Verilator 3.

862

Wilson Snyder
http://www.veripool.org

2014-06-10

CONTENTS

Verilator 3.862

Contents
1 NAME

2 SYNOPSIS

3 DESCRIPTION

4 ARGUMENT SUMMARY

5 ARGUMENTS

6 EXAMPLE C++ EXECUTION

19

7 EXAMPLE SYSTEMC EXECUTION

20

8 BENCHMARKING & OPTIMIZATION

22

9 FILES

23

10 ENVIRONMENT

24

11 CONNECTING TO C++

26

12 CONNECTING TO SYSTEMC

27

13 DIRECT PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (DPI)

27

14 VERIFICATION PROCEDURAL INTERFACE (VPI)

31

15 CROSS COMPILATION

32

16 CONFIGURATION FILES

33

17 LANGUAGE STANDARD SUPPORT

34

CONTENTS

Verilator 3.862

18 LANGUAGE EXTENSIONS

35

19 LANGUAGE LIMITATIONS

41

20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

48

21 FAQ/FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

58

22 BUGS

64

23 HISTORY

65

24 CONTRIBUTORS

65

25 DISTRIBUTION

66

26 AUTHORS

66

27 SEE ALSO

67

4 ARGUMENT SUMMARY

Verilator 3.862

1 NAME
Verilator - Convert Verilog code to C++/SystemC

2 SYNOPSIS
verilator
verilator
verilator
verilator
verilator

--help
--version
--cc [options] [top_level.v]... [opt_c_files.cpp/c/cc/a/o/so]
--sc [options] [top_level.v]... [opt_c_files.cpp/c/cc/a/o/so]
--lint-only
[top_level.v]...

3 DESCRIPTION
Verilator converts synthesizable (not behavioral) Verilog code, plus some Synthesis,
SystemVerilog and a small subset of Verilog AMS assertions, into C++, SystemC or
SystemPerl code. It is not a complete simulator, just a compiler.
Verilator is invoked with parameters similar to GCC, Cadence Verilog-XL/NC-Verilog,
or Synopsys's VCS. It reads the specied Verilog code, lints it, and optionally adds
coverage and waveform tracing code. For C++ and SystemC formats, it outputs .cpp
and .h les. For SystemPerl format, it outputs .sp les for the SystemPerl preprocessor, which greatly simplies writing SystemC code and is available at http://www.veripool.org.
The les created by Verilator are then compiled with C++. The user writes a little
C++ wrapper le, which instantiates the top level module, and passes this lename
on the command line. These C les are compiled in C++, and linked with the
Verilated les.
The resulting executable will perform the actual simulation.
To get started, jump down to "EXAMPLE C++ EXECUTION".

4 ARGUMENT SUMMARY
This is a short summary of the arguments to Verilator. See the detailed descriptions
in the next sections for more information.

{file.v}
{file.c/cc/cpp}
{file.a/o/so}

Verilog top level filenames

Optional C++ files to compile in
Optional C++ files to link in
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4 ARGUMENT SUMMARY

Verilator 3.862

+1364-1995ext+<ext>
+1364-2001ext+<ext>
+1364-2005ext+<ext>
+1800-2005ext+<ext>
+1800-2009ext+<ext>
+1800-2012ext+<ext>
--assert
--autoflush
--bbox-sys
--bbox-unsup
--bin <filename>
-CFLAGS <flags>
--cc
--cdc
--compiler <compiler-name>
--converge-limit <loops>
--coverage
--coverage-line
--coverage-toggle
--coverage-user
--coverage-underscore
-D<var>[=<value>]
--debug
--debug-check
--debugi <level>
--debugi-<srcfile> <level>
--default-language <lang>
+define+<var>+<value>
--dump-tree
--dump-treei <level>
-E
--error-limit <value>
--exe
-F <file>
-f <file>
--gdb
--gdbbt
--help
-I<dir>
--if-depth <value>
+incdir+<dir>
--inhibit-sim
--inline-mult <value>
-LDFLAGS <flags>
-LDLIBS <flags>
--language <lang>
+libext+<ext>+[ext]...
--lint-only
--MMD
--MP

Use Verilog 1995 with file extension <ext>

Use Verilog 2001 with file extension <ext>
Use Verilog 2005 with file extension <ext>
Use SystemVerilog 2005 with file extension <ext>
Use SystemVerilog 2009 with file extension <ext>
Use SystemVerilog 2012 with file extension <ext>
Enable all assertions
Flush streams after all $displays
Blackbox unknown $system calls
Blackbox unsupported language features
Override Verilator binary
C++ Compiler flags for makefile
Create C++ output
Clock domain crossing analysis
Tune for specified C++ compiler
Tune convergence settle time
Enable all coverage
Enable line coverage
Enable toggle coverage
Enable SVL user coverage
Enable coverage of _signals
Set preprocessor define
Enable debugging
Enable debugging assertions
Enable debugging at a specified level
Enable debugging a source file at a level
Default language to parse
Set preprocessor define
Enable dumping .tree files
Enable dumping .tree files at a level
Preprocess, but do not compile
Abort after this number of errors
Link to create executable
Parse options from a file, relatively
Parse options from a file
Run Verilator under GDB interactively
Run Verilator under GDB for backtrace
Display this help
Directory to search for includes
Tune IFDEPTH warning
Directory to search for includes
Create function to turn off sim
Tune module inlining
Linker pre-object flags for makefile
Linker library flags for makefile
Default language standard to parse
Extensions for finding modules
Lint, but do not make output
Create .d dependency files
Create phony dependency targets
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Verilator 3.862

--Mdir <directory>
Name of output object directory
--mod-prefix <topname>
Name to prepend to lower classes
--no-pins64
Don't use vluint64_t's for 33-64 bit sigs
--no-skip-identical
Disable skipping identical output
+notimingchecks
Ignored
-O0
Disable optimizations
-O3
High performance optimizations
-O<optimization-letter>
Selectable optimizations
-o <executable>
Name of final executable
--no-order-clock-delay
Disable ordering clock enable assignments
--output-split <bytes>
Split .cpp files into pieces
--output-split-cfuncs <statements> Split .cpp functions
--output-split-ctrace <statements> Split tracing functions
-P
Disable line numbers and blanks with -E
--pins-bv <bits>
Specify types for top level ports
--pins-sc-uint
Specify types for top level ports
--pins-sc-biguint
Specify types for top level ports
--pins-uint8
Specify types for top level ports
--pipe-filter <command>
Filter all input through a script
--prefix <topname>
Name of top level class
--profile-cfuncs
Name functions for profiling
--private
Debugging; see docs
--public
Debugging; see docs
--report-unoptflat
Extra diagnostics for UNOPTFLAT
--savable
Enable model save-restore
--sc
Create SystemC output
--sp
Create SystemPerl output
--stats
Create statistics file
-sv
Enable SystemVerilog parsing
+systemverilogext+<ext>
Synonym for +1800-2012ext+<ext>
--top-module <topname>
Name of top level input module
--trace
Enable waveform creation
--trace-depth <levels>
Depth of tracing
--trace-max-array <depth>
Maximum bit width for tracing
--trace-max-width <width>
Maximum array depth for tracing
--trace-params
Enable tracing parameters
--trace-structs
Enable tracing structure names
--trace-underscore
Enable tracing of _signals
-U<var>
Undefine preprocessor define
--unroll-count <loops>
Tune maximum loop iterations
--unroll-stmts <stmts>
Tune maximum loop body size
--unused-regexp <regexp>
Tune UNUSED lint signals
-V
Verbose version and config
-v <filename>
Verilog library
+verilog1995ext+<ext>
Synonym for +1364-1995ext+<ext>
+verilog2001ext+<ext>
Synonym for +1364-2001ext+<ext>
-Werror-<message>
Convert warning to error
-Wfuture-<message>
Disable unknown message warnings
-Wno-<message>
Disable warning
-Wno-lint
Disable all lint warnings
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Verilator 3.862

-Wno-style
-Wno-fatal
--x-assign <mode>
--x-initial-edge
-y <dir>

Disable all style warnings

Disable fatal exit on warnings
Initially assign Xs to this value
Enable initial X->0 and X->1 edge triggers
Directory to search for modules

5 ARGUMENTS
{le.v}
Species the Verilog le containing the top module to be Verilated.

{le.c/.cc/.cpp/.cxx}
Species optional C++ les to be linked in with the Verilog code. If any
C++ les are specied in this way, Verilator will include a make rule that
generates a module executable. Without any C++ les, Verilator will stop at
the module __ALL.a library, and presume you'll continue linking with make
rules you write yourself. See also the -CFLAGS option.

{le.a/.o/.so}
Species optional object or library les to be linked in with the Verilog code,
as a shorthand for -LDFLAGS "<le>". If any les are specied in this way,
Verilator will include a make rule that uses these les when linking the module
executable. This generally is only useful when used with the exe option.

+1364-1995ext+ext
+1364-2001ext+ext
+1364-2005ext+ext
+1800-2005ext+ext
+1800-2009ext+ext
+1800-2012ext+ext
Species the language standard to be used with a specic lename extension,
ext.

For compatibility with other simulators, see also the synonyms +verilog1995ext+ext,
+verilog2001ext+ext, and +systemverilogext+ext.
For any source le, the language specied by these options takes precedence
over any language specied by the default-language or language options.
These options take eect in the order they are encountered. Thus the following
would use Verilog 1995 for a.v and Verilog 2001 for b.v.

verilator ... +1364-1995ext+v a.v +1364-2001ext+v b.v

These ags are only recommended for legacy mixed language designs, as the
preferable option is to edit the code to repair new keywords, or add appropriate
`begin_keywords.
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Verilator 3.862

Note `begin_keywords is a SystemVerilog construct, which species only which

the set of keywords is to be recognized. Whatever set is chosen, the semantics
will be those of SystemVerilog. By contrast +1364-1995ext+ etc. specify both
the syntax and semantics to be used.

assert
Enable all assertions.
See also x-assign and x-initial-edge; setting "x-assign unique" and/or "xinitial-edge" may be desirable.

autoush
After every $display or $fdisplay, ush the output stream. This insures that
messages will appear immediately but may reduce performance; for best performance call "ush(stdout)" occasionally in the main C loop. Defaults o,
which will buer output as provided by the normal C stdio calls.

bbox-sys
Black box any unknown $system task or function calls. System tasks will be
simply NOPed, and system functions will be replaced by unsized zero. Arguments to such functions will be parsed, but not otherwise checked. This prevents
errors when linting in the presence of company specic PLI calls.

bbox-unsup
Black box some unsupported language features, currently UDP tables and the
cmos and tran gate primitives. This may enable linting the rest of the design
even when unsupported constructs are present.

bin lename
Rarely needed. Override the default lename for Verilator itself. When a dependency (.d) le is created, this lename will become a source dependency,
such that a change in this binary will have make rebuild the output les.

-CFLAGS ags
Add specied C compiler ags to the generated makeles. When make is run on
the generated makele these will be passed to the C++ compiler (gcc/g++/msvc++).

cc
Species C++ without SystemC output mode; see also sc and sp.

cdc
Experimental. Perform some clock domain crossing checks and issue related
warnings (CDCRSTLOGIC) and then exit; if warnings other than CDC warnings are needed make a second run with lint-only. Additional warning information is also written to the le {prex}__cdc.txt.
Currently only checks some items that other CDC tools missed; if you have
interest in adding more traditional CDC checks, please contact the authors.

compiler compiler-name
Enables tunings and work-arounds for the specied C++ compiler.

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Verilator 3.862

clang
Tune for clang. This may reduce execution speed as it enables several
workarounds to avoid silly hardcoded limits in clang. This includes breaking deep structures as for msvc as described below.

gcc
Tune for Gnu C++, although generated code should work on almost any
compliant C++ compiler. Currently the default.

msvc
Tune for Microsoft Visual C++. This may reduce execution speed as it
enables several workarounds to avoid silly hardcoded limits in MSVC++.
This includes breaking deeply nested parenthesized expressions into subexpressions to avoid error C1009, and breaking deep blocks into functions
to avoid error C1061.

converge-limit <loops>
Rarely needed. Species the maximum number of runtime iterations before
creating a model failed to converge error. Defaults to 100.

coverage
Enables all forms of coverage, alias for "coverage-line coverage-toggle coverageuser".

coverage-line
Species basic block line coverage analysis code should be inserted.
Coverage analysis adds statements at each code ow change point, which are
the branches of IF and CASE statements, a super-set of normal Verilog Line
Coverage. At each such branch a unique counter is incremented. At the end of
a test, the counters along with the lename and line number corresponding to
each counter are written into logs/coverage.pl.
Verilator automatically disables coverage of branches that have a $stop in them,
as it is assumed $stop branches contain an error check that should not occur.
A /*verilator coverage_block_o*/ comment will perform a similar function
on any code in that block or below, or /*verilator coverage_on/coverage_o*/
will disable coverage around lines of code.
Note Verilator may over-count combinatorial (non-clocked) blocks when those
blocks receive signals which have had the UNOPTFLAT warning disabled; for
most accurate results do not disable this warning when using coverage.

coverage-toggle
Species signal toggle coverage analysis code should be inserted.
Every bit of every signal in a module has a counter inserted. The counter will
increment on every edge change of the corresponding bit.
Signals that are part of tasks or begin/end blocks are considered local variables
and are not covered. Signals that begin with underscores, are integers, or are
very wide (>256 bits total storage across all dimensions) are also not covered.
Hierarchy is compressed, such that if a module is instantiated multiple times,
coverage will be summed for that bit across ALL instantiations of that module
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Verilator 3.862

with the same parameter set. A module instantiated with dierent parameter
values is considered a dierent module, and will get counted separately.
Verilator makes a minimally-intelligent decision about what clock domain the
signal goes to, and only looks for edges in that clock domain. This means that
edges may be ignored if it is known that the edge could never be seen by the
receiving logic. This algorithm may improve in the future. The net result is
coverage may be lower than what would be seen by looking at traces, but the
coverage is a more accurate representation of the quality of stimulus into the
design.
There may be edges counted near time zero while the model stabilizes. It's a
good practice to zero all coverage just before releasing reset to prevent counting
such behavior.
A /*verilator coverage_o/on */ comment pair can be used around signals that
do not need toggle analysis, such as RAMs and register les.

coverage-underscore
Enable coverage of signals that start with an underscore. Normally, these signals
are not covered. See also trace-underscore.

coverage-user
Enables user inserted functional coverage. Currently, all functional coverage
points are specied using SVA which must be separately enabled with assert.
For example, the following statement will add a coverage point, with the comment "DefaultClock":

DefaultClock: cover property (@(posedge clk) cyc==3);

-Dvar =value
Denes the given preprocessor symbol. Same as +dene; +dene is fairly standard across Verilog tools while -D is an alias for GCC compatibility.

debug
Select the debug built image of Verilator (if available), and enable more internal
assertions, debugging messages, and intermediate form dump les.

debug-check
Rarely needed. Enable internal debugging assertion checks, without changing
debug verbosity. Enabled automatically when debug specied.

debugi <level>
debugi-<srcle> <level>
Rarely needed - for developer use. Set internal debugging level globally to the
specied debug level (1-10) or set the specied source le to the specied level.
Higher levels produce more detailed messages (plain debug is equivalent to
debugi 4).

