AR# 3641: A1.4, F1.4, MTI: VHDL Timing Simulation produces "Error: a positive value of WIDTH must be specified"
AR# 3641
A1.4, F1.4, MTI: VHDL Timing Simulation produces "Error: a positive value of WIDTH must be specified"
Description
Keywords: WIDTH, ROC, ROC_V, time_sim.vhd, MTI, Model Technology, V-System, Modelsim
Urgency: Medium
General Description: When using the Model Technology simulator to perform an A1.4/F1.4 VHDL Timing Simulation, the following error can occur:
# ** Failure: *** Error: a positive value of WIDTH must be specified *** # Time: 0 ns Iteration: 0 Instance: /testbench/uut/roc_ngd2vhdl
解决方案
1
Add a Configuration Statement to you Testbench ----------------------------------------------
For the A1.4/F1.4 software release, a new simulation cell was added to the VHDL simulation library called ROC (Reset On Configuration). The purpose of the ROC cell is to simulate the occurance of the power-on reset cycle that is performed in the actual device upon completion of configuration. The ROC cell is automatically placed in the timing netlist (time_sim.vhd) for designs which do not contain a STARTUP block and have not selected the -gp (Bring Global Reset out as a Port) switch for ngd2vhdl. The WIDTH value that is specified in the error message is the pulse width or duration of the power-on reset.
The WIDTH value must be specified in order to perform a timing simulation. The suggested method to do this is by adding a configuration statement to the design testbench in which initializes this value.
The following is an example configuration statement which can be appended to a testbench:
CONFIGURATION Post_M1_simulation OF <entity_name_of_testbench> IS FOR <architecture_name_of_testbench> FOR <instance_name_given_for_design_in_testbench>:<entity_name_of_design> FOR STRUCTURE FOR ROC_NGD2VHDL:ROC USE ENTITY WORK.ROC(ROC_V) generic map (WIDTH => 100 ns); END FOR; END FOR; END FOR; END FOR; END Post_M1_simulation;
In the above example, replace all fields delimited within greater-than and less-than signs (<>) with the appropriate names for the design being simulated. An example value of 100 ns is shown. If it is desired to truely mimic actual device power-on reset duration, enter the T(POR) value for the particular device from the databook. If you desire a quicker simulation, a lesser value can be enetered as long as the Minimum GSR Pulse Width, T(MRW), value is not violated for the particular target device. T(MRW) may also be found in the Xilinx Databook. Generally 100 ns is a safe value for all Xilinx FPGAs and CPLDs.
The testbench will need to be recompiled (VCOM) after making these changes and the Model Technology simulator (VSIM) will need to be invoked using the configuration name, Post_M1_simulation, as the design to load.
2
Bring Global Set/Reset out as a port ------------------------------------
An alternative to adding the configuration statement to your testbench would be to bring the global set/reset net out as a port. If the design does not contain a STARTUP block and this switch is activated, M1 will produce a netlist which contains a global set/reset port for simulation purposes only. This port will not appear in the implemented design. Once this is done, the global reset can be controlled by toggling the GSR port either from the testbench file or directly from the simulator.
To have M1 create a global set/rest port:
If using the Design Manager GUI, select the "Bring Out Global Set/Reset Net as a Port" switch within the Implementation edit Template --> Interface, Simulation Data Options box.
If using the M1 tools from command-line, issue a -gp switch when running ngd2vhdl.
3
Not Suggested -------------
As a last resort, a method to initialize the WIDTH value of the ROC is to hand edit the initialization value within the ngd2vhdl produced netlist. This is not the suggested method since this edit would need to be performed everytime a simulation netlist is re-generated but is offered as an alternative.
To edit the WIDTH value, open the timing simulation netlist (generally called time_sim.vhd) with a text editor and edit the Time value of the following line within the ROC entity declaration (generally towards the top of the netlist):
WIDTH : Time := 0 ns) ;
For instance, if a 100 ns power-on reset is desired, the timing simulation netlist should look like the following:
entity ROC is generic ( InstancePath: STRING := "*"; WIDTH : Time := 100 ns) ; port( O : out std_ulogic := '1' ) ; attribute VITAL_LEVEL0 of ROC : entity is TRUE ; end ROC ;
After making this change, compile the simulation netlist and perform the simulation as normal.
4
Simulation Patch for A1.4 -------------------------
If the simulation patch for A1.4 (Xilinx Solution 3739) is installed on the system, a switch has been added to NGD2VHDL that no longer requires the previous resolutions. For designs requiring a ROC (do not contain global reset port or "Bring out global reset port" switch is not enabled) a new command-line switch, -rpw, is required that now specified the value of the Reset pulse for the ROC.
A sample command-line usage of this switch specifying a 100 ns reset pulse is:
ngd2vhdl -w -rpw 100 design.nga
For Design Manager users, this switch may be added by using the Custom Template feature. See (Xilinx Solution 1227) for details on using the Custom feature of the Template Manager.
For information about this patch including how to obtain it, see (Xilinx Solution 3739).