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Changelog

[v0.2.0] - 2022-05-15

NOTE: this log is probably outdated/incomplete, but PyFPGA will be strongly rewritten/simplified.

  • Additional supported FPGA EDA Tools:
    • GHDL --synth: synthesizes VHDL sources.
    • ghdl-yosys-plugin: add VHDL support to Yosys.
    • Openflow: Yosys + nextpnr + icestrom/prjtrellis.
  • Added CLI helper utilities:
    • hdl2bit: to go from FPGA design files to a bitstream.
    • prj2bit: to deal with a vendor FPGA Project file.
    • bitprog: to transfer a bitstream to a supported device
  • Improves into the API classes:
    • Added relative_to_script to the Project class constructor.
    • Added the methods set_bitstream and clean.
    • Simplified code related to absolute and relative directories.
    • Exported some useful lists into the Tool class.
  • Examples:
    • Improved examples with the addition of command-line arguments.
    • Added a GHDL example.
    • Added examples using VHDL with Yosys (through ghdl-yosys-plugin).
    • Added Openflow examples.
    • Fixed a small problem into examples/multi/vhdl.py.
  • Testing:
    • Added some tests for the new CLI utilities.
    • Added vendor project files to test prj2bit.
    • Added a Makefile to run some examples as a test.

[v0.1.0] - 2020-02-29

NOTE: originally released on 2020-02-29 at https://gitlab.com/rodrigomelo9/pyfpga

  • FPGA Helpers switched to be a Python package which provides an API to manage projects
  • Supported FPGA EDA Tools:
    • ISE and Vivado from Xilinx: bitstream generation and transfer to an FPGA (ISE also support SPI/BPI memories)
    • Quartus Prime from Intel/Altera: bitstream generation and transfer to an FPGA
    • Libero-SoC from Microchip/Microsemi: bitstream generation
    • Yosys: generic synthesizer or combined with ISE/Vivado (implementation and bitstream generation)
  • The API implemented by the Project class provides:
    • A constructor where the TOOL must be specified and an optional PROJECT NAME can be specified (TOOL is used by default)
    • A method to set the target device PART (default values per TOOL are provided)
    • A method to add multiple HDL, Constraint and Tcl files to the project (in case of VHDL an optional PACKAGE NAME can be specified)
    • A method to specify the TOP-LEVEL (NAME or FILE)
    • A method to specify a different OUTPUT directory (build by default)
    • Methods to generate a bitstream and transfer it to a device (running the selected EDA Tool)
    • The capability of specifying an optimization strategy (area, power or speed) when the bitstream is generated
    • A method to add Verilog Included File directories
    • A method to specify generics/parameters values
    • Methods to add Tcl commands in up to six different parts of the Flow (workaround for not yet implemented features)
    • Optional logging capabilities which include the display of the Tool Execution Time
    • A method to get some project configurations for debug purposes
    • Methods to specify where to search an ip-repo, add a block design and export the hardware (Only supported for Xilinx Vivado)
  • Documentation:
    • User Guide
    • API Reference
    • Development notes
    • Tools notes
  • Examples:
    • General-purpose (boilerplate and capture)
    • Multi-purpose (memory, parameters, projects, strategies, verilog and vhdl)
    • Specific of each Tool where Constraint files are included (for the boards s6micro, mkr, de10nano and zybo)
  • Testing:
    • Examples are used to test the correct Tool behaviour
    • The PART specification is particularly tested for ISE and Libero
    • The master Tcl is checked using Tclsh
    • The top-level specification is tested with different alternatives

History

The roots of this project date back to 2015, where an internal project called fpga_tools, written in Perl, was used to populate templates for the ISE tool.

In 2016 the project was renamed as fpga_helpers, changing Perl by Python, published as open-source and adding support for Vivado, Quartus and time after for Libero-SoC. The project evolved to a Makefile and two Tcl scripts, one for Synthesis and other for Programming, all of them implementing multi-vendor support, with a few Python scripts to automate tasks.

At the end of 2019, a new project written from scratch, called PyFPGA, superseded the previous one, where the use of the Makefile and the Tcl scripts were replaced by a Python class used to create customized workflows.