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Verilator 3.862

default-language value
Select the language to be used by default when rst processing each Verilog le.
The language value must be "1364-1995", "1364-2001", "1364-2005", "18002005", "1800-2009" or "1800-2012".

Any language associated with a particular le extension (see the various +lang ext+
options) will be used in preference to the language specied by default-language.
The default-language ag is only recommended for legacy code using the same
language in all source les, as the preferable option is to edit the code to repair new keywords, or add appropriate `begin_keywords. For legacy mixed
language designs, the various +lang ext+ options should be used.
If no language is specied, either by this ag or +lang ext+ options, then the
latest SystemVerilog language (IEEE 1800-2012) is used.

+dene+var +value
Denes the given preprocessor symbol. Same as -D; +dene is fairly standard
across Verilog tools while -D is an alias for GCC compatibility.

dump-tree
Rarely needed. Enable writing .tree debug les with dumping level 3, which
dumps the standard critical stages. For details on the format see the Verilator
Internals manual. dump-tree is enabled automatically with debug, so "debug
no-dump-tree" may be useful if the dump les are large and not desired.

dump-treei <level>
Rarely needed. Enable writing .tree debug les with a specic dumping level, 0
disbles dumps and is equivalent to "no-dump-tree". Level 9 enables dumping
of every stage.

-E
Preprocess the source code, but do not compile, as with 'gcc -E'. Output is
written to standard out. Beware of enabling debugging messages, as they will
also go to standard out.

error-limit <value>
After this number of errors or warnings are encountered, exit. Defaults to 50.

exe
Generate an executable. You will also need to pass additional .cpp les on the
command line that implement the main loop for your simulation.

-F le
Read the specied le, and act as if all text inside it was specied as command
line parameters. Any relative paths are relative to the directory containing the
specied le. See also -f. Note -F is fairly standard across Verilog tools.

-f le
Read the specied le, and act as if all text inside it was specied as command
line parameters. Any relative paths are relative to the current directory. See
also -F. Note -f is fairly standard across Verilog tools.
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Verilator 3.862

The le may contain // comments which are ignored to the end of the line.
Any $VAR, $(VAR), or ${VAR} will be replaced with the specied environment
variable.

gdb
Run Verilator underneath an interactive GDB (or VERILATOR_GDB environment variable value) session. See also gdbbt.

gdbbt
If debug is specied, run Verilator underneath a GDB process and print a backtrace on exit, then exit GDB immediately. Without debug or if GDB doesn't
seem to work, this ag is ignored. Intended for easy creation of backtraces by
users; otherwise see the gdb ag.

help
Displays this message and program version and exits.

-Idir
See -y.

if-depth value
Rarely needed. Set the depth at which the IFDEPTH warning will re, defaults
to 0 which disables this warning.

+incdir+dir
See -y.

inhibit-sim
Rarely needed. Create a "inhibitSim(bool)" function to enable and disable
evaluation. This allows an upper level testbench to disable modules that are
not important in a given simulation, without needing to recompile or change
the SystemC modules instantiated.

inline-mult value
Tune the inlining of modules. The default value of 2000 species that up to
2000 new operations may be added to the model by inlining, if more than this
number of operations would result, the module is not inlined. Larger values,
or a value <= 1 will inline everything, will lead to longer compile times, but
potentially faster runtimes. This setting is ignored for very small modules; they
will always be inlined, if allowed.

-LDFLAGS ags
Add specied C linker ags to the generated makeles. When make is run
on the generated makele these will be passed to the C++ linker (ld) *after*
the primary le being linked. This ag is called -LDFLAGS as that's the
traditional name in simulators; it's would have been better called LDLIBS as
that's the Makele variable it controls. (In Make, LDFLAGS is before the rst
object, LDLIBS after. -L libraries need to be in the Make variable LDLIBS,
not LDFLAGS.)

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Verilator 3.862

language value
A synonym for default-langauge, for compatibility with other tools and
earlier versions of Verilator.

+libext+ext +ext...
Specify the extensions that should be used for nding modules. If for example
module x is referenced, look in x.ext. Note +libext+ is fairly standard across
Verilog tools. Defaults to .v and .sv.

lint-only
Check the les for lint violations only, do not create any other output.
You may also want the -Wall option to enable messages that are considered
stylistic and not enabled by default.
If the design is not to be completely Verilated see also the bbox-sys and bboxunsup options.

MMD
Enable creation of .d dependency les, used for make dependency detection,
similar to gcc -MMD option. On by default, use no-MMD to disable.

MP
When creating .d dependency les with MMD, make phony targets. Similar
to gcc -MP option.

Mdir directory
Species the name of the Make object directory. All generated les will be
placed in this directory. If not specied, "obj_dir" is used. The directory is
created if it does not exist and the parent directories exist; otherwise manually
create the Mdir before calling Verilator.

mod-prex topname
Species the name to prepend to all lower level classes. Defaults to the same
as prex.

no-pins64
Backward compatible alias for "pins-bv 33".

no-skip-identical
Rarely needed. Disables skipping execution of Verilator if all source les are
identical, and all output les exist with newer dates.

+notimingchecks
Ignored for compatibility with other simulators.

-O0
Disables optimization of the model.

-O3
Enables slow optimizations. This may reduce simulation runtimes at the cost
of compile time. This currently sets inline-mult -1.
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Verilator 3.862

-Ooptimization-letter
Rarely needed. Enables or disables a specic optimizations, with the optimization selected based on the letter passed. A lowercase letter disables an
optimization, an upper case letter enables it. This is intended for debugging
use only; see the source code for version-dependent mappings of optimizations
to -O letters.

-o <executable>
Specify the name for the nal executable built if using exe. Defaults to the
prex if not specied.

no-order-clock-delay
Rarely needed. Disables a bug x for ordering of clock enables with delayed
assignments. This ag should only be used when suggested by the developers.

output-split bytes
Enables splitting the output .cpp/.sp les into multiple outputs. When a C++
le exceeds the specied number of operations, a new le will be created at
the next function boundary. In addition, any slow routines will be placed into
__Slow les. This accelerates compilation by as optimization can be disabled
on the slow routines, and the remaining les can be compiled on parallel machines. Using output-split should have only a trivial impact on performance.
With GCC 3.3 on a 2GHz Opteron, output-split 20000 will result in splitting
into approximately one-minute-compile chunks.

output-split-cfuncs statements
Enables splitting functions in the output .cpp/.sp les into multiple functions.
When a generated function exceeds the specied number of operations, a new
function will be created. With output-split, this will enable GCC to compile
faster, at a small loss in performance that gets worse with decreasing split
values. Note that this option is stronger than output-split in the sense that
output-split will not split inside a function.

output-split-ctrace statements
Enables splitting trace functions in the output .cpp/.sp les into multiple functions. Defaults to same setting as output-split-cfuncs.

-P
With -E, disable generation of `line markers and blank lines, similar to GCC -P
ag.

pins64
Backward compatible alias for "pins-bv 65". Note that's a 65, not a 64.

pins-bv width

Species SystemC inputs/outputs of greater than or equal to width bits wide

should use sc_bv's instead of uint32/vluint64_t's. The default is "pins-bv 65".
Versions before Verilator 3.671 defaulted to "pins-bv 33". The more sc_bv is
used, the worse for performance. Use the "/*verilator sc_bv*/" attribute to
select specic ports to be sc_bv.
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Verilator 3.862

pins-sc-uint
Species SystemC inputs/outputs of greater than 2 bits wide should use sc_uint
between 2 and 64. When combined with the "pins-sc-biguint" combination,
it results in sc_uint being used between 2 and 64 and sc_biguint being used
between 65 and 512.

pins-sc-biguint
Species SystemC inputs/outputs of greater than 65 bits wide should use sc_biguint
between 65 and 512, and sc_bv from 513 upwards. When combined with the
"pins-sc-uint" combination, it results in sc_uint being used between 2 and 64
and sc_biguint being used between 65 and 512.

pins-uint8
Species SystemC inputs/outputs that are smaller than the pins-bv setting
and 8 bits or less should use uint8_t instead of uint32_t. Likewise pins of
width 9-16 will use uint16_t instead of uint32_t.

pipe-lter command
Rarely needed and experimental. Verilator will spawn the specied command
as a subprocess pipe, to allow the command to perform custom edits on the
Verilog code before it reaches Verilator.
Before reading each Verilog le, Verilator will pass the le name to the subprocess' stdin with 'read_verilog "<lename>"'. The lter may then read the
le and perform any ltering it desires, and feeds the new le contents back
to Verilator on stdout with 'Content-Length'. Output to stderr from the lter
feeds through to Verilator's stdout and if the lter exits with non-zero status
Verilator terminates. See the t/t_pipe_lter test for an example.
To debug the output of the lter, try using the -E option to see preprocessed
output.

prex topname
Species the name of the top level class and makele. Defaults to V prepended
to the name of the top-module switch, or V prepended to the rst Verilog
lename passed on the command line.

prole-cfuncs
Modify the created C++ functions to support proling. The functions will be
minimized to contain one "basic" statement, generally a single always block
or wire statement. (Note this will slow down the executable by 5%.) Furthermore, the function name will be suxed with the basename of the Verilog
module and line number the statement came from. This allows gprof or oprole
reports to be correlated with the original Verilog source statements.

private
Opposite of public. Is the default; this option exists for backwards compatibility.

public
This is only for historical debug use. Using it may result in mis-simulation of
generated clocks.
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Verilator 3.862

Declares all signals and modules public. This will turn o signal optimizations
as if all signals had a /*verilator public*/ comments and inlining. This will also
turn o inlining as if all modules had a /*verilator public_module*/, unless
the module specically enabled it with /*verilator inline_module*/.

report-unoptat
Extra diagnostics for UNOPTFLAT warnings. This includes for each loop, the
10 widest variables in the loop, and the 10 most fanned out variables in the
loop. These are candidates for splitting into multiple variables to break the
loop.
In addition produces a GraphViz DOT le of the entire strongly connected
components within the source associated with each loop. This is produced
irrespective of whether dump-tree is set. Such graphs may help in analyzing
the problem, but can be very large indeed.
Various commands exist for viewing and manipulating DOT les. For example
the dot command can be used to convert a DOT le to a PDF for printing. For
example:

dot -Tpdf -O Vt_unoptflat_simple_2_35_unoptflat.dot

will generate a PDF Vt_unoptat_simple_2_35_unoptat.dot.pdf from the
DOT le.

savable
Enable including save and restore functions in the generated model.
The user code must create a VerilatedSerialize or VerilatedDeserialze object
then calling the << or >> operators on the generated model and any other
data the process needs saved/restored. For example:

void save_model(const char* filenamep) {

VerilatedSave os;
os.open(filenamep);
os << main_time; // user code must save the timestamp, etc
os << *topp;
}
void restore_model(const char* filenamep) {
VerilatedRestore os;
os.open(filenamep);
os >> main_time;
os >> *topp;
}

sc
Species SystemC output mode; see also cc and -sp.

sp
Species SystemPerl output mode; see also cc and -sc.

stats
Creates a dump le with statistics on the design in {prex}__stats.txt.
15

5 ARGUMENTS

Verilator 3.862

-sv
Species SystemVerilog language features should be enabled; equivalent to "
language 1800-2005". This option is selected by default, it exists for compatibility with other simulators.

+systemverilogext+ext

A synonym for +1800-2012ext+ext.

top-module topname
When the input Verilog contains more than one top level module, species the
name of the top level Verilog module to become the top, and sets the default
for if prex is not used. This is not needed with standard designs with only
one top.

trace
Adds waveform tracing code to the model. Verilator will generate additional
{prex}__Trace*.cpp les that will need to be compiled. In addition verilated_vcd_sc.cpp (for SystemC traces) or verilated_vcd_c.cpp (for both) must
be compiled and linked in. If using the Verilator generated Makeles, these will
be added as source targets for you. If you're not using the Verilator makeles,
you will need to add these to your Makele manually.
Having tracing compiled in may result in some small performance losses, even
when waveforms are not turned on during model execution.

trace-depth levels
Specify the number of levels deep to enable tracing, for example trace-level 1
to only see the top level's signals. Defaults to the entire model. Using a small
number will decrease visibility, but greatly improve runtime and trace le size.

trace-max-array depth
Rarely needed. Specify the maximum array depth of a signal that may be
traced. Defaults to 32, as tracing large arrays may greatly slow traced simulations.

trace-max-width width
Rarely needed. Specify the maximum bit width of a signal that may be traced.
Defaults to 256, as tracing large vectors may greatly slow traced simulations.

no-trace-params
Disable tracing of parameters.

trace-structs
Enable tracing to show the name of packed structure, union, and packed array
elds, rather than a simgle combined packed bus. Due to VCD le format
constraints this may result in signicantly slower trace times and larger trace
les.

trace-underscore
Enable tracing of signals that start with an underscore. Normally, these signals
are not output during tracing. See also coverage-underscore.
16

5 ARGUMENTS

Verilator 3.862

-Uvar
Undenes the given preprocessor symbol.

unroll-count loops
Rarely needed. Species the maximum number of loop iterations that may be
unrolled. See also BLKLOOPINIT warning.

unroll-stmts statements
Rarely needed. Species the maximum number of statements in a loop for that
loop to be unrolled. See also BLKLOOPINIT warning.

unused-regexp regexp
Rarely needed. Species a simple regexp with * and ? that if a signal name
matches will suppress the UNUSED warning. Defaults to "*unused*". Setting
it to "" disables matching.

-V
Shows the verbose version, including conguration information compiled into
Verilator. (Similar to perl -V.)

-v lename
Read the lename as a Verilog library. Any modules in the le may be used to
resolve cell instantiations in the top level module, else ignored. Note -v is fairly
standard across Verilog tools.

+verilog1995ext+ext
+verilog2001ext+ext

Synonyms for +1364-1995ext+ext and +1364-2001ext+ext respectively

-Wall
Enable all warnings, including code style warnings that are normally disabled
by default.

-Werror-message
Convert the specied warning message into an error message. This is generally to discourage users from violating important site-wide rules, for example
-Werror-NOUNOPTFLAT.

-Wfuture-message
Rarely needed. Suppress unknown Verilator comments or warning messages
with the given message code. This is used to allow code written with pragmas
for a later version of Verilator to run under a older version; add -Wfuturearguments for each message code or comment that the new version supports
which the older version does not support.

-Wno-message
Disable the specied warning message. This will override any lint_on directives
in the source, i.e. the warning will still not be printed.

