Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel® FPGAs: User Guide

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ID 784383
Date 7/08/2024
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Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. About This Document 2. Intel® Simics® Simulator and Virtual Platforms 3. Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel® FPGAs Device Portfolio 4. Installing the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel® FPGAs 5. Getting Started with Intel® Simics® Simulator 6. Debugging Target Software 7. Networking with the Simulated Target System 8. Intel® Simics® Scripting 9. Software Debug Examples with Intel® Simics® Simulator 10. Document Revision History for Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel FPGAs User Guide A. Intel® Simics® Simulator Command Reference
1. About This Document x
1.1. Documentation Conventions for Examples 1.2. Terminology 1.3. List of Acronyms
2. Intel® Simics® Simulator and Virtual Platforms x
2.1. Device Model and Virtual Platforms 2.2. Intel® Simics® Simulator 2.3. Intel® Simics® Simulator Architecture
2.2. Intel® Simics® Simulator x
2.2.1. Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel FPGAs Capabilities
4. Installing the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel® FPGAs x
4.1. Installing the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel® FPGAs on Linux* Systems 4.2. Installing the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel® FPGAs on Microsoft Windows* Systems 4.3. Installing Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Intel® FPGAs 4.4. Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel® FPGAs Support
5. Getting Started with Intel® Simics® Simulator x
5.1. Simulation Set Up 5.2. Starting the Simulation 5.3. Intel® Simics® Simulator Command-Line Interface (CLI) 5.4. Hardware Inspection 5.5. Intel® Simics® Simulator Timing
5.1. Simulation Set Up x
5.1.1. Initializing an Intel® Simics® Project and Deploying a Virtual Platform 5.1.2. Understanding Target Scripts
5.2. Starting the Simulation x
5.2.1. Starting a Simulation from a Command Prompt 5.2.2. Starting a Simulation with Ashling* RiscFree* IDE
5.3. Intel® Simics® Simulator Command-Line Interface (CLI) x
5.3.1. Version of the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel FPGAs Software 5.3.2. Simulation Run Control from CLI 5.3.3. Intel® Simics® Simulator Command Scope 5.3.4. Intel® Simics® Simulator CLI Variables and Operations 5.3.5. Intel® Simics® Simulator CLI Command Completion and Command History 5.3.6. Intel® Simics® Command-Line Interface Help 5.3.7. Capture of CLI Session to a File 5.3.8. Intel® Simics® Simulator File Location and Intel® Simics® Search Path
5.4. Hardware Inspection x
5.4.1. Listing Objects in the Target System 5.4.2. Processor (CPU) Inspection 5.4.3. Device Inspection 5.4.4. Memory Mapping and Memory Inspection 5.4.5. Logging
5.4.2. Processor (CPU) Inspection x
5.4.2.1. Listing Processors 5.4.2.2. Inspect Processor Registers
5.4.3. Device Inspection x
5.4.3.1. Retrieve List of Devices 5.4.3.2. Inspecting Device Registers
5.4.4. Memory Mapping and Memory Inspection x
5.4.4.1. Memory Mapping Inspection 5.4.4.2. Memory Inspection
5.4.5. Logging x
5.4.5.1. Breakpoints on CLI Log Messages
5.5. Intel® Simics® Simulator Timing x
5.5.1. CPU Frequency 5.5.2. CPU Cycles and Steps 5.5.3. Events 5.5.4. Enable Real Time
6. Debugging Target Software x
6.1. Intel® Simics® Debugger and Debug Context 6.2. Capturing Serial Console Output 6.3. Breakpoints 6.4. Debugging Target Software with Symbol Files 6.5. Debugging Target Software with Ashling* RiscFree* Debugger 6.6. Capturing CPU Instruction Execution Trace
