Compressed Vector Waveform File (.cvwf) Definition

A compressed version, in binary format, of the Vector Waveform File (with the extension .cvwf), optimized to remove unnecessary information. This file describes simulation input vectors and simulation output vectors as graphical waveforms.

You can both view and edit a Compressed Vector Waveform File in the Waveform Editor. You can use the Waveform Editor directly to enter new nodes, delete old nodes, change the order of nodes with respect to each other, set the radix, rename nodes, and change the node type. You can see these edits when you open a Compressed Vector Waveform File that has simulation results in the Simulation Waveforms report.

You can open Compressed Vector Waveform Files or create new Compressed Vector Waveform Files for simulation. Because Compressed Vector Waveform Files serve as both an input and output file of the Simulator, they contain both input and output vectors. During simulation, the Compressed Vector Waveform File is an input file only. The Simulator requires a Compressed Vector Waveform File to provide the input vectors that drive simulation. For a Compressed Vector Waveform File-based simulation, the input vectors are exact copies of the input vectors in the Compressed Vector Waveform File.

If a Compressed Vector Waveform File is used for creating stimulus for the Simulator, it specifies the following:

  • The input logic levels (that is, vectors) that drive the input pins and determine the internal logic levels throughout the design
  • The nodes to be observed, the start and stop times for applying vectors, the intervals at which vectors are applied
  • The nodes to be grouped during simulation
  • The radix used to interpret logic levels

During simulation, 9-level project inputs without vectors are automatically assigned uninitialized (U) logic levels. The Compressed Vector Waveform File can also include the names of any combination of output nodes to be simulated, including buried output nodes. Expected output levels are optional in a Compressed Vector Waveform File used for simulation. The Compressed Vector Waveform File determines the order of nodes, groups, and group radixes that are stored in the automatically generated Compressed Vector Waveform File.

In order to prevent incorrect syntax errors, you cannot view or read a Compressed Vector Waveform file outside of the Waveform Editor. Compressed Vector Waveform Files created in the Quartus® Prime software version 6.0 cannot be opened in earlier versions of the Quartus® Prime software. You can convert the Compressed Vector Waveform File to Vector Waveform File format before using it in an earlier version of the Quartus® Prime software.