17

5 ARGUMENTS

Verilator 3.862

-Wno-lint
Disable all lint related warning messages, and all style warnings. This is
equivalent to "-Wno-ALWCOMBORDER -Wno-CASEINCOMPLETE -WnoCASEOVERLAP -Wno-CASEX -Wno-CASEWITHX -Wno-CMPCONST -WnoENDLABEL -Wno-IMPLICIT -Wno-LITENDIAN -Wno-PINCONNECTEMPTY
-Wno-PINMISSING -Wno-SYNCASYNCNET -Wno-UNDRIVEN -Wno-UNSIGNED
-Wno-UNUSED -Wno-WIDTH" plus the list shown for Wno-style.
It is strongly recommended you cleanup your code rather than using this option,
it is only intended to be use when running test-cases of code received from third
parties.

-Wno-style
Disable all code style related warning messages (note by default they are already
disabled). This is equivalent to "-Wno-DECLFILENAME -Wno-DEFPARAM Wno-INCABSPATH -Wno-PINCONNECTEMPTY -Wno-PINNOCONNECT Wno-SYNCASYNCNET -Wno-UNDRIVEN -Wno-UNUSED -Wno-VARHIDDEN".

-Wno-fatal
When warnings are detected, print them, but do not exit the simulator.
Having warning messages in builds is sloppy. It is strongly recommended you
cleanup your code, use inline lint_o, or use -Wno-... ags rather than using
this option.

-Wwarn-message
Enables the specied warning message.

-Wwarn-lint
Enable all lint related warning messages (note by default they are already
enabled), but do not aect style messages. This is equivalent to "-WwarnALWCOMBORDER -Wwarn-CASEINCOMPLETE -Wwarn-CASEOVERLAP
-Wwarn-CASEX -Wwarn-CASEWITHX -Wwarn-CMPCONST -Wwarn-ENDLABEL
-Wwarn-IMPLICIT -Wwarn-LITENDIAN -Wwarn-PINMISSING -Wwarn-REALCVT
-Wwarn-UNSIGNED -Wwarn-WIDTH".

-Wwarn-style
Enable all code style related warning messages. This is equivalent to "-Wwarn
ASSIGNDLY -Wwarn-DECLFILENAME -Wwarn-DEFPARAM -Wwarn-INCABSPATH
-Wwarn-PINNOCONNECT -Wwarn-SYNCASYNCNET -Wwarn-UNDRIVEN
-Wwarn-UNUSED -Wwarn-VARHIDDEN".

x-assign 0
x-assign 1
x-assign fast (default)
x-assign unique
Controls the two-state value that is replaced when an assignment to X is encountered. x-assign=fast, the default, converts all Xs to whatever is best for
performance. x-assign=0 converts all Xs to 0s, and is also fast. x-assign=1
converts all Xs to 1s, this is nearly as fast as 0, but more likely to nd reset
18

5 ARGUMENTS

Verilator 3.862

bugs as active high logic will re. x-assign=unique will call a function to determine the value, this allows randomization of all Xs to nd reset bugs and is
the slowest, but safest for nding reset bugs in code.
If using x-assign unique, you may want to seed your random number generator
such that each regression run gets a dierent randomization sequence. Use the
system's srand48() or for Windows srand() function to do this. You'll probably
also want to print any seeds selected, and code to enable rerunning with that
same seed so you can reproduce bugs.

Note. This option applies only to variables which are explicitly assigned to X

in the Verilog source code. Initial values of clocks are set to 0 unless x-initialedge is specied. Initial values of all other state holding variables are set as
though x-assign unique had been specied.

x-initial-edge
Enables emulation of event driven simulators which generally trigger an edge
on a transition from X to 1 (posedge) or X to 0 (negedge). Thus the following
code, where rst_n is uninitialized would set res_n to 1'b1 when rst_n is rst
set to zero:

reg

res_n = 1'b0;

always @(negedge rst_n) begin

if (rst_n == 1'b0) begin
res_n <= 1'b1;
end
end
In Verilator, by default, uninitialized clocks are given a value of zero, so the
above always block would not trigger.

While it is not good practice, there are some designs that rely on X
0
triggering a negedge, particularly in reset sequences. Using x-initial-edge with
Verilator will replicate this behavior. It will also ensure that X
1 triggers a
posedge.

Note. Some users have reported that using this option can aect convergence,
and that it may be necessary to use converge-limit to increase the number of
convergence iterations. This may be another indication of problems with the
modelled design that should be addressed.

-y dir
Add the directory to the list of directories that should be searched for include
les or libraries. The three ags -y, +incdir and -I have similar eect; +incdir
and +y are fairly standard across Verilog tools while -I is an alias for GCC
compatibility.
Verilator defaults to the current directory ("-y .") and any specied Mdir,
though these default paths are used after any user specied directories. This
allows '-y "$(pwd)"' to be used if absolute lenames are desired for error messages instead of relative lenames.

19

6 EXAMPLE C++ EXECUTION

Verilator 3.862

6 EXAMPLE C++ EXECUTION

We'll compile this example into C++.

mkdir test_our
cd test_our
cat <<EOF >our.v
module our;
initial begin $display("Hello World"); $finish; end
endmodule
EOF
cat <<EOF >sim_main.cpp
#include "Vour.h"
#include "verilated.h"
int main(int argc, char **argv, char **env) {
Verilated::commandArgs(argc, argv);
Vour* top = new Vour;
while (!Verilated::gotFinish()) { top->eval(); }
delete top;
exit(0);
}
EOF
If you installed Verilator from sources, or a tarball, but not as part of your operating
system (as an RPM), rst you need to point to the kit:

export VERILATOR_ROOT=/path/to/where/verilator/was/installed
export PATH=$VERILATOR_ROOT/bin:$PATH
Now we run Verilator on our little example.

verilator -Wall --cc our.v --exe sim_main.cpp

We can see the source code under the "obj_dir" directory. See the FILES section
below for descriptions of some of the les that were created.

ls -l obj_dir
We then can compile it
20

Verilator 3.862

7 EXAMPLE SYSTEMC EXECUTION

cd obj_dir
make -j -f Vour.mk Vour
(Verilator included a default compile rule and link rule, since we used exe and passed
a .cpp le on the Verilator command line. You can also write your own compile rules,
as we'll show in the SYSTEMC section.)
And now we run it

cd ..
obj_dir/Vour
And we get as output

Hello World
- our.v:2: Verilog $finish
Really, you're better o writing a Makele to do all this for you. Then, when your
source changes it will automatically run all of these steps. See the test_c directory
in the distribution for an example.

7 EXAMPLE SYSTEMC EXECUTION

This is an example similar to the above, but using SystemPerl.

mkdir test_our_sc
cd test_our_sc
cat <<EOF >our.v
module our (clk);
input clk; // Clock is required to get initial activation
always @ (posedge clk)
begin $display("Hello World"); $finish; end
endmodule
EOF
cat <<EOF >sc_main.cpp
#include "Vour.h"
int sc_main(int argc, char **argv) {
Verilated::commandArgs(argc, argv);
sc_clock clk ("clk",10, 0.5, 3, true);
Vour* top;
21

Verilator 3.862

}
EOF

7 EXAMPLE SYSTEMC EXECUTION

top = new Vour("top"); // SP_CELL (top, Vour);

top->clk(clk);
// SP_PIN (top, clk, clk);
while (!Verilated::gotFinish()) { sc_start(1, SC_NS); }
delete top;
exit(0);

If you installed Verilator from sources, or a tarball, but not as part of your operating
system (as an RPM), rst you need to point to the kit:

export VERILATOR_ROOT=/path/to/where/verilator/was/installed
export PATH=$VERILATOR_ROOT/bin:$PATH
Now we run Verilator on our little example.

verilator -Wall --sp our.v

Then we convert the SystemPerl output to SystemC.

cd obj_dir
export SYSTEMPERL=/path/to/where/systemperl/kit/came/from
$SYSTEMPERL/sp_preproc --preproc *.sp
(You can also skip the above sp_preproc by getting pure SystemC from Verilator by
replacing the verilator sp ag in the previous step with -sc.)
We then can compile it

make -j -f Vour.mk Vour__ALL.a

make -j -f Vour.mk ../sc_main.o verilated.o
And link with SystemC. Note your path to the libraries may vary, depending on the
operating system.

export SYSTEMC_LIBDIR=/path/to/where/libsystemc.a/exists
# Might be needed if SystemC 2.3.0
export SYSTEMC_CXX_FLAGS=-pthread
g++ -L$SYSTEMC_LIBDIR ../sc_main.o Vour__ALL*.o verilated.o \
-o Vour -lsystemc
22

Verilator 3.862

8 BENCHMARKING & OPTIMIZATION

And now we run it

cd ..
obj_dir/Vour
And we get the same output as the C++ example:

Hello World
- our.v:2: Verilog $finish
Really, you're better o using a Makele to do all this for you. Then, when your
source changes it will automatically run all of these steps. See the test_sp directory
in the distribution for an example.

8 BENCHMARKING & OPTIMIZATION

For best performance, run Verilator with the "-O3 x-assign=fast noassert" ags.
The -O3 ag will require longer compile times, and x-assign=fast may increase the
risk of reset bugs in trade for performance; see the above documentation for these
ags.
Minor Verilog code changes can also give big wins. You should not have any UNOPTFLAT warnings from Verilator. Fixing these warnings can result in huge improvements; one user xed their one UNOPTFLAT warning by making a simple change to
a clock latch used to gate clocks and gained a 60% performance improvement.
Beyond that, the performance of a Verilated model depends mostly on your C++
compiler and size of your CPU's caches.
By default, the lib/verilated.mk le has optimization turned o. This is for the benet
of new users, as it improves compile times at the cost of runtimes. To add optimization as the default, set one of three variables, OPT, OPT_FAST, or OPT_SLOW
lib/verilated.mk. Or, use the -CFLAGS and/or -LDFLAGS option on the verilator
command line to pass the ags directly to the compiler or linker. Or, just for one
run, pass them on the command line to make:

make OPT_FAST="-O2" -f Vour.mk Vour__ALL.a

OPT_FAST species optimizations for those programs that are part of the fast path,
mostly code that is executed every cycle. OPT_SLOW species optimizations for
slow-path les (plus tracing), which execute only rarely, yet take a long time to
compile with optimization on. OPT species overall optimization and aects all
compiles, including those OPT_FAST and OPT_SLOW aect. For best results, use
23

9 FILES

Verilator 3.862

OPT="-O2", and link with "-static". Nearly the same results can be had with much
better compile times with OPT_FAST="-O1 -fstrict-aliasing". Higher optimization
such as "-O3" may help, but gcc compile times may be excessive under O3 on even
medium sized designs. Alternatively, some larger designs report better performance
using "-Os".
Unfortunately, using the optimizer with SystemC les can result in compiles taking
several minutes. (The SystemC libraries have many little inlined functions that drive
the compiler nuts.)
For best results, use GCC 3.3 or newer. GCC 3.2 and earlier have optimization bugs
around pointer aliasing detection, which can result in 2x performance losses.
If you will be running many simulations on a single compile, investigate feedback
driven compilation. With GCC, using -fprole-arcs, then -fbranch-probabilities will
yield another 15% or so.
Modern compilers also support link-time optimization (LTO), which can help especially if you link in DPI code. To enable LTO on GCC, pass "-to" in both compilation
and link. Note LTO may cause excessive compile times on large designs.
You may uncover further tuning possibilities by proling the Verilog code. Use Verilator's prole-cfuncs, then GCC's -g -pg. You can then run either oprole or gprof
to see where in the C++ code the time is spent. Run the gprof output through
verilator_profcfunc and it will tell you what Verilog line numbers on which most of
the time is being spent.
When done, please let the author know the results. I like to keep tabs on how Verilator
compares, and may be able to suggest additional improvements.

9 FILES
All output les are placed in the output directory name specied with the -Mdir
option, or "obj_dir" if not specied.
Verilator creates the following les in the output directory:

{prefix}.mk
{prefix}_classes.mk

// Make include file for compiling

// Make include file with class names

For -cc and -sc mode, it also creates:

{prefix}.cpp
{prefix}.h
{prefix}{each_verilog_module}.cpp
{prefix}{each_verilog_module}.h
24

//
//
//
//

Top level C++ file

Top level header
Lower level internal C++ files
Lower level internal header files

10 ENVIRONMENT

Verilator 3.862

For -sp mode, instead of .cpp and .h it creates:

{prefix}.sp
{prefix}{each_verilog_module}.sp

// Top level SystemC file

// Lower level internal SC files

In certain optimization modes, it also creates:

{prefix}__Dpi.h
{prefix}__Inlines.h
{prefix}__Slow.cpp
{prefix}__Syms.cpp
{prefix}__Syms.h
{prefix}__Trace.cpp
{prefix}__cdc.txt
{prefix}__stats.txt

//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//

DPI import and export declarations

Inline support functions
Constructors and infrequent routines
Global symbol table C++
Global symbol table header
Wave file generation code (--trace)
Clock Domain Crossing checks (--cdc)
Statistics (--stats)

It also creates internal les that can be mostly ignored:

{each_verilog_module}.vpp
{prefix}.flags_vbin
{prefix}.flags_vpp
{prefix}__verFiles.dat
{prefix}{misc}.d
{prefix}{misc}.dot
{prefix}{misc}.tree

//
//
//
//
//
//
//

Post-processed verilog (--debug)

Verilator dependencies
Pre-processor dependencies
Timestamps for skip-identical
Make dependencies (-MMD)
Debugging graph files (--debug)
Debugging files (--debug)

After running Make, the C++ compiler should produce the following:

{prefix}
{prefix}__ALL.a
{prefix}{misc}.o

// Final executable (w/--exe argument)

// Library of all Verilated objects
// Intermediate objects

10 ENVIRONMENT
OBJCACHE
Optionally species a caching or distribution program to place in front of all
runs of the C++ Compiler. For example, "objcache read write", or "ccache".
If using distcc, it would generally be run under either objcache or ccache; see
the documentation for those programs.

SYSTEMC
Deprecated. Used only if SYSTEMC_INCLUDE or SYSTEMC_LIBDIR is
not set. If set, species the directory containing the SystemC distribution. If
not specied, it will come from a default optionally specied at congure time
(before Verilator was compiled).
25

10 ENVIRONMENT

Verilator 3.862

SYSTEMC_ARCH
Deprecated. Used only if SYSTEMC_LIBDIR is not set. Species the architecture name used by the SystemC kit. This is the part after the dash in the
lib-{...} directory name created by a 'make' in the SystemC distribution. If not
set, Verilator will try to intuit the proper setting, or use the default optionally
specied at congure time (before Verilator was compiled).

SYSTEMC_CXX_FLAGS
Species additional ags that are required to be passed to GCC when building
the SystemC model. System 2.3.0 may need this set to "-pthread".

SYSTEMC_INCLUDE
If set, species the directory containing the systemc.h header le. If not specied, it will come from a default optionally specied at congure time (before
Verilator was compiled), or computed from SYSTEMC/include.

