On 05/24/2017 02:58 PM, ben via cctalk wrote:
I am not to sure about that.
If a schematic has a bug you can use a logic probe to find
the error.
With typo in VHDL you have hard problem finding that
single gate
error.
With Xilinx, they have a VERY good simulator. You create a
"test bench" in VHDL or other HDL to describe external
signals. Then, you can probe around like a logic analyzer,
looking at internal signals behavior, making sure all the
counters are in the right state, and logic is responding to
external events, etc. If that doesn't make it all work
right, they have ChipScope, which builds a logic analyzer in
available remaining available hardware on the FPGA, and you
access it from JTAG. You compile into your FPGA the points
you need to see, and then get very similar traces to the
sim, but it is viewing the signals embedded into the actual
hardware of whatever you are working on. If you didn't set
it up to see the right signals, you change what is included
in ChipScope and re-synthesize. It isn't quite as
convenient as the sim, but it will allow you to figure out
if some small section of your FPGA is not functioning right
within a larger system.
With VHDL, you generally do NOT work at the gate level.
Jon
