Welcome to SiliconCompiler Discussions!

[aolofsson]

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[apscomp]

Congratulations Andreas Olofsson & Team !!

Against which physical devices will this compiler currently work ?

as a newbie, i would be primarily interested in entry level SBCs or FPGAs... like the adapteva...

[aolofsson]

On the fpga side vivado and yosys/nextpnr is currently supported, but that's just a proof of concept. The focus is on asic development.

[oharboe]

I wanted to take this tool for a spin with some Verilog that's output from Chisel.

The very first thing I ran into is that I have an outdated Yosys installed(Ubuntu 21.10), see error message below...

At this point, I'm faced with a daunting task: install the latest version of a bunch of tools and try to get them to work together...

The first thing that comes to mind is Docker, because I'm famliar with it. Create a Docker image that has all the required tools.

However, perhaps https://nixos.org/ is a better idea?

If SiliconCompiler includes a nix file, it should be able to download, compile and install a mix of tools that are known to work together.

Nix can be combined with Docker, as I understand it, such that you can easily modify and test updates to the nix file locally, but at the same time easily download a Docker image with a nix file in it that has all the recommended latest tools precompiled.

Thoughts?

sc Foo.v -target asicflow_freepdk45
[deleted]
 Yosys 0.9 (git sha1 1979e0b)
[deleted]
1. Executing Verilog-2005 frontend: inputs/Foo.v
inputs/Foo.v:202: ERROR: Can't resolve task name `\$fwrite'.

[aolofsson]

You hit the nail on the head. Installing tools can be daunting. We document all the tool installs here. I don't think it's that bad, but I agree that containters would help. Containers help a few people (like you), but leave out a whole of people. This is why we focused on the -remote option with a thin front end.

Still, if someone with expertise in nix/docker wants to come up with a proposal for how to do this, we are open to it.

https://github.com/siliconcompiler/siliconcompiler/tree/main/setup

[oharboe]

You hit the nail on the head.

Open source EDA tools are hit particularly hard by this problem.

Installing tools can be daunting. We document all the tool installs here. I don't think it's that bad, but I agree that containters would help. Containers help a few people (like you), but leave out a whole of people. This is why we focused on the -remote option with a thin front end.

With "-remote" the tools still have to be installed somewhere... Sounds like "-remote" could work for some, but not all too...

Since these are open source tools, chances are that the versions of the tools have to be adjusted to be used with any non-trivial hello world design. A prerequisite for success is a great workflow to be able to patch or update some tool in the mix.

Still, if someone with expertise in nix/docker wants to come up with a proposal for how to do this, we are open to it.

If you predict that very nearly no-one will use Nix/Docker, then I guess there's little incentive to take delivery of and accept the maintenance burder, enforced via continous integration and testing... Without continous integration and testing, such scripts will rot very quickly as pull requests will go into master that break them...

https://github.com/siliconcompiler/siliconcompiler/tree/main/setup

These are specific to some Linux distribution and version and quite complex and long time to run and numerous... Brittle... Unless there's automated integration testing to make sure they don't break... Or even work in the first place...

OpenROAD started with very little in terms of continous integration, but it is coming along now... They are still stuck in git submodule hell. monorepository(possibly implemented as git subtree) is an answer to the git submodule hell, but it doesn't come entirely without it's own problems...

[6awaken9]

There's some problem when I do the quickstart , I don't what it means,

C:\Users\ASUS\PycharmProjects\Soc\venv\Scripts\python.exe C:/Users/ASUS/PycharmProjects/Soc/heartbeat.py
| INFO | job0 | --- | - | Loading target 'asicflow_freepdk45'
| INFO | job0 | --- | - | Loading function 'setup_flow' from module 'asicflow'
| INFO | job0 | --- | - | Loading function 'setup_pdk' from module 'freepdk45'
| INFO | job0 | --- | - | Operating in 'asic' mode
| INFO | job0 | --- | - | Loading target 'asicflow_freepdk45'
| INFO | job0 | --- | - | Loading function 'setup_flow' from module 'asicflow'
| INFO | job0 | --- | - | Loading function 'setup_pdk' from module 'freepdk45'
| INFO | job0 | --- | - | Operating in 'asic' mode
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 1, in
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\multiprocessing\spawn.py", line 116, in spawn_main
exitcode = _main(fd, parent_sentinel)
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\multiprocessing\spawn.py", line 125, in _main
prepare(preparation_data)
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\multiprocessing\spawn.py", line 236, in prepare
_fixup_main_from_path(data['init_main_from_path'])
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\multiprocessing\spawn.py", line 287, in _fixup_main_from_path
main_content = runpy.run_path(main_path,
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\runpy.py", line 269, in run_path
return _run_module_code(code, init_globals, run_name,
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\runpy.py", line 96, in _run_module_code
_run_code(code, mod_globals, init_globals,
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\runpy.py", line 86, in _run_code
exec(code, run_globals)
File "C:\Users\ASUS\PycharmProjects\Soc\heartbeat.py", line 8, in
chip.run() # run compilation
File "C:\Users\ASUS\PycharmProjects\Soc\venv\lib\site-packages\siliconcompiler\core.py", line 3124, in run
remote_preprocess(self)
File "C:\Users\ASUS\PycharmProjects\Soc\venv\lib\site-packages\siliconcompiler\client.py", line 49, in remote_preprocess
manager = multiprocessing.Manager()
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\multiprocessing\context.py", line 57, in Manager
m.start()
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\multiprocessing\managers.py", line 562, in start
self._process.start()
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\multiprocessing\process.py", line 121, in start
self._popen = self._Popen(self)
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\multiprocessing\context.py", line 327, in _Popen
return Popen(process_obj)
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\multiprocessing\popen_spawn_win32.py", line 45, in init
prep_data = spawn.get_preparation_data(process_obj._name)
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\multiprocessing\spawn.py", line 154, in get_preparation_data
_check_not_importing_main()
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\multiprocessing\spawn.py", line 134, in _check_not_importing_main
raise RuntimeError('''
RuntimeError:
An attempt has been made to start a new process before the
current process has finished its bootstrapping phase.