SYSTEMC_LIBDIR
If set, species the directory containing the libsystemc.a library. If not specied, it will come from a default optionally specied at congure time (before
Verilator was compiled), or computed from SYSTEMC/lib-SYSTEMC_ARCH.

SYSTEMPERL
Species the directory containing the SystemPerl distribution kit. This is used
to nd the SystemPerl library and include les. If not specied, it will come from
a default optionally specied at congure time (before Verilator was compiled).
See also SYSTEMPERL_INCLUDE.

SYSTEMPERL_INCLUDE
Species the directory containing the Verilog-Perl include .cpp les, from the
src/ directory of the SystemPerl kit. If not specied, it will be computed from
the SYSTEMPERL environment variable if it is set, and if SYSTEMPERL is
not set SYSTEMPERL_INCLUDE will come from a default optionally specied at congure time (before Verilator was compiled).

VCS_HOME
If set, species the directory containing the Synopsys VCS distribution. When
set, a 'make test' in the Verilator distribution will also run VCS baseline regression tests.

VERILATOR_BIN
If set, species an alternative name of the Verilator binary. May be used for
debugging and selecting between multiple operating system builds.

VERILATOR_GDB
If set, the command to run when using the gdb option, such as "ddd". If not
specied, it will use "gdb".

VERILATOR_ROOT
Species the directory containing the distribution kit. This is used to nd the
executable, Perl library, and include les. If not specied, it will come from a
26

11 CONNECTING TO C++

Verilator 3.862

default optionally specied at congure time (before Verilator was compiled). It

should not be specied if using a pre-compiled Verilator RPM as the hardcoded
value should be correct.

11 CONNECTING TO C++
Verilator creates a .h and .cpp le for the top level module and all modules under it.
See the test_c directory in the kit for an example.
After the modules are completed, there will be a module.mk le that may be used
with Make to produce a module __ALL.a le with all required objects in it. This is
then linked with the user's top level to create the simulation executable.
The user must write the top level of the simulation. Here's a simple example:

#include <verilated.h>
#include "Vtop.h"

// Defines common routines

// From Verilating "top.v"

Vtop *top;

// Instantiation of module

vluint64_t main_time = 0;
// Current simulation time
// This is a 64-bit integer to reduce wrap over issues and
// allow modulus. You can also use a double, if you wish.
double sc_time_stamp () {
return main_time;

// Called by $time in Verilog

// converts to double, to match
// what SystemC does

int main(int argc, char** argv) {

Verilated::commandArgs(argc, argv);

// Remember args

top = new Vtop;

// Create instance

top->reset_l = 0;

// Set some inputs

while (!Verilated::gotFinish()) {
if (main_time > 10) {
top->reset_l = 1;
// Deassert reset
}
if ((main_time % 10) == 1) {
top->clk = 1;
// Toggle clock
27

Verilator 3.862

13 DIRECT PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (DPI)

}
if ((main_time % 10) == 6) {
top->clk = 0;
}
top->eval();
// Evaluate model
cout << top->out << endl;
// Read a output
main_time++;
// Time passes...

top->final();
// Done simulating
//
// (Though this example doesn't get here)
delete top;

Note signals are read and written as member variables of the lower module. You
call the eval() method to evaluate the model. When the simulation is complete call
the nal() method to wrap up any SystemVerilog nal blocks, and complete any
assertions.

12 CONNECTING TO SYSTEMC
Verilator will convert the top level module to a SC_MODULE. This module will plug
directly into a SystemC netlist.
The SC_MODULE gets the same pinout as the Verilog module, with the following
type conversions: Pins of a single bit become bool. Pins 2-32 bits wide become
uint32_t's. Pins 33-64 bits wide become sc_bv's or vluint64_t's depending on the
no-pins64 switch. Wider pins become sc_bv's. (Uints simulate the fastest so are
used where possible.)
Lower modules are not pure SystemC code. This is a feature, as using the SystemC pin
interconnect scheme everywhere would reduce performance by an order of magnitude.

13 DIRECT PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (DPI)

Verilator supports SystemVerilog Direct Programming Interface import and export
statements. Only the SystemVerilog form ("DPI-C") is supported, not the original
Synopsys-only DPI.

DPI Example
In the SYSTEMC example above, if you wanted to import C++ functions into Verilog, put in our.v:
28

Verilator 3.862

13 DIRECT PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (DPI)

import "DPI-C" function integer add (input integer a, input integer b);
initial begin
$display("%x + %x = %x", 1, 2, add(1,2));
endtask
Then after Verilating, Verilator will create a le Vour__Dpi.h with the prototype to
call this function:

extern int add (int a, int b);

From the sc_main.cpp le (or another .cpp le passed to the Verilator command line,
or the link), you'd then:

#include "svdpi.h"
#include "Vour__Dpi.h"
int add (int a, int b) { return a+b; }

DPI System Task/Functions

Verilator extends the DPI format to allow using the same scheme to eciently add
system functions. Simply use a dollar-sign prexed system function name for the
import, but note it must be escaped.

export "DPI-C" function integer \$myRand;

initial $display("myRand=%d", $myRand());
Going the other direction, you can export Verilog tasks so they can be called from
C++:

export "DPI-C" task publicSetBool;

task publicSetBool;
input bit in_bool;
var_bool = in_bool;
endtask
Then after Verilating, Verilator will create a le Vour__Dpi.h with the prototype to
call this function:
29

Verilator 3.862

13 DIRECT PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (DPI)

extern bool publicSetBool(bool in_bool);

From the sc_main.cpp le, you'd then:

#include "Vour__Dpi.h"
publicSetBool(value);
Or, alternatively, call the function under the design class. This isn't DPI compatible
but is easier to read and better supports multiple designs.

#include "Vour__Dpi.h"
Vour::publicSetBool(value);
// or top->publicSetBool(value);
Note that if the DPI task or function accesses any register or net within the RTL, it
will require a scope to be set. This can be done using the standard functions within
svdpi.h, after the module is instantiated, but before the task(s) and/or function(s)
are called.
For example, if the top level module is instantiated with the name "dut" and the
name references within tasks are all hierarchical (dotted) names with respect to that
top level module, then the scope could be set with

#include "svdpi.h"
...
svSetScope (svGetScopeFromName ("dut"));
(Remember that Verilator adds a "V" to the top of the module hierarchy.)
Scope can also be set from within a DPI imported C function that has been called
from Verilog by querying the scope of that function. See the sections on DPI Context
Functions and DPI Header Isolation below and the comments within the svdpi.h
header for more information.

DPI Display Functions

Verilator allows writing $display like functions using this syntax:

import "DPI-C" function void

\$my_display (input string formatted /*verilator sformat*/ );
The /*verilator sformat*/ indicates that this function accepts a $display like format
specier followed by any number of arguments to satisfy the format.
30

13 DIRECT PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (DPI)

Verilator 3.862

DPI Context Functions

Verilator supports IEEE DPI Context Functions. Context imports pass the simulator
context, including calling scope name, and lename and line number to the C code.
For example, in Verilog:

import "DPI-C" context function int dpic_line();

initial $display("This is line %d, again, line %d\n", `line, dpic_line());
This will call C++ code which may then use the svGet* functions to read information,
in this case the line number of the Verilog statement that invoked the dpic_line
function:

int dpic_line() {
// Get a scope:

svScope scope = svGetScope();

const char* scopenamep = svGetNameFromScope(scope);

assert(scopenamep);

const char* filenamep = "";

int lineno = 0;
if (svGetCallerInfo(&filenamep, &lineno)) {
printf("dpic_line called from scope %s on line %d\n",
scopenamep, lineno);
return lineno;
} else {
return 0;
}

See the IEEE Standard for more information.

DPI Header Isolation

Verilator places the IEEE standard header les such as svdpi.h into a separate include directory, vltstd (VeriLaTor STandarD). When compiling most applications
$VERILATOR_ROOT/include/vltstd would be in the include path along with the
normal $VERILATOR_ROOT/include. However, when compiling Verilated models
into other simulators which have their own svdpi.h and similar standard les with
dierent contents, the vltstd directory should not be included to prevent picking up
incompatible denitions.

31

Verilator 3.862

14 VERIFICATION PROCEDURAL INTERFACE (VPI)

Public Functions
Instead of DPI exporting, there's also Verilator public functions, which are slightly
faster, but less compatible.

14 VERIFICATION PROCEDURAL INTERFACE

(VPI)
Verilator supports a very limited subset of the VPI. This subset allows inspection,
examination, value change callbacks, and depositing of values to public signals only.
To access signals via the VPI, Verilator must be told exactly which signals are to be
accessed. This is done using the Verilator public pragmas documented below.
Verilator has an important dierence from an event based simulator; signal values
that are changed by the VPI will not immediately propagate their values, instead
the top level header le's eval() method must be called. Normally this would be part
of the normal evaluation (IE the next clock edge), not as part of the value change.
This makes the performance of VPI routines extremely fast compared to event based
simulators, but can confuse some test-benches that expect immediate propagation.
Note the VPI by it's specied implementation will always be much slower than accessing the Verilator values by direct reference (structure->module->signame), as the
VPI accessors perform lookup in functions at runtime requiring at best hundreds of
instructions, while the direct references are evaluated by the compiler and result in
only a couple of instructions.

VPI Example
In the below example, we have readme marked read-only, and writeme which if written
from outside the model will have the same semantics as if it changed on the specied
clock edge.

module t;
reg readme
reg writeme
endmodule

/*verilator public_flat_rd*/;
/*verilator public_flat_rw @(posedge clk) */;

There are many online tutorials and books on the VPI, but an example that accesses
the above would be:
void read_and_check() { vpiHandle vh1 = vpi_handle_by_name((PLI_BYTE8*)"t.readme",
NULL); if (!vh1) { error... } const char* name = vpi_get_str(vpiName, vh1);
printf("Module name: %s\n"); // Prints "readme"
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15 CROSS COMPILATION

Verilator 3.862

s_vpi_value v;
v.format = vpiIntVal;
vpi_get_value(vh1, &v);
printf("Value of v: %d\n", v.value.integer);

// Prints "readme"

15 CROSS COMPILATION
Verilator supports cross-compiling Verilated code. This is generally used to run Verilator on a Linux system and produce C++ code that is then compiled on Windows.
Cross compilation involves up to three dierent OSes. The build system is where you
congured and compiled Verilator, the host system where you run Verilator, and the
target system where you compile the Verilated code and run the simulation.
Currently, Verilator requires the build and host system type to be the same, though
the target system type may be dierent. To support this, ./congure and make
Verilator on the build system. Then, run Verilator on the host system. Finally, the
output of Verilator may be compiled on the dierent target system.
To support this, none of the les that Verilator produces will reference any congure
generated build-system specic les, such as cong.h (which is renamed in Verilator
to cong_build.h to reduce confusion.) The disadvantage of this approach is that
include/verilatedos.h must self-detect the requirements of the target system, rather
than using congure.
The target system may also require edits to the Makeles, the simple Makeles produced by Verilator presume the target system is the same type as the build system.

Cadence NC-SystemC Models

Similar to compiling Verilated designs with gcc, Verilated designs may be compiled
inside other simulators that support C++ or SystemC models. One such simulator
is Cadence's NC-SystemC, part of their Incisive Verication Suite. (Highly recommended.)
Using the example les above, the following command will build the model underneath
NC:

cd obj_dir
ncsc_run \
sc_main.cpp \
Vour__ALLcls.cpp \
Vour__ALLsup.cpp \
verilated.cpp
33

16 CONFIGURATION FILES

Verilator 3.862

For larger designs you'll want to automate this using makeles, which pull the names
of the .cpp les to compile in from the make variables generated in obj_dir/Vour_classes.mk.

16 CONFIGURATION FILES
In addition to the command line, warnings and other features may be controlled by
conguration les, typically named with the .vlt extension. An example:

`verilator_config
lint_off -msg WIDTH
lint_off -msg CASEX -file "silly_vendor_code.v"
This disables WIDTH warnings globally, and CASEX for a specic le.
Conguration les are parsed after the normal Verilog preprocessing, so `ifdefs, `denes, and comments may be used as if it were normal Verilog code.
The grammar of conguration commands is as follows:

`verilator_cong
Take remaining text up the the next `verilog mode switch and treat it as Verilator conguration commands.

coverage_o [-le "<lename>" [-lines <line> [ - <line> ]]]

Disable coverage for the specied lename (or wildcard with '*' or ' ?', or all
les if omitted) and range of line numbers (or all lines if omitted). Often used
to ignore an entire module for coverage analysis purposes.

lint_o [-msg <message>] [-le "<lename>" [-lines <line> [ - <line>]]]

Disables the specied lint warning, in the specied lename (or wildcard with '*'
or ' ?', or all les if omitted) and range of line numbers (or all lines if omitted).
Using '*' will override any lint_on directives in the source, i.e. the warning will
still not be printed.
If the -msg is omitted, all lint warnings are disabled. This will override all later
lint warning enables for the specied region.

tracing_o [-le "<lename>" [-lines <line> [ - <line> ]]]

Disable waveform tracing for all future signals declared in the specied lename
(or wildcard with '*' or ' ?', or all les if omitted) and range of line numbers (or
all lines if omitted).

34

Verilator 3.862

17 LANGUAGE STANDARD SUPPORT

17 LANGUAGE STANDARD SUPPORT

Verilog 2001 (IEEE 1364-2001) Support
Verilator supports most Verilog 2001 language features. This includes signed numbers, "always @*", generate statements, multidimensional arrays, localparam, and
C-style declarations inside port lists.

Verilog 2005 (IEEE 1364-2005) Support

Verilator supports most Verilog 2005 language features. This includes the `begin_keywords
and `end_keywords compiler directives, $clog2, and the uwire keyword.

SystemVerilog 2005 (IEEE 1800-2005) Support

Verilator supports ==? and !=? operators, ++ and  in some contexts, $bits,
$countones, $error, $fatal, $info, $isunknown, $onehot, $onehot0, $unit, $warning,
always_comb, always_, always_latch, bit, byte, chandle, const, do-while, enum,
export, nal, import, int, interface, logic, longint, modport, package, program, shortint, struct, time, typedef, union, var, void, priority case/if, and unique case/if.
It also supports .name and .* interconnection.
Verilator partially supports concurrent assert and cover statements; see the enclosed
coverage tests for the syntax which is allowed.

SystemVerilog 2012 (IEEE 1800-2012) Support

Verilator implements a full SystemVerilog 2012 preprocessor, including function calllike preprocessor denes, default dene arguments, `__FILE__, `__LINE__ and
`undeneall.
Verilator currently has some support for SystemVerilog synthesis constructs. As SystemVerilog features enter common usage they are added; please le a bug if a feature
you need is missing.

Verilog AMS Support

Verilator implements a very small subset of Verilog AMS (Verilog Analog and MixedSignal Extensions) with the subset corresponding to those VMS keywords with near
equivalents in the Verilog 2005 or SystemVerilog 2009 languages.

35

18 LANGUAGE EXTENSIONS

Verilator 3.862

AMS parsing is enabled with "language VAMS" or "language 1800+VAMS".

At present Verilator implements ceil, exp, oor, ln, log, pow, sqrt, string, and wreal.

Synthesis Directive Assertion Support

With the assert switch, Verilator reads any "//synopsys full_case" or "//synopsys
parallel_case" directives. The same applies to any "//ambit synthesis", "//cadence"
or "//pragma" directives of the same form.
When these synthesis directives are discovered, Verilator will either formally prove
the directive to be true, or failing that, will insert the appropriate code to detect
failing cases at runtime and print an "Assertion failed" error message.
Verilator likewise also asserts any "unique" or "priority" SystemVerilog keywords
on case statement, as well as "unique" on if statements. However, "priority if" is
currently simply ignored.

18 LANGUAGE EXTENSIONS
The following additional constructs are the extensions Verilator supports on top of
standard Verilog code. Using these features outside of comments or `ifdef's may break
other tools.

`__FILE__
The __FILE__ dene expands to the current lename as a string, like C++'s
__FILE__. This was incorporated into to the 1800-2009 standard (but supported by Verilator since 2006!)

`__LINE__
The __LINE__ dene expands to the current lename as a string, like C++'s
__LINE__. This was incorporated into to the 1800-2009 standard (but supported by Verilator since 2006!)

`error string
This will report an error when encountered, like C++'s #error.

$c(string, ...);
The string will be embedded directly in the output C++ code at the point
where the surrounding Verilog code is compiled. It may either be a standalone
statement (with a trailing ; in the string), or a function that returns up to a
32-bit number (without a trailing ;). This can be used to call C++ functions
from your Verilog code.
String arguments will be put directly into the output C++ code. Expression
arguments will have the code to evaluate the expression inserted. Thus to call
36

18 LANGUAGE EXTENSIONS

Verilator 3.862

a C++ function, $c("func(",a,")") will result in 'func(a)' in the output C++

code. For input arguments, rather than hard-coding variable names in the string
$c("func(a)"), instead pass the variable as an expression $c("func(",a,")"). This
will allow the call to work inside Verilog functions where the variable is attened
out, and also enable other optimizations.
If you will be reading or writing any Verilog variables inside the C++ functions,
the Verilog signals must be declared with /*verilator public*/.
You may also append an arbitrary number to $c, generally the width of the output. [signal_32_bits = $c32("...");] This allows for compatibility with other
simulators which require a dierently named PLI function name for each dierent output width.

$display, $write, $fdisplay, $fwrite, $sformat, $swrite

Format arguments may use C fprintf sizes after the % escape. Per the Verilog
standard, %x prints a number with the natural width, and %0x prints a number
with minimum width. Verilator extends this so %5x prints 5 digits per the C
standard (it's unspecied in Verilog).

`coverage_block_o
Species the entire begin/end block should be ignored for coverage analysis.
Same as /* verilator coverage_block_o */.

`systemc_header
Take remaining text up to the next `verilog or `systemc_... mode switch and
place it verbatim into the output .h le's header. Despite the name of this
macro, this also works in pure C++ code.

`systemc_ctor
Take remaining text up to the next `verilog or `systemc_... mode switch and
place it verbatim into the C++ class constructor. Despite the name of this
macro, this also works in pure C++ code.

`systemc_dtor
Take remaining text up to the next `verilog or `systemc_... mode switch and
place it verbatim into the C++ class destructor. Despite the name of this
macro, this also works in pure C++ code.

`systemc_interface
Take remaining text up to the next `verilog or `systemc_... mode switch and
place it verbatim into the C++ class interface. Despite the name of this macro,
this also works in pure C++ code.

`systemc_imp_header
Take remaining text up to the next `verilog or `systemc_... mode switch and
place it verbatim into the header of all les for this C++ class implementation.
Despite the name of this macro, this also works in pure C++ code.

`systemc_implementation
Take remaining text up to the next `verilog or `systemc_... mode switch and
place it verbatim into a single le of the C++ class implementation. Despite
the name of this macro, this also works in pure C++ code.
37

18 LANGUAGE EXTENSIONS

Verilator 3.862

If you will be reading or writing any Verilog variables in the C++ functions, the
Verilog signals must be declared with /*verilator public*/. See also the public
task feature; writing an accessor may result in cleaner code.

`SYSTEMVERILOG
The SYSTEMVERILOG, SV_COV_START and related standard denes are
set by default when language is 1800-*.

`VERILATOR
`verilator
`verilator3
The VERILATOR, verilator and verilator3 denes are set by default so you
may `ifdef around compiler specic constructs.

`verilator_cong
Take remaining text up the the next `verilog mode switch and treat it as Verilator conguration commands.

`verilog
Switch back to processing Verilog code after a `systemc_... mode switch. The
Verilog code returns to the last language mode specied with `begin_keywords,
or SystemVerilog if none were specied.

/*verilator clock_enable*/
Used after a signal declaration to indicate the signal is used to gate a clock,
and the user takes responsibility for insuring there are no races related to it.
(Typically by adding a latch, and running static timing analysis.) For example:

reg enable_r /*verilator clock_enable*/;

wire gated_clk = clk & enable_r;
always_ff @ (posedge clk)
enable_r <= enable_early;
The clock_enable attribute will cause the clock gate to be ignored in the
scheduling algorithm, sometimes required for correct clock behavior, and always
improving performance. It's also a good idea to enable the IMPERFECTSCH
warning, to insure all clock enables are properly recognized.

/*verilator coverage_block_o*/
Species the entire begin/end block should be ignored for coverage analysis
purposes.

/*verilator coverage_o*/
Species that following lines of code should have coverage disabled. Often used
to ignore an entire module for coverage analysis purposes.

/*verilator coverage_on*/
Species that following lines of code should have coverage re-enabled (if appropriate coverage ags are passed) after being disabled earlier with /*verilator
coverage_o*/.
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18 LANGUAGE EXTENSIONS

Verilator 3.862

/*verilator inline_module*/
Species the module the comment appears in may be inlined into any modules
that use this module. This is useful to speed up simulation time with some small
loss of trace visibility and modularity. Note signals under inlined submodules
will be named submodule __DOT__subsignal as C++ does not allow "." in
signal names. SystemPerl when tracing such signals will replace the __DOT__
with the period.

/*verilator isolate_assignments*/
Used after a signal declaration to indicate the assignments to this signal in any
blocks should be isolated into new blocks. When there is a large combinatorial
block that is resulting in a UNOPTFLAT warning, attaching this to the signal
causing a false loop may clear up the problem.
IE, with the following

reg splitme /* verilator isolate_assignments*/;

// Note the placement of the semicolon above
always @* begin
if (....) begin
splitme = ....;
other assignments
end
end
Verilator will internally split the block that assigns to "splitme" into two blocks:
It would then internally break it into (sort of):

// All assignments excluding those to splitme

always @* begin
if (....) begin
other assignments
end
end
// All assignments to splitme
always @* begin
if (....) begin
splitme = ....;
end
end

/*verilator lint_o msg */

Disable the specied warning message for any warnings following the comment.

/*verilator lint_on msg */

Re-enable the specied warning message for any warnings following the comment.

/*verilator lint_restore*/
After a /*verilator lint_save*/, pop the stack containing lint message state.
Often this is useful at the bottom of include les.
39

18 LANGUAGE EXTENSIONS

Verilator 3.862

/*verilator lint_save*/
Push the current state of what lint messages are turned on or turned o to a
stack. Later meta-comments may then lint_on or lint_o specic messages,
then return to the earlier message state by using /*verilator lint_restore*/. For
example:

// verilator
// verilator
... // code
// verilator

lint_save
lint_off SOME_WARNING
needing SOME_WARNING turned off
lint_restore

If SOME_WARNING was on before the lint_o, it will now be restored to on,

and if it was o before the lint_o it will remain o.

/*verilator no_inline_task*/
Used in a function or task variable denition section to specify the function or
task should not be inlined into where it is used. This may reduce the size of
the nal executable when a task is used a very large number of times. For this
ag to work, the task and tasks below it must be pure; they cannot reference
any variables outside the task itself.

/*verilator public*/ (variable)

Used after an input, output, register, or wire declaration to indicate the signal
should be declared so that C code may read or write the value of the signal. This
will also declare this module public, otherwise use /*verilator public_at*/.
Instead of using public variables, consider instead making a DPI or public function that accesses the variable. This is nicer as it provides an obvious entry
point that is also compatible across simulators.

/*verilator public*/ (task/function)

Used inside the declaration section of a function or task declaration to indicate
the function or task should be made into a C++ function, public to outside
callers. Public tasks will be declared as a void C++ function, public functions
will get the appropriate non-void (bool, uint32_t, etc) return type. Any input
arguments will become C++ arguments to the function. Any output arguments
will become C++ reference arguments. Any local registers/integers will become
function automatic variables on the stack.
Wide variables over 64 bits cannot be function returns, to avoid exposing complexities. However, wide variables can be input/outputs; they will be passed as
references to an array of 32-bit numbers.
Generally, only the values of stored state (ops) should be written, as the model
will NOT notice changes made to variables in these functions. (Same as when
a signal is declared public.)
You may want to use DPI exports instead, as it's compatible with other simulators.

/*verilator public_at*/ (variable)

Used after an input, output, register, or wire declaration to indicate the signal
should be declared so that C code may read or write the value of the signal.
40

18 LANGUAGE EXTENSIONS

Verilator 3.862

This will not declare this module public, which means the name of the signal
or path to it may change based upon the module inlining which takes place.

/*verilator public_at_rd*/ (variable)

Used after an input, output, register, or wire declaration to indicate the signal
should be declared public_at (see above), but read-only.

/*verilator public_at_rw @(<edge_list>) */ (variable)

Used after an input, output, register, or wire declaration to indicate the signal
should be declared public_at_rd (see above), and also writable, where writes
should be considered to have the timing specied by the given sensitivity edge
list.

/*verilator public_module*/
Used after a module statement to indicate the module should not be inlined
(unless specically requested) so that C code may access the module. Verilator
automatically sets this attribute when the module contains any public signals
or `systemc_ directives. Also set for all modules when using the public switch.

/*verilator sc_clock*/
Rarely needed. Used after an input declaration to indicate the signal should
be declared in SystemC as a sc_clock instead of a bool. This was needed in
SystemC 1.1 and 1.2 only; versions 2.0 and later do not require clock pins to
be sc_clocks and this is no longer needed.

/*verilator sc_bv*/

Used after a port declaration. It sets the port to be of sc_bv<width > type,
instead of bool, vluint32_t or vluint64_t. This may be useful if the port width
is parametrized and dierent of such modules interface a templated module
(such as a transactor) or for other reasons. In general you should avoid using this
attribute when not necessary as with increasing usage of sc_bv the performance
increases signicantly.

/*verilator sformat*/
Attached to the nal input of a function or task "input string" to indicate
the function or task should pass all remaining arguments through $sformatf.
This allows creation of DPI functions with $display like behavior. See the
test_regress/t/t_dpi_display.v le for an example.

/*verilator tracing_o*/
Disable waveform tracing for all future signals that are declared in this module.
Often this is placed just after a primitive's module statement, so that the entire
module is not traced.

/*verilator tracing_on*/
Re-enable waveform tracing for all future signals that are declared.

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19 LANGUAGE LIMITATIONS

Verilator 3.862

19 LANGUAGE LIMITATIONS
There are some limitations and lack of features relative to a commercial simulator,
by intent. User beware.
It is strongly recommended you use a lint tool before running this program. Verilator
isn't designed to easily uncover common mistakes that a lint program will nd for
you.

Synthesis Subset
Verilator supports only the Synthesis subset with a few minor additions such as $stop,
$nish and $display. That is, you cannot use hierarchical references, events or similar
features of the Verilog language. It also simulates as Synopsys's Design Compiler
would; namely a block of the form:

always @ (x)

y = x & z;

This will recompute y when there is even a potential for change in x or a change in
z, that is when the ops computing x or z evaluate (which is what Design Compiler
will synthesize.) A compliant simulator would only calculate y if x changes. Use
verilog-mode's /*AS*/ or Verilog 2001's always @* to reduce missing activity items.
Avoid putting $displays in combo blocks, as they may print multiple times when not
desired, even on compliant simulators as event ordering is not specied.

Bind
Verilator only supports "bind" to a target module name, not an instance path.

Dotted cross-hierarchy references

Verilator supports dotted references to variables, functions and tasks in dierent
modules. However, references into named blocks and function-local variables are not
supported. The portion before the dot must have a constant value; for example a[2].b
is acceptable, while a[x].b is not.
References into generated and arrayed instances use the instance names specied in
the Verilog standard; arrayed instances are named {cellName}[{instanceNumber}] in
Verilog, which becomes {cellname}__BRA__{instanceNumber}__KET__ inside
the generated C++ code.
Verilator creates numbered "genblk" when a begin: name is not specied around a
block inside a generate statement. These numbers may dier between other simu42

19 LANGUAGE LIMITATIONS

Verilator 3.862

lators, but the Verilog specication does not allow users to use these names, so it
should not matter.
If you are having trouble determining where a dotted path goes wrong, note that
Verilator will print a list of known scopes to help your debugging.

Floating Point
Floating Point (real) numbers are supported.

Latches
Verilator is optimized for edge sensitive (op based) designs. It will attempt to do
the correct thing for latches, but most performance optimizations will be disabled
around the latch.

Structures and Unions

Verilator only presently supports packed structs and packed unions. Rand and randc
tags on members are simply ignored. All structures and unions are represented as a
single vector, which means that generating one member of a structure from blocking,
and another from non-blocking assignments is unsupported.

Time
All delays (#) are ignored, as they are in synthesis.

Unknown states
Verilator is mostly a two state simulator, not a four state simulator. However, it has
two features which uncover most initialization bugs (including many that a four state
simulator will miss.)
Identity comparisons (=== or !==) are converted to standard ==/!== when neither
side is a constant. This may make the expression result dier from a four state
simulator. An === comparison to X will always be false, so that Verilog code which
checks for uninitialized logic will not re.
Assigning a variable to a X will actually assign the variable to a random value (see
the x-assign switch.) Thus if the value is actually used, the random value should

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19 LANGUAGE LIMITATIONS

Verilator 3.862

cause downstream errors. Integers also randomize, even though the Verilog 2001
specication says they initialize to zero.
All variables are randomly initialized using a function. By running several random
simulation runs you can determine that reset is working correctly. On the rst run,
the function initializes variables to zero. On the second, have it initialize variables to
one. On the third and following runs have it initialize them randomly. If the results
match, reset works. (Note this is what the hardware will really do.) In practice, just
setting all variables to one at startup nds most problems.

Note. x-assign applies to variables explicitly initialized or assigned to X. Uninitialized clocks are initialized to zero, while all other state holding variables are initialized
to a random value.

Event driven simulators will generally trigger an edge on a transition from X to 1

(posedge) or X to 0 (negedge). However, by default, since clocks are initialized to
zero, Verilator will not trigger an initial negedge. Some code (particulary for reset)
may rely on X->0 triggering an edge. Verilator provides a switch (see x-initial-edge)
to enable this behavior. Comparing runs with and without this switch will nd such
problems.

Tri/Inout
Verilator converts some simple tristate structures into two state. Pullup, pulldown,
buf0, buf1, notif0, notif1, pmos, nmos, tri0 and tri1 are also supported. Simple
comparisons with === 1'bz are also supported.
An assignment of the form:

inout driver;
wire driver = (enable) ? output_value : 1'bz;
Will be converted to

input driver;
// Value being driven in from "external" drivers
output driver__en; // True if driven from this module
output driver__out; // Value being driven from this module
External logic will be needed to combine these signals with any external drivers.
Tristate drivers are not supported inside functions and tasks; an inout there will
be considered a two state variable that is read and written instead of a four state
variable.

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Verilator 3.862

Functions & Tasks

All functions and tasks will be inlined (will not become functions in C.) The only
support provided is for simple statements in tasks (which may aect global variables).
Recursive functions and tasks are not supported. All inputs and outputs are automatic, as if they had the Verilog 2001 "automatic" keyword prepended. (If you don't
know what this means, Verilator will do what you probably expect  what C does.
The default behavior of Verilog is dierent.)

Generated Clocks
Verilator attempts to deal with generated and enabled clocks correctly, however some
cases cause problems in the scheduling algorithm which is optimized for performance.
The safest option is to have all clocks as primary inputs to the model, or wires
directly attached to primary inputs. For proper behavior clock enables may also need
the /*verilator clock_enable*/ attribute.

Ranges must be big-bit-endian

Bit ranges must be numbered with the MSB being numbered greater or the same as
the LSB. Little-bit-endian busses [0:15] are not supported as they aren't easily made
compatible with C++.

Gate Primitives
The 2-state gate primitives (and, buf, nand, nor, not, or, xnor, xor) are directly
converted to behavioral equivalents. The 3-state and MOS gate primitives are not
supported. Tables are not supported.

Specify blocks
All specify blocks and timing checks are ignored.

Array Initialization
When initializing a large array, you need to use non-delayed assignments. Verilator
will tell you when this needs to be xed; see the BLKLOOPINIT error for more
information.

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19 LANGUAGE LIMITATIONS

Verilator 3.862

Array Out of Bounds

Writing a memory element that is outside the bounds specied for the array may cause
a dierent memory element inside the array to be written instead. For power-of-2
sized arrays, Verilator will give a width warning and the address. For non-power-of2-sizes arrays, index 0 will be written.
Reading a memory element that is outside the bounds specied for the array will give
a width warning and wrap around the power-of-2 size. For non-power-of-2 sizes, it
will return a unspecied constant of the appropriate width.

Assertions
Verilator is beginning to add support for assertions. Verilator currently only converts
assertions to simple "if (...) error" statements, and coverage statements to increment
the line counters described in the coverage section.
Verilator does not support SEREs yet. All assertion and coverage statements must
be simple expressions that complete in one cycle. (Arguably SEREs are much of the
point, but one must start somewhere.)

Language Keyword Limitations

This section describes specic limitations for each language keyword.

`__FILE__, `__LINE__, `begin_keywords, `begin_keywords, `begin_keywords,

`begin_keywords, `begin_keywords, `dene, `else, `elsif, `end_keywords,
`endif, `error, `ifdef, `ifndef, `include, `line, `systemc_ctor, `systemc_dtor,
`systemc_header, `systemc_imp_header, `systemc_implementation,
`systemc_interface, `timescale, `undef, `verilog
Fully supported.

always, always_comb, always_, always_latch, and, assign, begin, buf,

byte, case, casex, casez, default, defparam, do-while, else, end, endcase, endfunction, endgenerate, endmodule, endspecify, endtask, nal, for, function, generate, genvar, if, initial, inout, input, int, integer, localparam, logic, longint, macromodule, module, nand, negedge,
nor, not, or, output, parameter, posedge, reg, scalared, shortint,
signed, supply0, supply1, task, time, tri, typedef, var, vectored,
while, wire, xnor, xor
Generally supported.

++,  operators
Increment/decrement can only be used as standalone statements or in for loops.
They cannot be used as side eect operators inside more complicate expressions
("a = b++;").
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19 LANGUAGE LIMITATIONS

Verilator 3.862

'{} operator
Assignment patterns with order based, default, constant integer (array) or member identier (struct/union) keys are supported. Data type keys and keys which
are computed from a constant expression are not supported.

cast operator
Casting is supported only between simple scalar types, signed and unsigned,
not arrays nor structs.

chandle
Treated as a "longint"; does not yet warn about operations that are specied
as illegal on chandles.

disable
Disable statements may be used only if the block being disabled is a block the
disable statement itself is inside. This was commonly used to provide loop break
and continue functionality before SystemVerilog added the break and continue
keywords.

inside
Inside expressions may not include unpacked array traversal or $ as an upper
bound. Case inside and case matches are also unsupported.

interface
Interfaces and modports, including with generated data types are supported.
Generate blocks around modports are not supported, nor are virtual interfaces
nor unnamed interfaces.

priority if, unique if

Priority and unique if's are treated as normal ifs and not asserted to be full nor
unique.

specify specparam
All specify blocks and timing checks are ignored.

string
String is supported only to the point that they can be passed to DPI imports.

timeunit, timeprecision
All timing control statements are ignored.

uwire
Verilator does not perform warning checking on uwires, it treats the uwire
keyword as if it were the normal wire keyword.

$bits, $countones, $error, $fatal, $nish, $info, $isunknown, $onehot, $onehot0, $readmemb, $readmemh, $signed, $stime, $stop, $time, $unsigned, $warning.
Generally supported.

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19 LANGUAGE LIMITATIONS

Verilator 3.862

$display, $write, $fdisplay, $fwrite, $swrite

$display and friends must have a constant format string as the rst argument
(as with C's printf). The rare usage which lists variables standalone without a
format is not supported.

$displayb, $displayh, $displayo, $writeb, $writeh, $writeo, etc

The sized display functions are rarely used and so not supported. Replace them
with a $write with the appropriate format specier.

$nish, $stop
The rarely used optional parameter to $nish and $stop is ignored.

$fopen, $fclose, $fdisplay, $feof, $ush, $fgetc, $fgets, $fscanf, $fwrite

File descriptors passed to the le PLI calls must be le descriptors, not MCDs,
which includes the mode parameter to $fopen being mandatory.

$fscanf, $sscanf
Only integer formats are supported; %e, %f, %m, %r, %v, and %z are not
supported.

$fullskew, $hold, $nochange, $period, $recovery, $recrem, $removal, $setup,

$setuphold, $skew, $timeskew, $width
All specify blocks and timing checks are ignored.

$random
$random does not support the optional argument to set the seed. Use the srand
function in C to accomplish this, and note there is only one random number
generator (not one per module).

$readmemb, $readmemh
Read memory commands should work properly. Note Verilator and the Verilog
specication does not include support for readmem to multi-dimensional arrays.

$test$plusargs, $value$plusargs
Supported, but the instantiating C++/SystemC testbench must call

Verilated::commandArgs(argc, argv);
to register the command line before calling $test$plusargs or $value$plusargs.

$timeformat
Not supported as Verilator needs to determine all formatting at compile time.
Generally you can just ifdef them out for no ill eect. Note also VL_TIME_MULTIPLER
can be dened at compile time to move the decimal point when displaying all
times, model wide.

48

20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

Verilator 3.862

20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

Warnings may be disabled in two ways. First, when the warning is printed it will
include a warning code. Simply surround the oending line with a warn_o/warn_on
pair:

// verilator lint_off UNSIGNED

if (`DEF_THAT_IS_EQ_ZERO <= 3) $stop;
// verilator lint_on UNSIGNED
Warnings may also be globally disabled by invoking Verilator with the -Wno-warning
switch. This should be avoided, as it removes all checking across the designs, and
prevents other users from compiling your code without knowing the magic set of
disables needed to successfully compile your design.
List of all warnings:

ALWCOMBORDER
Warns that an always_comb block has a variable which is set after it is used.
This may cause simulation-synthesis mismatches, as not all commercial simulators allow this ordering.

always_comb begin
a = b;
b = 1;
end
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

ASSIGNIN
Error that an assignment is being made to an input signal. This is almost
certainly a mistake, though technically legal.

input a;
assign a = 1'b1;
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

ASSIGNDLY
Warns that you have an assignment statement with a delayed time in front of
it, for example:

a <= #100 b;
assign #100 a = b;
Ignoring this warning may make Verilator simulations dier from other simulators, however at one point this was a common style so disabled by default as a
code style warning.
49

20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

Verilator 3.862

BLKANDNBLK
BLKANDNBLK is an error that a variable comes from a mix of blocked and
non-blocking assignments. Generally, this is caused by a register driven by both
combo logic and a op:

always @ (posedge clk) foo[0] <= ...

always @* foo[1] = ...
Simply use a dierent register for the op:

always @ (posedge clk) foo_flopped[0] <= ...

always @* foo[0] = foo_flopped[0];
always @* foo[1] = ...
This is good coding practice anyways.
It is also possible to disable this error when one of the assignments is inside a
public task.
Ignoring this warning may make Verilator simulations dier from other simulators.

BLKSEQ
This indicates that a blocking assignment (=) is used in a sequential block.
Generally non-blocking/delayed assignments (<=) are used in sequential blocks,
to avoid the possibility of simulator races. It can be reasonable to do this if
the generated signal is used ONLY later in the same block, however this style
is generally discouraged as it is error prone.

always @ (posedge clk) foo = ...

Disabled by default as this is a code style warning; it will simulate correctly.

BLKLOOPINIT
This indicates that the initialization of an array needs to use non-delayed assignments. This is done in the interest of speed; if delayed assignments were
used, the simulator would have to copy large arrays every cycle. (In smaller
loops, loop unrolling allows the delayed assignment to work, though it's a bit
slower than a non-delayed assignment.) Here's an example

always @ (posedge clk)

if (~reset_l) begin
for (i=0; i<`ARRAY_SIZE; i++) begin
array[i] = 0;
// Non-delayed for verilator
end
This message is only seen on large or complicated loops because Verilator generally unrolls small loops. You may want to try increasing unroll-count (and
occasionally unroll-stmts) which will raise the small loop bar to avoid this
error.
50

20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

Verilator 3.862

CASEINCOMPLETE
Warns that inside a case statement there is a stimulus pattern for which there
is no case item specied. This is bad style, if a case is impossible, it's better
to have a "default: $stop;" or just "default: ;" so that any design assumption
violations will be discovered in simulation.
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

CASEOVERLAP
Warns that inside a case statement you have case values which are detected to
be overlapping. This is bad style, as moving the order of case values will cause
dierent behavior. Generally the values can be respecied to not overlap.
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

CASEX
Warns that it is simply better style to use casez, and ? in place of x's. See
http://www.sunburst-design.com/papers/CummingsSNUG1999Boston_FullParallelCase_rev1_1.pdf
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

CASEWITHX
Warns that a case statement contains a constant with a x. Verilator is two-state
so interpret such items as always false. Note a common error is to use a X in a
case or casez statement item; often what the user instead intended is to use a
casez with ?.
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

CDCRSTLOGIC
With cdc only, warns that asynchronous op reset terms come from other than
primary inputs or opped outputs, creating the potential for reset glitches.

CMPCONST
Warns that you are comparing a value in a way that will always be constant.
For example "X > 1" will always be true when X is a single bit wide.
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

COMBDLY

Warns that you have a delayed assignment inside of a combinatorial block. Using delayed assignments in this way is considered bad form, and may lead to
the simulator not matching synthesis. If this message is suppressed, Verilator,
like synthesis, will convert this to a non-delayed assignment, which may result in
logic races or other nasties. See http://www.sunburst-design.com/papers/CummingsSNUG2000SJ_NBA_rev1_
Ignoring this warning may make Verilator simulations dier from other simulators.

DECLFILENAME
Warns that a module or other declaration's name doesn't match the lename
with path and extension stripped that it is declared in. The lename a modules/interfaces/programs is declared in should match the name of the module
etc. so that -y directory searching will work. This warning is printed for only
the rst mismatching module in any given le, and -v library les are ignored.
Disabled by default as this is a code style warning; it will simulate correctly.
51

20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

Verilator 3.862

DEFPARAM
Warns that the "defparam" statement was deprecated in Verilog 2001 and all
designs should now be using the #(...) format to specify parameters.
Disabled by default as this is a code style warning; it will simulate correctly.

DETECTARRAY
Error when Verilator tries to deal with a combinatorial loop that could not be
attened, and which involves a datatype which Verilator cannot handle, such
as an unpacked struct or a large unpacked array. This typically ocurrs when
-Wno-UNOPTFLAT has been used to override an UNOPTFLAT warning (see
below).
The solution is to break the loop, as described for UNOPTFLAT.

ENDLABEL
Warns that a label attached to a "end"-something statement does not match
the label attached to the block start.
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

GENCLK
Warns that the specied signal is generated, but is also being used as a clock.
Verilator needs to evaluate sequential logic multiple times in this situation. In
somewhat contrived cases having any generated clock can reduce performance
by almost a factor of two. For fastest results, generate ALL clocks outside in
C++/SystemC and make them primary inputs to your Verilog model. (However
once need to you have even one, don't sweat additional ones.)
Ignoring this warning may make Verilator simulations dier from other simulators.

IFDEPTH
Warns that if/if else statements have exceeded the depth specied with ifdepth, as they are likely to result in slow priority encoders. Unique and priority
if statements are ignored. Solutions include changing the code to a case statement, or a SystemVerilog 'unique if' or 'priority if'.
Disabled by default as this is a code style warning; it will simulate correctly.

IMPERFECTSCH
Warns that the scheduling of the model is not absolutely perfect, and some
manual code edits may result in faster performance. This warning defaults
to o, and must be turned on explicitly before the top module statement is
processed.

IMPLICIT
Warns that a wire is being implicitly declared (it is a single bit wide output
from a sub-module.) While legal in Verilog, implicit declarations only work
for single bit wide signals (not buses), do not allow using a signal before it
is implicitly declared by a cell, and can lead to dangling nets. A better option is the /*AUTOWIRE*/ feature of Verilog-Mode for Emacs, available from
http://www.veripool.org/
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.
52

20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

Verilator 3.862

IMPURE
Warns that a task or function that has been marked with /*verilator no_inline_task*/
references variables that are not local to the task. Verilator cannot schedule
these variables correctly.
Ignoring this warning may make Verilator simulations dier from other simulators.

INCABSPATH
Warns that an `include lename species an absolute path. This means the code
will not work on any other system with a dierent le system layout. Instead of
using absolute paths, relative paths (preferably without any directory specied
whatever) should be used, and +include used on the command line to specify
the top include source directory.
Disabled by default as this is a code style warning; it will simulate correctly.