6.3. Breakpoints x
6.3.1. Memory Breakpoints 6.3.2. Temporal Breakpoints 6.3.3. CPU Control Register Breakpoints 6.3.4. Hardware Access Breakpoints 6.3.5. CPU Register Breakpoints 6.3.6. Tracing Breakpoints 6.3.7. Text Console Activity Breakpoints
6.4. Debugging Target Software with Symbol Files x
6.4.1. Loading Symbol Files in a Simulation
6.5. Debugging Target Software with Ashling* RiscFree* Debugger x
6.5.1. Remote Debugging with RiscFree* IDE
6.5.1. Remote Debugging with RiscFree* IDE x
6.5.1.1. Remote Debugging With Intel® Simics® Simulation and RiscFree* IDE on the Same System 6.5.1.2. Remote Debugging With Intel® Simics® Simulation and RiscFree* IDE on Different Systems 6.5.1.3. Remote Access to the Target System Serial Console
7. Networking with the Simulated Target System x
7.1. Network Simulation and Service Node 7.2. Connectivity Between Host PC and Target System
7.2. Connectivity Between Host PC and Target System x
7.2.1. Port Forwarding 7.2.2. Transferring Files Between Host PC and Target System 7.2.3. Accessing Target System from Host PC Through HTTP 7.2.4. Networking Commands Reference Table
7.2.1. Port Forwarding x
7.2.1.1. Incoming Port Forwarding 7.2.1.2. Outgoing Port Forwarding
7.2.1.1. Incoming Port Forwarding x
7.2.1.1.1. Example of an SSH Connection with Incoming Port Forwarding
7.2.1.2. Outgoing Port Forwarding x
7.2.1.2.1. Example of SSH Connection With Outgoing Port Forwarding 7.2.1.2.2. Example of SSH Connection via NAPT
7.2.2. Transferring Files Between Host PC and Target System x
7.2.2.1. Transferring Files with SCP service 7.2.2.2. Transferring Files with TFTP service
7.2.2.1. Transferring Files with SCP service x
7.2.2.1.1. Transferring Files With SCP Service via Forwarding Ports 7.2.2.1.2. Transferring Files with SCP from Target System to Host PC via NAPT
7.2.2.2. Transferring Files with TFTP service x
7.2.2.2.1. TFTP Using Forwarding Port 7.2.2.2.2. TFTP via NAPT 7.2.2.2.3. TFTP Using TFTP Server in Intel® Simics® Service Node
8. Intel® Simics® Scripting x
8.1. Scripts in CLI
8.1. Scripts in CLI x
8.1.1. Variables 8.1.2. Command Return Values 8.1.3. Control Flow Commands 8.1.4. Local Variables 8.1.5. Integer Conversion 8.1.6. Accessing Configuration Parameters 8.1.7. Error Handling in Scripts 8.1.8. Script Branches
8.1.8. Script Branches x
8.1.8.1. Script Branches Commands 8.1.8.2. Variables in Script Branches 8.1.8.3. Branch Synchronization 8.1.8.4. Canceling Script Branches 8.1.8.5. Script Branches Restrictions
9. Software Debug Examples with Intel® Simics® Simulator x
9.1. Debugging Linux* User-Mode Application
9.1. Debugging Linux* User-Mode Application x
9.1.1. Debugging a Linux Application with GDB 9.1.2. Debugging a Linux Application with RiscFree* IDE
9.1.1. Debugging a Linux Application with GDB x
9.1.1.1. Debugging with GDB Debug from Host PC Using Forwarding Ports 9.1.1.2. Debugging with GDB from Host PC with Intel® Simics® Simulator GDB Server
1. About This Document
2. Intel® Simics® Simulator and Virtual Platforms
3. Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel® FPGAs Device Portfolio
4. Installing the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel® FPGAs
5. Getting Started with Intel® Simics® Simulator
6. Debugging Target Software
7. Networking with the Simulated Target System
8. Intel® Simics® Scripting
9. Software Debug Examples with Intel® Simics® Simulator
10. Document Revision History for Intel® Simics® Simulator for Intel FPGAs User Guide
A. Intel® Simics® Simulator Command Reference

