Assertion Synthesis: Catching RTL Assertions on the FPGA¶
Golden Gate can synthesize assertions present in FIRRTL (implemented as stop
statements) that would otherwise be lost in the FPGA synthesis flow. Rocket
and BOOM include hundreds of such assertions which, when synthesized, can
provide great insight into why the target may be failing.
Enabling Assertion Synthesis¶
To enable assertion synthesis prepend WithSynthAsserts
Config to your
PLATFORM_CONFIG. During compilation, Golden Gate will print the
number of assertions it’s synthesized. In the target’s generated-src/
directory, you’ll find a *.asserts
file with the definitions of all
synthesized assertions. If assertion synthesis has been enabled, the
synthesized_assertions_t
bridge driver will be automatically instantiated.
Runtime Behavior¶
If an assertion is caught during simulation, the driver will print the assertion cause, the path to module instance in which it fired, a source locator, and the cycle on which the assertion fired. Simulation will then terminate.
An example of an assertion caught in a dual-core instance of BOOM is given below:
id: 1190, module: IssueSlot_4, path: FireSimNoNIC.tile_1.core.issue_units_0.slots_3]
Assertion failed
at issue_slot.scala:214 assert (!slot_p1_poisoned)
at cycle: 2142042185