Verilator+cocotb integration quick start guide

1. Install dependencies:

   sudo apt install virtualenv build-essential
   sudo apt install python3-dev
   sudo apt install gtkwave

2. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/chipsalliance/tools-cocotb-verilator-build build

3. Change working directory to cloned repository:

   cd build

4. Download missing submodules:

   git submodule update --init

5. Build and install Verilator in local environment

   make env/bin/verilator

6. Install cocotb in local environment:

   make env/bin/cocotb-config

Examples

To run the examples included in Cocotb, simply run make cocotb/name_of_the_example/run. To clean the directory with the examples execute make cocotb/name_of_the_example/clean.

Running the adder example:

make cocotb/adder/run

Runing the D flip-flop example:

make cocotb/dff/run

Running axi_lite_slave:

make cocotb/axi_lite_slave/run

To dump a waveform from the simulation set the VERILATOR_TRACE=1 env variable e.g:

VERILATOR_TRACE=1 make cocotb/dff/run

The waveform file is written in the example folder. gtkwave can be used for viewing it e.g:

gtkwave cocotb/examples/dff/tests/dump.vcd

An example waveform you should get is shown below:

An example test output is shown in the picture below: