaded at http://simplifide.com

I'm just using Scite, like for most other coding.
Some things in Scite make my VHDL coding pleasant:
Coloring is easy to set up. Either download a ready .properties file or modify the Ada mode.
Scite has a snippets plugin that's very useful for VHDL. All those boring process and architecture definitions are generated automatically for me with a couple of key-presses.
Scite is easy to customize with external scripts: I have scripts for compiling the current file, for fixing indentation, for listing all processes and so on, the possibilities are limitless.

Besides the big ones Sigasi and Simplifide there is also ZamiaCad a free VHDL IDE: http://zamiacad.sourceforge.net/web/

It depends on the kind of project you are developing. Modelsim provides a good IDE but the code editor lacks the advanced features we are accustomed to use. I use VIM to write the code, and Modelsim to simulate, debug etc...

There's another VHDL-IDE, it's a plug-in for Visual Studio, but as far as I could see, it is also available as standalone version (ie, you don't need a Visual Studio license). It seems relatively new, but so far I really like it.
http://www.vide-software.at

I switched to use Vim because it has a very large list of plugins for almost any language (I believe Emacs do also). You might not get the best VHDL IDE ever with it, but you get a familiar interface for every code and non-code you must edit. Plus, as you move between companies, you can take your environment with you.
For the ones using Vim, check vim-hdl. It's a plugin I'm working on that provides syntax checking based on simulators/compilers. I'm using daily with ModelSim and so far works nice.

Emacs with the appropriate language mode is my vote. Basic editing is easy enough to learn and there are a lot of example config files out there.
Kevin.

I'm using Xilinx ISE for educational purposes, it works really well. And it has everything. After applying for a student license, the student version it free to use, but it takes up a lot of space. The installation file alone is more than 6 gb. The book we use for school is referring to xilinx special properties. (“FGPA Prototyping by VHDL Examples”). I'm also programming on a nexsys 3 spartan 6 testboard, and I'll be using xilinx for another year, but when I finish the course I’m gonna look for something smaller. Happy to read about the lightweight alternatives.

Which IDE to use for ATMega32 micro controller coding

I am involved in a project which requires designing a mini rover (mars rover types). I am using ATMega32 micro controller. I have other hardware like DC motors, IR sensors etc. My query is that is there any IDE that I can use to code the micro controller? It must be user friendly since I am new to the concept of micro controller coding, and also it must have simulators. I did look it up on the net, but there are so many terms associated with it, that it confused me in the end. I think a simple IDE where I can write code, test it using simulator would be enough. Any suggestions?

I would try the Arduino's IDE: http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
It supports a lot of things such as building and debugging and interfacing with avrdude all from inside the IDE, so definitely a good one for embedded work, though I've never used it myself.
Also, while you are there, you may want to give the Wiring libraries a try. They are really nice for new people and are specifically for the ATMega32(I think).

There's no silver bullet.
Start here http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools_v2.asp?family_id=607
Look for some videos on Youtube to learn.
Arduino is also a very good choice like Earlz wrote.

The best IDE to use would be ATMEL STUDIO 6. You can find it here http://www.atmel.com/microsite/atmel_studio6/. Also you would need a ICSP programmer to burn the .hex file into the Atmega32. Note: The ICSP programmer can also be use to program other atmega chips

What is the most Interesting and innovative IDE?

As every programmer knows tools are important and there is no tool more important for a developer than the IDE you use to code. In the last few years the IDE-s fall into standards and it is not common to see innovation in this area. What IDE-s you can recommend as innovative and what new ideas and paradigms they introduced?

This is by far the coolest set of coding tools yet!
http://vimeo.com/36579366

I haven't used this but saw the demo video yesterday. The IDE is called code bubbles and has a unique way of showing and grouping related code together.
That said I find the intellitrace feature in Visual Studio 2010 quite innovative.

Palm's Project Ares: http://ares.palm.com/Ares/about.html
It's the IDE for the Palm webOS phones, that runs entirely as a web app. You build and run your app inside the browser, and when you're done, you deploy straight to the cloud.

I'd put my bet on Meta Programming System by Jetbrains. The concept is not new but it's the first time it has been implemented on such a huge scale with great IDE support. You create a DSL first, then write programs in that DSL and finally generate code in a target language.

I'll go for Scratch, though I wouldn't want to write a banking system using it :-)

Some cool videos of structured editor prototype that will let you directly code the AST.
This is a prototype only and I have no idea if it is still being developed.

One interesting IDE I have seen only on video is Code Bubbles. It opens code snippets as a graph of visual "bubbles". It is really interesting and definitely something I want to try.