5.3.4. Intel® Simics® Simulator CLI Variables and Operations

The Intel® Simics® simulator CLI provides the ability to define variables that you can later use in the same Intel® Simics® simulation session, similarly to how the environment variables are used in a Linux terminal.

Intel® Simics® simulator variables are defined and accessed using the $ symbol as a prefix of the variable name. Similarly to Python programming, the variables can hold any kind of type of value including Boolean, integer, float, string, list or a combination of them.

To show the value of a variable, use the echo command or enter the variable at an Intel® Simics® CLI prompt. Some examples of declaration and use of variables are as follows (all examples use the Intel® Simics® command-line interface): 
# Integer type

simics> $myIntVar = 100
simics> echo $myIntVar
100
# Float type
simics> $myFloatVar = 1.2
simics> echo $myFloatVar
1.2
# Operation Integer and Float types
simics> $myVar2 = $myIntVar + $myFloatVar
simics> echo $myVar2
101.2
# String
simics> $myStrVar= "Hello World"
simics> $myStrVar2 = $myStrVar
simics> echo $myStrVar2
Hello World
# List type
simics> $myList = [7, 4, [2.5, -3.2], "hello", "world"]
simics> echo $myList 
[7, 4, [2.5, -3.2], "hello", "world"]
simics> $myList[2][0]
2.5
# String operation
simics> $myNewStrVar =  $myList[3]+ " " + $myList[4]
simics> echo $myNewStrVar
hello world
# String and integer operation
simics> $myNewStrVar = $myNewStrVar + $myList[0]
simics> echo $myNewStrVar
hello world7
# Integer and String operation
simics> $myIntVar = $myIntVar + $myStrVar
simics> echo $myIntVar
100Hello World
# Boolean type variables
simics> $myBoolVar1 = TRUE
simics> $myBoolVar2 = FALSE
simics> $myBoolVar3 = $myBoolVar1 or $myBoolVar2
simics> echo $myBoolVar3
TRUE
simics> $myBoolVar3 = $myBoolVar1 and $myBoolVar2
simics> echo $myBoolVar3
FALSE

The following operations are supported on the Intel® Simics® CLI:

  • Basic math operations: - , +, /, *
  • Modulo operation: %
  • Bit wise operation (C- style): << , >>, &, |, ^
  • Comparison: == , <=, >=, <, >
  • String concatenation: +
  • String formatting: “string with %d %s ” % [ value 1 value 2]
Use parentheses to handle operation precedence and to force a string to be evaluated as an Intel® Simics® simulator command. 
# Intel Simics simulator CLI 
 
# String formatting

simics> $myValue = 40723
simics> $myStr = "World"
simics> $myStrTest = "Hello %s %d" % [$myStr, $myValue]
simics> $myStrTest
"Hello World 40723"

# Using parentheses to force interpretation as a command
# Text in parentheses is interprested as a command.
# The return value of the command in parenthese is passed to the command outside
# the parentheses.

# Compare the output of the following commands:

simics> sim.log-level
Current log levels:
 
Lvl  Object
-----------
  1  sim

simics> echo sim.log-level
sim.log-level

simics> echo (sim.log-level)
1

When you use numbers in variables, the Intel® Simics® simulator CLI also supports several base formats using the 0<x/b/o> prefix. The CLI also supports displaying grouped digits using the _ character to separate the digit groups. For example:

  • Decimal: 987_654_321
  • Binary: 0b0110_1110_0011
  • Octal: 0o76_5_43_21
  • Hex: 0xabcd_ef12_9876

You can also define the base of the output information in the Intel® Simics® simulator CLI with the following command: 

output-radix <base> <grouping>
Where the <base> can be 2, 8, 10, or 16. The following examples show the effect of the output-radix command on displaying a value: 
# Intel Simics simulator CLI 
 
simics> $myvalue = 40723
simics> output-radix
The current output-radix is 10.

simics> echo $myvalue
40723

simics> output-radix 16 4
simics> echo $myvalue
0x9f13

simics> output-radix 8 2
simics> echo $myvalue
0o11_74_23

simics> output-radix 2 4
simics> echo $myvalue
0b1001_1111_0001_0011

simics> output-radix 10
simics> echo $myvalue
40723

Using Intel® Simics® simulator CLI variables can be helpful when creating scripts to automated sequences of actions. For more information about scripting in Intel® Simics® simulator, refer to Intel Simics Scripting.

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