martin-ac100/vpw-testbench

Verilator Python Wrapper and testbench framework

Verilator Python Wrapper

A Python package (with examples) that provides a Python wrapper around a SystemVerilog module and builds a complex testbench around it using the Verilator simulator.

Run Example Testbench

git clone https://github.com/bmartini/vpw-testbench.git
cd vpw-testbench
./example.py

The testbench script in combination with the vpw package will take the SystemVerilog RTL files within the 'hdl' directory and creates a pybind11 shared object that is then used by the testbench script to interact with the SystemVerilog module.

Install

Install the package directly from GitHub using the follower command.

pip install git+https://github.com/bmartini/vpw-testbench.git

Or to upgrade an already installed VPW package.

pip install --upgrade --force-reinstall --no-deps git+https://github.com/bmartini/vpw-testbench.git

Add to remove use the standard pip command.

pip uninstall vpw-testbench

Perquisites

The following packages and programs need to be installed to get VPW working.

Python packages

Besides the default python install the following packages need to be installed.

python3 -m pip install typing parsy pybind11

Verilator (Version 5.004 2022-12-14 or newer)

Download and install the Verilator simulator.

sudo apt-get install -y \
    ccache zlib1g autoconf git python3 make g++ ca-certificates \
    flex bison libfl2 libfl-dev zlibc zlib1g-dev libgoogle-perftools-dev numactl

git clone https://github.com/verilator/verilator.git
cd verilator
git checkout stable
autoconf
./configure
make -j `nproc`
sudo make install
cd ..
rm -rf verilator

GTKWave (Optional)

To view the wave forms created by the testbench I recommend GTKWave. The easiest way to install it is via installing Icarus Verilog (iverilog).

git clonce git://github.com/steveicarus/iverilog.git
cd iverilog
sh autoconf.sh
./configure
make
sudo make install

Documentation

Explanation of use can be found here.