    This probably means that you are not using fork to start your
    child processes and you have forgotten to use the proper idiom
    in the main module:

        if __name__ == '__main__':
            freeze_support()
            ...

    The "freeze_support()" line can be omitted if the program
    is not going to be frozen to produce an executable.

[nmoroze]

Thanks for trying out SC! I think this is a Windows-related limitation with the multiprocessing library, which we rely on under the hood. I believe you need to wrap your main entry point using if __name__ == '__main__':, for example:

import siliconcompiler                        # import python package

def main(): 
  chip = siliconcompiler.Chip()                 # create chip object
  chip.set('source', 'heartbeat.v')             # define list of source files
  chip.set('design', 'heartbeat')               # set top module
  chip.set('constraint', 'heartbeat.sdc')       # set constraints file
  chip.target('asicflow_freepdk45')             # load predefined target
  chip.run()                                    # run compilation
  chip.summary()                                # print results summary
  chip.show()                                   # show layout file

if __name__ == '__main__':
  main()

[6awaken9]

thanks very much , it works!

[6awaken9]

Is there any special requirements for tools？ I install some tools ，but i can't start it through run the program，for example the klayout .

[6awaken9]

my SC environment is in the C disk, but my tools is in other disk, how can i set the connection between SC environment and tools

[nmoroze]

You'll need to add the path to your tool binaries to your OS's PATH environment variable (SC tries to run them as normal command-line applications). Here are some generic instructions for how to edit this environment variable on Windows: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/office/developer/sharepoint-2010/ee537574(v=office.14)#to-add-a-path-to-the-path-environment-variable.

[6awaken9]

when I run chip.show() to launch the klayout ,there is some problem . I try to debug the code but didn't solve it .

| INFO | job0 | --- | - | Showing file None
| INFO | job0 | --- | - | Writing manifest to C:\Users\ASUS\PycharmProjects\Soc\build_show\sc_manifest.tcl
| INFO | job0 | --- | - | Writing manifest to C:\Users\ASUS\PycharmProjects\Soc\build_show\sc_manifest.json
| ERROR | job0 | --- | - | File ../third_party/pdks/virtual/freepdk45/pdk/r1p0/setup/klayout/freepdk45.lyt was not found
| ERROR | job0 | --- | - | File ../third_party/pdks/virtual/freepdk45/libs/NangateOpenCellLibrary/r1p0/lef/NangateOpenCellLibrary.macro.mod.lef was not found
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "F:\Program Files\JetBrains\PyCharm Community Edition 2021.3\plugins\python-ce\helpers\pydev\pydevd.py", line 1483, in _exec
pydev_imports.execfile(file, globals, locals) # execute the script
File "F:\Program Files\JetBrains\PyCharm Community Edition 2021.3\plugins\python-ce\helpers\pydev_pydev_imps_pydev_execfile.py", line 18, in execfile
exec(compile(contents+"\n", file, 'exec'), glob, loc)
File "C:/Users/ASUS/PycharmProjects/Soc/heartbeat.py", line 17, in
main()
File "C:/Users/ASUS/PycharmProjects/Soc/heartbeat.py", line 13, in main
chip.show() # show layout file
File "C:\Users\ASUS\PycharmProjects\Soc\venv\lib\site-packages\siliconcompiler\core.py", line 3374, in show
cmdlist = self._makecmd(tool, step, index)
File "C:\Users\ASUS\PycharmProjects\Soc\venv\lib\site-packages\siliconcompiler\core.py", line 3477, in _makecmd
for option in runtime_options(self):
File "C:\Users\ASUS\PycharmProjects\Soc\venv\lib\site-packages\siliconcompiler\tools\klayout\klayout.py", line 120, in runtime_options
lefpath = os.path.dirname(liblef)
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\ntpath.py", line 223, in dirname
return split(p)[0]
File "F:\Program Files\Python\lib\ntpath.py", line 185, in split
p = os.fspath(p)
TypeError: expected str, bytes or os.PathLike object, not NoneType
python-BaseException

[6awaken9]

meanwhile，i found that the SC start the klayout through the keyword klayout.exe , but after you installed the klayout , you will find the name is klayout_app.exe in your intallation directory on the windows system

[nmoroze]

What version of SC are you running?

To find it, either run sc -version or the following Python script:

import siliconcompiler
print(siliconcompiler.__version__)

[suzizecat]

Hi there !
I'm a FOSS and microelectronics enthusiast and digital designer. I found silicon compiler as a good solution to actually use SKY130 PDK on a custom design and learn some stuff along the way.
Also, the flow management capabilities of siliconcompiler might be interesting in my professional environment, but I'll explore that when I'm more familiar with SC.