impulse HDL

impulse Workbench Extension
A hardware description language (HDL) is a specialized computer language used to describe the structure and behaviour of electronic circuits and, most commonly, digital logic circuits. The best-known digital simulators are probably those based on Verilog and VHDL.

This extension supports a variety of HDL-related file formats for reading, viewing and analysing simulation output.

FSDB (Verdi tools/ Synopsys), FST (Fast Signal Trace), and WLF (ModelSim tools/ Mentor Graphics) are supported by native extensions (FSDB and WLF require third-party libraries).

eVCD, VZT and LXT2 require an external VCD conversion tool.

Debug Verilog and VHDL Implementations

Navigate through wave file hieriarchies, filter and search for incidents.

Compare Wave Files of Different Releases

Search for differences between releases and document these with the help of markers (annotations).

Extract and Visualize Statistical Information

A variety of signal calculation tools (e.g., signal scripts) allow you to check the simulation output and extract relevant data, which can then be displayed in graphs or diagrams.

FST Reader

The FST (Fast Signal Trace) reader is used by the CVC simulator, and the reader is based on libraries from the gtkWave project.

FSDB Reader

The FSDB (Fast Signal Database) is a format mainly used with Verdi tools (Synopsys). The reader requires a tools installation (FsdbReader).

WLF Reader

WLF is a format used in ModelSim tools (Mentor Graphics). The reader requires a tools installation (wlfapi).

EVCD Reader (using external VCD converter)

The extended VCD-format reader requires an external evcd2vcd converter tool (gtkwave).

LXT2 Reader (using external VCD converter)

The reader for the LXT2 format from the gtkWave project reader requires an external lxt2vcd converter tool (gtkwave).

VZT Reader (using external VCD converter)

The reader for the VZT format from the gtkWave project requires an external vzt2vcd converter tool (gtkwave).
Details

  • FST Reader

    Handling the Fast Signal Trace(FST)

    The FST format is a binary format for simulation output generated by EDA logic simulation tools. FST (Fast Signal Trace) is used by the CVC simulator. The reader uses the native library provided by the gtkwave source package. Users may need to configure and compile the native extension using the native extension preference pages.

    Platforms:
    32/64bit 32/64bit 32/64bit
    Requirements:
    • None
    Known limitations:
    • The reader uses external libraries over which toem has no control.
    • The pre-compile native extension may not work in your environment. In this case you may re-compile using the native extension preference pages.
    • File size limited by virtual memory and temporary storage
    Status:
    • Stable
    Operations:
    • Load
    Parameters:
    • Timeout : Timeout (value in ms) for database access.
    • Load on request : Load the signal data when required (true by default).
    Configuration:
    • Default Reader Configuration with modified parameters.

  • FSDB Reader

    Using the Fast Signal Database(FSDB)

    The FSDB format is a binary format for simulation output generated by EDA logic simulation tools. It is mainly used by the Verdi toolchain (Synopsys) and needs a tool installation (FsdbReader). Users need to configure (path to FsdbReader) and compile the native extension using the native extension preference pages.

    Platforms:
    32/64bit 32/64bit 32/64bit
    Depending on the availability of external tool.
    Requirements:
    • Tool installation (FsdbReader)
    • Users need to configure (path to FsdbReader) and compile the native extension.
    Known limitations:
    • The reader uses external libraries over which toem has no control.
    • File size limited by virtual memory and temporary storage
    Status:
    • Stable
    Operations:
    • Load
    Parameters:
    • Timeout : Timeout (value in ms) for database access.
    • Load on request : Load the signal data when required (true by default).
    Configuration:
    • Default Reader Configuration with modified parameters.

  • WLF Reader

    Using Modelsims WLF

    The WLF format is a binary format for simulation output generated by EDA logic simulation tools. WLF is used by the ModelSim tools (Mentor Graphics). The reader requires a tools installation (wlfapi). Users need to configure (path to wlfapi) and compile the native extension using the native extension preference pages.

    Platforms:
    32/64bit 32/64bit 32/64bit
    Depending on the availability of external tool.
    Requirements:
    • Tool installation (wlfapi)
    • Users need to configure (path to wlfapi) and compile the native extension.
    Known limitations:
    • The reader uses external libraries over which toem has no control.
    • File size limited by virtual memory and temporary storage
    Status:
    • Stable
    Operations:
    • Load
    Parameters:
    • Timeout : Timeout (value in ms) for database access.
    • Load on request : Load the signal data when required (true by default).
    Configuration:
    • Default Reader Configuration with modified parameters.

  • eVCD Reader

    Usinfgthe Extended Value Change Dump(eVCD)

    The eVCD format (extended Value Change Dump) is an ASCII-based format for dumpfiles generated by EDA logic simulation tools. The format is supported by using an external tool to convert the input to vcd format (evcd2vcd). This tool is not part of impulse and must be installed separately (gtkwave package in debian/ubuntu). In case of different tool naming, path and parameters, the user can configure the tool parameters using the serializer preferences page.

    Platforms:
    32/64bit 32/64bit 32/64bit
    Depending on the availability of external tool (evcd2vcd).
    Requirements:
    • evcd2vcd tool
    Known limitations:
    • The reader uses external applications over which toem has no control.
    Status:
    • Stable
    Operations:
    • Load
    Parameters:
    • Path: Path for the executable.
    • Command: Command name and parameters. File name can be added using the %f notation.
    Configuration:
    • Default Reader Configuration with modified parameters.

  • LXT2 Reader

    InterLaced eXtensible Trace (LXT2)

    The LXT2 format is a binary format for dumpfiles generated by EDA logic simulation tools. The format is supported by using an external tool to convert the input to vcd format (lxt2vcd). This tool is not part of impulse and must be installed separately (gtkwave package in debian/ubuntu). In case of different tool naming, path and parameters, the user can configure the tool parameters using the serializer preferences page.

    Platforms:
    32/64bit 32/64bit 32/64bit
    Depending on the availability of external tool (lxt2vcd).
    Requirements:
    • lxt2vcd tool
    Known limitations:
    • The reader uses external applications over which toem has no control.
    Status:
    • Stable
    Operations:
    • Load
    Parameters:
    • Path: Path for the executable.
    • Command: Command name and parameters. File name can be added using the %f notation.
    Configuration:
    • Default Reader Configuration with modified parameters.

  • VZT Reader

    The VZT format is a binary format for dump files generated by EDA logic simulation tools. The format is supported by using an external tool to convert the input to vcd format (vzt2vcd). This tool is not part of impulse and must be installed separately (gtkwave package in debian/ubuntu). In case of different tool naming, path and parameters, the user can configure the tool parameters using the serializer preferences page.

    Platforms:
    32/64bit 32/64bit 32/64bit
    Depending on the availability of external tool (vzt2vcd).
    Requirements:
    • vzt2vcd tool
    Known limitations:
    • The reader uses external applications over which toem has no control.
    Status:
    • Stable
    Operations:
    • Load
    Parameters:
    • Path: Path for the executable.
    • Command: Command name and parameters. File name can be added using the %f notation.
    Configuration:
    • Default Reader Configuration with modified parameters.

License

impulse end-user license
Native extension converter (C/C++) available in the plugin package
Selected Resources

Simulation

Electronic circuit simulation uses mathematical models to replicate the behaviour of an actual electronic device or circuit. The output of these simulations can be analysed using impulse in many ways. Analysed simulations of analogue and digital systems include: systemC (VCD, TAB, SCV); Verilog, VHDL (VCD, eVCD, LXT2, VZT, FST) and Spice (HSpice, NanoSim, Spice3).
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