Bluespec System Verilog (BSV)

This repository contains the installation procedure to setup the Bluespec Compiler (BSC) on Ubuntu 24.04. The latest version of the Ubuntu Linux Distribution can be installed from here Download Ubuntu Desktop | Ubuntu. This repository is work in progress.

1. Installation

1.1. Installing the Bluespec Compiler (BSC)

Install the tape archive (TAR) of the Bluespec Compiler (BSC) here GitHub | BSC | Releases

Save the download in any one of the following locations: /opt, ${HOME}/ or /usr/share. If the file is downloaded to other locations, use the following command to move it to the suggested folders:

sudo mv filename /opt

Unpack the archive using the command:

sudo tar -xvzf filename

Further installation instructions to add the path can be found in the README.txt. The same is explained here, create a directory named tools using the command:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/tools/bsc

Move the unpacked BSC file inside the directory using the command:

sudo mv filename /opt/tools/bsc/filename

Navigate to the directory in the terminal using the command:

cd /opt/tools/bsc

Create a symbolic link using the command:

sudo ln -s filename latest

1.2. Adding the Path

To add the bin subdirectory to the PATH open the configuration file for the Bash shell environment using the command:

sudo gedit ~/.bashrc

Any one of the following text editor of choice can be used vim and nano. Before running the command make sure one of the text editor is installed in the system. sudo apt-get install gedit, run this command to install gedit.

At the bottom of the configuration file, add the following path:

export PATH="/opt/tools/bsc/latest/bin:$PATH"

Save and exit the text editor. Use the command to restart.

sudo reboot

1.3. Installation Check

To check whether the PATH has been added correctly, use the command

echo $PATH

Successful inclusion of the path will prompt the following output in the terminal window.

/opt/tools/bsc/latest/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin:/snap/bin

Figure 1. Successful Installation

2. Simulation

It has been customary to start with a very simple example to introduce the working of any language. So, the first example program that is used to explain the flow of the BSC is a simple 'Hello World!' program.

2.1. BSV Program

Save the file as Testbench.bsv.

module mkTestbench (Empty);

   rule rl_print_answer;
      $display ("Deep Thought says: Hello, World! The answer is 42.");
      $finish;
   endrule
endmodule

2.2. Compiling and Running

There are multiples methods to compile and run the BSV file. Here is the one of many methods to run and verify the design.

2.1.1. Creating the Directories

Put the .bsv file in a directory called src/. From outside src/, run the following shell commands.

mkdir -p .bscdir
mkdir -p vlog

The mkdir -p .bscdir creates a directory named .bscdir in the current working directory. The -p option ensures that intermediate directories are created if they do not exist already. If .bscdir exists, mkdir will not raise an error or overwrite it.

The mkdir -p vlog creates a directory named vlog in the current working directory. Similar to the first command, -p ensures that vlog is created even if parent directories leading up to vlog do not exist. This is run only at the initial setup phase.

2.2.2. Running the BSV Program

Run the following to compile and elaborate the design

bsc -u -p "src:%/Libraries" -keep-fires -aggressive-conditions -show-schedule -show-range-conflict +RTS -K100M -RTS -bdir .bscdir -simdir .bscdir -info-dir .bscdir -vdir vlog -steps 10000000 -sim -g mkTestbench -o temp src/Testbench.bsv

To keep this succint explanations of the shell scripts are avoided. But the explanation of the shell command can be found on ChatGPT, just copy and paste.

Finally to generate the binary file for simulation, run the following script

bsc -e mkTestbench -o mkTestbench_bsim +RTS -K100M -RTS -bdir .bscdir -simdir .bscdir -info-dir .bscdir -vdir vlog -sim -keep-fires

To execute the binary for simulation run

./mkTestbench_bsim -V

The -V tells Bluesim simulation to dump waveforms from the circuit into dump.vcd file. Verilog simulators also have commands to capture VCDs. This program does not have any waveform, so run without -V.

2.3. Result

Figure 2. Hello World !

2.4. Converting BSV Design to Verilog

A BSV design can be converted to Verilog using the command:

bsc -verilog -g mkTestbench Testbench.bsv

Note that the waveforms from both Bluesim and Verilog simulation will be the same.

Reference

For futher information, visit Bluespec Compiler