INITIALDLY
Warns that you have a delayed assignment inside of an initial or nal block. If
this message is suppressed, Verilator will convert this to a non-delayed assignment. See also the COMBDLY warning.
Ignoring this warning may make Verilator simulations dier from other simulators.

LITENDIAN
Warns that a packed vector is declared with little endian bit numbering (i.e.
[0:7]). Big endian bit numbering is now the overwhelming standard, and little
numbering is now thus often due to simple oversight instead of intent.
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

MODDUP
Error that a module has multiple denitions. Generally this indicates a coding
error, or a mistake in a library le and it's good practice to have one module per
le to avoid these issues. For some gate level netlists duplicates are unavoidable,
and this error may be disabled.

MULTIDRIVEN
Warns that the specied signal comes from multiple always blocks. This is often
unsupported by synthesis tools, and is considered bad style. It will also cause
longer runtimes due to reduced optimizations.
Ignoring this warning will only slow simulations, it will simulate correctly.

MULTITOP
Error that there are multiple top level modules, that is modules not instantiated
by any other module. Verilator only supports a single top level, if you need
more, create a module that wraps all of the top modules.
Often this error is because some low level cell is being read in, but is not really
needed. The best solution is to insure that each module is in a unique le by
the same name. Otherwise, make sure all library les are read in as libraries
with -v, instead of automatically with -y.
53

20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

Verilator 3.862

PINCONNECTEMPTY
Warns that a cell instantiation has a pin which is connected to .pin_name(),
e.g. not another signal, but with an explicit mention of the pin. It may be
desirable to disable PINCONNECTEMPTY, as this indicates intention to have
a no-connect.
Disabled by default as this is a code style warning; it will simulate correctly.

PINMISSING
Warns that a module has a pin which is not mentioned in a cell instantiation.
If a pin is not missing it should still be specied on the cell declaration with a
empty connection, using "(.pin_name())".
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

PINNOCONNECT
Warns that a cell instantiation has a pin which is not connected to another
signal.
Disabled by default as this is a code style warning; it will simulate correctly.

REALCVT
Warns that a real number is being implicitly rounded to an integer, with possible
loss of precision.

REDEFMACRO
Warns that you have redened the same macro with a dierent value, for example:

`define MACRO def1

//...
`define MACRO otherdef
The best solution is to use a dierent name for the second macro. If this is not
possible, add a undef to indicate the code is overriding the value:

`define MACRO def1

//...
`undef MACRO
`define MACRO otherdef

SELRANGE
Warns that a selection index will go out of bounds:

wire vec[6:0];
initial out = vec[7];

// There is no 7

Verilator will assume zero for this value, instead of X. Note that in some cases
this warning may be false, when a condition upstream or downstream of the
access means the access out of bounds will never execute or be used.

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20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

Verilator 3.862

wire vec[6:0];
initial begin
seven = 7;
...
if (seven != 7) out = vec[seven]; // Never will use vec[7]

STMTDLY
Warns that you have a statement with a delayed time in front of it, for example:

#100 $finish;
Ignoring this warning may make Verilator simulations dier from other simulators.

SYMRSVDWORD
Warning that a symbol matches a C++ reserved word and using this as a symbol
name would result in odd C compiler errors. You may disable this warning, but
the symbol will be renamed by Verilator to avoid the conict.

SYNCASYNCNET
Warns that the specied net is used in at least two dierent always statements
with posedge/negedges (i.e. a op). One usage has the signal in the sensitivity
list and body, probably as an async reset, and the other usage has the signal only
in the body, probably as a sync reset. Mixing sync and async resets is usually a
mistake. The warning may be disabled with a lint_o pragma around the net,
or either opped block.
Disabled by default as this is a code style warning; it will simulate correctly.

TASKNSVAR
Error when a call to a task or function has a output from that task tied to a
non-simple signal. Instead connect the task output to a temporary signal of the
appropriate width, and use that signal to set the appropriate expression as the
next statement. For example:

task foo; output sig; ... endtask

always @* begin
foo(bus_we_select_from[2]);
// Will get TASKNSVAR error
end
Change this to:

reg foo_temp_out;
always @* begin
foo(foo_temp_out);
bus_we_select_from[2] = foo_temp_out;
end
Verilator doesn't do this conversion for you, as some more complicated cases
would result in simulator mismatches.
55

20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

Verilator 3.862

UNDRIVEN
Warns that the specied signal is never sourced. Verilator is fairly liberal in
the usage calculations; making a signal public, or loading only a single array
element marks the entire signal as driven.
Disabled by default as this is a code style warning; it will simulate correctly.

UNOPT
Warns that due to some construct, optimization of the specied signal or block
is disabled. The construct should be cleaned up to improve runtime.
A less obvious case of this is when a module instantiates two submodules. Inside
submodule A, signal I is input and signal O is output. Likewise in submodule
B, signal O is an input and I is an output. A loop exists and a UNOPT warning
will result if AI & AO both come from and go to combinatorial blocks in both
submodules, even if they are unrelated always blocks. This aects performance
because Verilator would have to evaluate each submodule multiple times to
stabilize the signals crossing between the modules.
Ignoring this warning will only slow simulations, it will simulate correctly.

UNOPTFLAT
Warns that due to some construct, optimization of the specied signal is disabled. The signal specied includes a complete scope to the signal; it may
be only one particular usage of a multiply instantiated block. The construct
should be cleaned up to improve runtime; two times better performance may
be possible by xing these warnings.
Unlike the UNOPT warning, this occurs after netlist attening, and indicates
a more basic problem, as the less obvious case described under UNOPT does
not apply.
Often UNOPTFLAT is caused by logic that isn't truly circular as viewed by
synthesis which analyzes interconnection per-bit, but is circular to simulation
which analyzes per-bus:

wire [2:0] x = {x[1:0],shift_in};

This statement needs to be evaluated multiple times, as a change in "shift_in"
requires "x" to be computed 3 times before it becomes stable. This is because
a change in "x" requires "x" itself to change value, which causes the warning.
For signicantly better performance, split this into 2 separate signals:

wire [2:0] xout = {x[1:0],shift_in};

and change all receiving logic to instead receive "xout". Alternatively, change
it to

wire [2:0] x = {xin[1:0],shift_in};

and change all driving logic to instead drive "xin".

56

20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

Verilator 3.862

With this change this assignment needs to be evaluated only once. These sort
of changes may also speed up your traditional event driven simulator, as it will
result in fewer events per cycle.
The most complicated UNOPTFLAT path we've seen was due to low bits of a
bus being generated from an always statement that consumed high bits of the
same bus processed by another series of always blocks. The x is the same;
split it into two separate signals generated from each block.
The UNOPTFLAT warning may also be due to clock enables, identied from
the reported path going through a clock gating cell. To x these, use the
clock_enable meta comment described above.
The UNOPTFLAT warning may also occur where outputs from a block of logic
are independent, but occur in the same always block. To x this, use the
isolate_assignments meta comment described above.
To assist in resolving UNOPTFLAT, the option report-unoptflat can be
used, which will provide suggestions for variables that can be split up, and a
graph of all the nodes connected in the loop. See the Arguments section for
more details.
Ignoring this warning will only slow simulations, it will simulate correctly.

UNPACKED
Warns that unpacked structs and unions are not supported.
Ignoring this warning will make Verilator treat the structure as packed, which
may make Verilator simulations dier from other simulators.

UNSIGNED
Warns that you are comparing a unsigned value in a way that implies it is
signed, for example "X < 0" will always be true when X is unsigned.
Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

UNUSED
Warns that the specied signal is never sinked. Verilator is fairly liberal in the
usage calculations; making a signal public, a signal matching unused-regexp
("*unused*") or accessing only a single array element marks the entire signal
as used.
Disabled by default as this is a code style warning; it will simulate correctly.
A recommended style for unused nets is to put at the bottom of a le code
similar to the following:

wire _unused_ok = &{1'b0,

sig_not_used_a,
sig_not_used_yet_b,
1'b0};

// To be fixed

The reduction AND and constant zeros mean the net will always be zero, so
won't use simulation time. The redundant leading and trailing zeros avoid
syntax errors if there are no signals between them. The magic name "unused"
(-unused-regexp) is recognized by Verilator and suppresses warnings; if using
57

20 ERRORS AND WARNINGS

Verilator 3.862

other lint tools, either teach to tool to ignore signals with "unused" in the name,
or put the appropriate lint_o around the wire. Having unused signals in one
place makes it easy to nd what is unused, and reduces the number of lint_o
pragmas, reducing bugs.

VARHIDDEN
Warns that a task, function, or begin/end block is declaring a variable by the
same name as a variable in the upper level module or begin/end block (thus
hiding the upper variable from being able to be used.) Rename the variable to
avoid confusion when reading the code.
Disabled by default as this is a code style warning; it will simulate correctly.

WIDTH
Warns that based on width rules of Verilog, two operands have dierent widths.
Verilator generally can intuit the common usages of widths, and you shouldn't
need to disable this message like you do with most lint programs. Generally
other than simple mistakes, you have two solutions:
If it's a constant 0 that's 32 bits or less, simply leave it unwidthed. Verilator
considers zero to be any width needed.
Concatenate leading zeros when doing arithmetic. In the statement

wire [5:0] plus_one = from[5:0] + 6'd1 + carry[0];

The best x, which claries intent and will also make all tools happy is:

wire [5:0] plus_one = from[5:0] + 6'd1 + {5'd0,carry[0]};

Ignoring this warning will only suppress the lint check, it will simulate correctly.

WIDTHCONCAT
Warns that based on width rules of Verilog, a concatenate or replication has an
indeterminate width. In most cases this violates the Verilog rule that widths
inside concatenates and replicates must be sized, and should be xed in the
code.

wire [63:0] concat = {1,2};

An example where this is technically legal (though still bad form) is:

parameter PAR = 1;
wire [63:0] concat = {PAR,PAR};
The correct x is to either size the 1 ("32'h1"), or add the width to the parameter denition ("parameter [31:0]"), or add the width to the parameter usage
("{PAR[31:0],PAR[31:0]}".
The following describes the less obvious errors:
58

21 FAQ/FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Verilator 3.862

Internal Error
This error should never occur rst, though may occur if earlier warnings or
error messages have corrupted the program. If there are no other warnings or
errors, submit a bug report.

Unsupported: ....
This error indicates that you are using a Verilog language construct that is not
yet supported in Verilator. See the Limitations chapter.

Verilated model didn't converge

Verilator sometimes has to evaluate combinatorial logic multiple times, usually
around code where a UNOPTFLAT warning was issued, but disabled. For
example:

always @ (a)
always @ (b)

b=~a;
a=b

will toggle forever and thus the executable will give the didn't converge error
to prevent an innite loop.
To debug this, run Verilator with prole-cfuncs. Run make on the generated les with "OPT=-DVL_DEBUG". Then call Verilated::debug(1) in your
main.cpp.
This will cause each change in a variable to print a message. Near the bottom
you'll see the code and variable that causes the problem. For the program
above:

CHANGE: filename.v:1: b
CHANGE: filename.v:2: a

21 FAQ/FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Does it run under Windows?
Yes, using Cygwin. Verilated output should also compile under Microsoft Visual
C++ Version 7 or newer, but this is not tested by the author.

Can you provide binaries?

Verilator is available as a RPM for SuSE, Fedora, and perhaps other systems;
this is done by porters and may slightly lag the primary distribution. If there
isn't a binary build for your distribution, how about you set one up? Please
contact the authors for assistance.
Note people sometimes request binaries when they are having problems with
their C++ compiler. Alas, binaries won't help this, as in the end a fully working
C++ compiler is required to compile the output of Verilator.

How can it be faster than (name-the-simulator)?

Generally, the implied part of the question is "... with all of their manpower
they can put into it."
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Most commercial simulators have to be Verilog compliant, meaning event driven.

This prevents them from being able to reorder blocks and make netlist-style optimizations, which are where most of the gains come from.
Non-compliance shouldn't be scary. Your synthesis program isn't compliant, so
your simulator shouldn't have to be  and Verilator is closer to the synthesis
interpretation, so this is a good thing for getting working silicon.

Will Verilator output remain under my own license?

Yes, it's just like using GCC on your programs; this is why Verilator uses the
"GNU *Lesser* Public License Version 3" instead of the more typical "GNU
Public License". See the licenses for details, but in brief, if you change Verilator
itself or the header les Verilator includes, you must make the source code
available under the GNU Lesser Public License. However, Verilator output
(the Verilated code) only "include"s the licensed les, and so you are NOT
required to release any output from Verilator.
You also have the option of using the Perl Artistic License, which again does
not require you release your Verilog or generated code, and also allows you to
modify Verilator for internal use without distributing the modied version. But
please contribute back to the community!
One limit is that you cannot under either license release a commercial Verilog simulation product incorporating Verilator without making the source code
available.
As is standard with Open Source, contributions back to Verilator will be placed
under the Verilator copyright and LGPL/Artistic license. Small test cases will
be released into the public domain so they can be used anywhere, large tests
under the LGPL/Artistic, unless requested otherwise.

Why is Verilation so slow?

Verilator needs more memory than the resulting simulator will require, as Verilator creates internally all of the state of the resulting simulator in order to
optimize it. If it takes more than a minute or so (and you're not using debug
since debug is disk bound), see if your machine is paging; most likely you need
to run it on a machine with more memory. Verilator is a full 64-bit application
and may use more than 4GB, but about 1GB is the maximum typically needed.

How do I generate waveforms (traces) in C++?

See the next question for tracing in SystemC mode.
Add the trace switch to Verilator, and in your top level C code, call Verilated::traceEverOn(true). Then create a VerilatedVcdC object, and in your
main loop call "trace_object->dump(time)" every time step, and nally call
"trace_object->close()". For an example, see below and the test_c/sim_main.cpp
le of the distribution.
You also need to compile verilated_vcd_c.cpp and add it to your link, preferably by adding the dependencies in $(VK_GLOBAL_OBJS) to your Makele's
link rule. This is done for you if using the Verilator exe ag.
Note you can also call ->trace on multiple Verilated objects with the same trace
le if you want all data to land in the same output le.

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Note also older versions of Verilator used the SystemPerl package and SpTraceVcdC class. This still works, but is depreciated as it requires strong
coupling between the Verilator and SystemPerl versions.

#include "verilated_vcd_c.h"
...
int main(int argc, char **argv, char **env) {
...
Verilated::traceEverOn(true);
VerilatedVcdC* tfp = new VerilatedVcdC;
topp->trace (tfp, 99);
tfp->open ("obj_dir/t_trace_ena_cc/simx.vcd");
...
while (sc_time_stamp() < sim_time && !Verilated::gotFinish()) {
main_time += #;
tfp->dump (main_time);
}
tfp->close();
}

How do I generate waveforms (traces) in SystemC?

Add the trace switch to Verilator, and in your top level C sc_main code, include verilated_vcd_sc.h. Then call Verilated::traceEverOn(true). Then create
a VerilatedVcdSc object as you would create a normal SystemC trace le. For
an example, see the call to VerilatedVcdSc in the test_sp/sc_main.cpp le of
the distribution, and below.
Alternatively you may use the C++ trace mechanism described in the previous
question, however the timescale and timeprecision will not inherited from your
SystemC settings.
You also need to compile verilated_vcd_sc.cpp and verilated_vcd_c.cpp and
add them to your link, preferably by adding the dependencies in $(VK_GLOBAL_OBJS)
to your Makele's link rule. This is done for you if using the Verilator exe ag.
Note you can also call ->trace on multiple Verilated objects with the same trace
le if you want all data to land in the same output le.

#include "verilated_vcd_sc.h"
...
int main(int argc, char **argv, char **env) {
...
Verilated::traceEverOn(true);
VerilatedVcdSc* tfp = new VerilatedVcdSc;
topp->trace (tfp, 99);
tfp->open ("obj_dir/t_trace_ena_cc/simx.vcd");
...
sc_start(1);
...
tfp->close();
}

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21 FAQ/FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How do I view waveforms (traces)?

Verilator makes standard VCD (Value Change Dump) les. They are viewable
with the public domain Dinotrace or GtkWave programs, or any of the many
commercial oerings.

How do I reduce the size of large waveform (trace) les?

First, instead of calling VerilatedVcdC->open at the beginning of time, delay
calling it until the time stamp where you want to tracing to begin. Likewise
you can also call VerilatedVcdC->open before the end of time (perhaps a short
period after you detect a verication error.)
Next, add /*verilator tracing_o*/ to any very low level modules you never
want to trace (such as perhaps library cells). Finally, use the trace-depth
option to limit the depth of tracing, for example trace-depth 1 to see only the
top level signals.
Also be sure you write your trace les to a local disk, instead of to a network
disk. Network disks are generally far slower.

How do I do coverage analysis?

Verilator supports both block (line) coverage and user inserted functional coverage. Both require the SystemPerl package to be installed but do not require
use of the SystemPerl output mode.
First, run verilator with the coverage option. If you're using your own makele,
compile the model with the GCC ag -DSP_COVERAGE (if using Verilator's,
it will do this for you.)
Run your tests in dierent directories. Each test will create a logs/coverage.pl
le.
After running all of your tests, the vcoverage utility (from the SystemPerl package) is executed. Vcoverage reads the logs/coverage.pl le(s), and creates an
annotated source code listing showing code coverage details.
For an example, after running 'make test' in the Verilator distribution, see the
test_sp/logs/coverage_source directory. Grep for lines starting with '%' to see
what lines Verilator believes need more coverage.

Where is the translate_o command? (How do I ignore a construct?)

Translate on/o pragmas are generally a bad idea, as it's easy to have mismatched pairs, and you can't see what another tool sees by just preprocessing
the code. Instead, use the preprocessor; Verilator denes the "VERILATOR"
dene for you, so just wrap the code in an ifndef region:

`ifndef VERILATOR
Something_Verilator_Dislikes;
`endif

Why do I get "unexpected `do'" or "unexpected `bit'" errors?

Do, bit, ref, return, and other words are now SystemVerilog keywords. You
should change your code to not use them to insure it works with newer tools. Alternatively, surround them by the Verilog 2005/SystemVerilog begin_keywords
pragma to indicate Verilog 2001 code.
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21 FAQ/FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

`begin_keywords "1364-2001"
integer bit; initial bit = 1;
`end_keywords
If you want the whole le to be parsed as Verilog 2001, just create a le with

`begin_keywords "1364-2001"
and add it before other Verilog les on the command line. (Note this will also
change the default for prex, so if you're not using prex, you will now need
to.)

How do I prevent my assertions from ring during reset?

Call Verilated::assertOn(false) before you rst call the model, then turn it back
on after reset. It defaults to true. When false, all assertions controlled by
assert are disabled.

Why do I get "undened reference to `sc_time_stamp()'"?

In C++ (non SystemC) code you need to dene this function so that the simulator knows the current time. See the "CONNECTING TO C++" examples.

Why do I get "undened reference to `VL_RAND_RESET_I' or `Verilated::...'"?

You need to link your compiled Verilated code against the verilated.cpp le
found in the include directory of the Verilator kit. This is one target in the
$(VK_GLOBAL_OBJS) make variable, which should be part of your Makele's link rule.

Is the PLI supported?

Only somewhat. More specically, the common PLI-ish calls $display, $nish,
$stop, $time, $write are converted to C++ equivalents. You can also use the
"import DPI" SystemVerilog feature to call C code (see the chapter above).
There is also limited VPI access to public signals.
If you want something more complex, since Verilator emits standard C++
code, you can simply write your own C++ routines that can access and modify signal values without needing any PLI interface code, and call it with
$c("{any_c++_statement}").

How do I make a Verilog module that contain a C++ object?

You need to add the object to the structure that Verilator creates, then use $c
to call a method inside your object. The test_regress/t/t_extend_class les
show an example of how to do this.

How do I get faster build times?

Between GCC 3.0 to 3.3, each compiled progressively slower, thus if you can
use GCC 2.95, or GCC 3.4 you'll have faster builds. Two ways to cheat are
to compile on parallel machines and avoid compilations altogether. See the 
output-split option, and the web for the ccache, distcc and icecream packages.
ccache will skip GCC runs between identical source builds, even across dierent
users. You can use the OBJCACHE environment variable to use these CC
wrappers.
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21 FAQ/FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why do so many les need to recompile when I add a signal?

Adding a new signal requires the symbol table to be recompiled. Verilator uses
one large symbol table, as that results in 2-3 less assembly instructions for each
signal access. This makes the execution time 10-15% faster, but can result in
more compilations when something changes.

How do I access functions/tasks in C?

Use the SystemVerilog Direct Programming Interface. You write a Verilog function or task with input/outputs that match what you want to call in with C.
Then mark that function as an external function. See the DPI chapter in the
manual.

How do I access signals in C?

The best thing is to make a SystemVerilog "export DPI task" or function that
accesses that signal, as described in the DPI chapter in the manual and DPI
tutorials on the web. This will allow Verilator to better optimize the model and
should be portable across simulators.
If you really want raw access to the signals, declare the signals you will be
accessing with a /*verilator public*/ comment before the closing semicolon.
Then scope into the C++ class to read the value of the signal, as you would
any other member variable.
Signals are the smallest of 8-bit chars, 16-bit shorts, 32-bit longs, or 64-bit long
longs that ts the width of the signal. Generally, you can use just uint32_t's
for 1 to 32 bits, or vluint64_t for 1 to 64 bits, and the compiler will properly
up-convert smaller entities.
Signals wider than 64 bits are stored as an array of 32-bit uint32_t's. Thus
to read bits 31:0, access signal[0], and for bits 63:32, access signal[1]. Unused
bits (for example bit numbers 65-96 of a 65-bit vector) will always be zero. if
you change the value you must make sure to pack zeros in the unused bits or
core-dumps may result. (Because Verilator strips array bound checks where it
believes them to be unnecessary.)
In the SYSTEMC example above, if you had in our.v:

input clk /*verilator public*/;

// Note the placement of the semicolon above
From the sc_main.cpp le, you'd then:

#include "Vour.h"
#include "Vour_our.h"
cout << "clock is " << top->v->clk << endl;
In this example, clk is a bool you can read or set as any other variable. The
value of normal signals may be set, though clocks shouldn't be changed by your
code or you'll get strange results.

Should a module be in Verilog or SystemC?

Sometimes there is a block that just interconnects cells, and have a choice as
to if you write it in Verilog or SystemC. Everything else being equal, best
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Verilator 3.862

performance is when Verilator sees all of the design. So, look at the hierarchy
of your design, labeling cells as to if they are SystemC or Verilog. Then:
A module with only SystemC cells below must be SystemC.
A module with a mix of Verilog and SystemC cells below must be SystemC.
(As Verilator cannot connect to lower-level SystemC cells.)
A module with only Verilog cells below can be either, but for best performance
should be Verilog. (The exception is if you have a design that is instantiated
many times; in this case Verilating one of the lower modules and instantiating
that Verilated cells multiple times into a SystemC module *may* be faster.)

22 BUGS
First, check the the coding limitations section.
Next, try the debug switch. This will enable additional internal assertions, and may
help identify the problem.
Finally, reduce your code to the smallest possible routine that exhibits the bug. Even
better, create a test in the test_regress/t directory, as follows:

cd test_regress
cp -p t/t_EXAMPLE.pl t/t_BUG.pl
cp -p t/t_EXAMPLE.v t/t_BUG.v
There are many hits on how to write a good test in the driver.pl documentation which
can be seen by running:

cd $VERILATOR_ROOT # Need the original distribution kit

test_regress/driver.pl --help
Edit t/t_BUG.pl to suit your example; you can do anything you want in the Verilog
code there; just make sure it retains the single clk input and no outputs. Now, the
following should fail:

cd $VERILATOR_ROOT # Need the original distribution kit

cd test_regress
t/t_BUG.pl # Run on Verilator
t/t_BUG.pl --debug # Run on Verilator, passing --debug to Verilator
t/t_BUG.pl --vcs # Run on a commercial simulator
t/t_BUG.pl --nc|--iv|--ghdl # Likewise on other simulators
The test driver accepts a number of options, many of which mirror the main Verilator
option. For example the previous test could have been run with debugging enabled.
The full set of test options can be seen by running driver.pl help as shown above.
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24 CONTRIBUTORS

Verilator 3.862

Finally, report the bug using the bug tracker at http://www.veripool.org/verilator.

The bug will become publicly visible; if this is unacceptable, mail the bug report to
[email protected].

23 HISTORY
Verilator was conceived in 1994 by Paul Wasson at the Core Logic Group at Digital
Equipment Corporation. The Verilog code that was converted to C was then merged
with a C based CPU model of the Alpha processor and simulated in a C based
environment called CCLI.
In 1995 Verilator started being used also for Multimedia and Network Processor
development inside Digital. Duane Galbi took over active development of Verilator,
and added several performance enhancements. CCLI was still being used as the shell.
In 1998, through the eorts of existing DECies, mainly Duane Galbi, Digital graciously agreed to release the source code. (Subject to the code not being resold,
which is compatible with the GNU Public License.)
In 2001, Wilson Snyder took the kit, and added a SystemC mode, and called it
Verilator2. This was the rst packaged public release.
In 2002, Wilson Snyder created Verilator3 by rewriting Verilator from scratch in
C++. This added many optimizations, yielding about a 2-5x performance gain.
In 2009, major SystemVerilog and DPI language support was added.
Currently, various language features and performance enhancements are added as the
need arises. Verilator is now about 3x faster than in 2002, and is faster than many
popular commercial simulators.

24 CONTRIBUTORS
Many people have provided ideas and other assistance with Verilator.
The major corporate sponsors of Verilator, by providing signicant contributions of
time or funds include include Cavium Networks, Compaq Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, Embecosm Ltd., Hicamp Systems, Intel Corporation, Mindspeed
Technologies Inc., MicroTune Inc., picoChip Designs Ltd., Sun Microsystems, Nauticus Networks, and SiCortex Inc.
The people who have contributed major functionality are Byron Bradley, Jeremy
Bennett, Lane Brooks, Duane Galbi, Paul Wasson, and Wilson Snyder. Major testers
include Je Dutton, Ralf Karge, David Hewson, Wim Michiels, Alex Solomatnikov,
Sebastien Van Cauwenberghe and Gene Weber.
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Verilator 3.862

Some of the people who have provided ideas and feedback for Verilator include: David
Addison, Vasu Arasanipalai, Jens Arm, J Baxter, Jeremy Bennett, David Black,
Gregg Bouchard, Christopher Boumenot, Nick Bowler, Byron Bradley, Bryan Brady,
Lane Brooks, John Brownlee, Lawrence Butcher, Chris Candler, Lauren Carlson,
Donal Casey, Terry Chen, Robert A. Clark, Allan Cochrane, Gunter Dannoritzer,
Ashutosh Das, Bernard Deadman, Mike Denio, John Deroo, John Dickol, Ruben
Diez, Danny Ding, Ivan Djordjevic, Alex Duller, Je Dutton, Chandan Egbert,
Joe Eiler, Ahmed El-Mahmoudy, Robert Farrell, Eugen Fekete, Andrea Foletto,
Bob Fredieu, Shankar Giri, Sam Gladstone, Amir Gonnen, Chitlesh Goorah, Neil
Hamilton, Thomas Hawkins, David Hewson, Jae Hossell, Ben Jackson, Iztok Jeras,
Christophe Joly, Mike Kagen, Guy-Armand Kamendje, Vasu Kandadi, Patricio Kaplan, Ralf Karge, Dan Katz, Sol Katzman, Jonathan Kimmitt, Gernot Koch, Soon
Koh, Steve Kolecki, David Kravitz, Steve Lang, Stephane Laurent, Walter Lavino,
Christian Leber, John Li, Charlie Lind, Andrew Ling, Paul Liu, Dan Lussier, Fred
Ma, Duraid Madina, Mark Marshall, Jason McMullan, Wim Michiels, Dennis Muhlestein, John Murphy, Richard Myers, Dimitris Nalbantis, Paul Nitza, Pete Nixon,
Lisa Noack, Mark Nodine, Andreas Olofsson, Brad Parker, Dominic Plunkett, Niranjan Prabhu, Usha Priyadharshini, Alberto Del Rio, Oleg Rodionov, John Sanguinetti,
Salman Sheikh, Mike Shinkarovsky, Rafael Shirakawa, Jerey Short, Rodney Sinclair,
Brian Small, Alex Solomatnikov, Art Stamness, John Stroebel, Emerson Suguimoto,
Gene Sullivan, Renga Sundararajan, Stefan Thiede, Gary Thomas, Steve Tong, Hans
Van Antwerpen, Holger Waechtler, Stefan Wallentowitz, Shawn Wang, Greg Waters, Thomas Watts, Eugene Weber, David Welch, Leon Wildman, Gerald Williams,
Trevor Williams, Je Winston, Joshua Wise, Johan Wouters, and Ding Xiaoliang.
Thanks to them, and all those we've missed including above.

25 DISTRIBUTION
The latest version is available from http://www.veripool.org/.
Copyright 2003-2014 by Wilson Snyder. Verilator is free software; you can redistribute
it and/or modify the Verilator internals under the terms of either the GNU Lesser
General Public License Version 3 or the Perl Artistic License Version 2.0.

26 AUTHORS
When possible, please instead report bugs to http://www.veripool.org/.
Wilson Snyder <[email protected]>
Major concepts by Paul Wasson and Duane Galbi.

67

27 SEE ALSO

Verilator 3.862

27 SEE ALSO
verilator_profcfunc,

systemperl, vcoverage, make,

verilator help which is the source for this document,

and internals.txt in the distribution.

68