scalachiselromvec

How to create ROM with VecInit(Array()) in Chisel?


I'm trying to declare a «rom» with VecInit() like it :

  val GbColors = VecInit(Array(GB_GREEN0, GB_GREEN1, GB_GREEN2, GB_GREEN3))

With GB_GREENx declared like it :

class VgaColors extends Bundle {
  val red   = UInt(6.W)
  val green = UInt(6.W)
  val blue  = UInt(6.W)
}

//...
object GbConst {
//...
                            /* "#9BBC0F"*/
val GB_GREEN0 = (new VgaColors()).Lit(_.red   -> "h26".U(6.W),
                                      _.green -> "h2F".U(6.W),
                                      _.blue  -> "h03".U(6.W))

                          /* "#8BAC0F"*/
 val GB_GREEN1 = (new VgaColors()).Lit(_.red   -> "h1E".U(6.W),
                                       _.green -> "h27".U(6.W),
                                       _.blue  -> "h03".U(6.W))
                          /* "#306230"*/
 val GB_GREEN2 = (new VgaColors()).Lit(_.red   -> "h0C".U(6.W),
                                       _.green -> "h18".U(6.W),
                                       _.blue  -> "h0C".U(6.W))
                          /*"#0F380F"*/
 val GB_GREEN3 = (new VgaColors()).Lit(_.red   -> "h03".U(6.W),
                                       _.green -> "h0E".U(6.W),
                                       _.blue  -> "h03".U(6.W))

I can't manage to use GbColors as indexable Vec :

 io.vga_color := GbColors(io.mem_data)

It generate a java stack error :

[info] [0.004] Elaborating design...
[error] chisel3.internal.ChiselException: Connection between sink (VgaColors(IO in unelaborated MemVga)) and source (VgaColors(Wire in GbWrite)) failed @.blue: Sink or source unavailable to current module.
[error]     ...
[error]     at gbvga.MemVga.$anonfun$new$42(memvga.scala:87)
[error]     at scala.runtime.java8.JFunction0$mcV$sp.apply(JFunction0$mcV$sp.java:23)
[error]     at chisel3.WhenContext.<init>(When.scala:80)
[error]     at chisel3.when$.apply(When.scala:32)
[error]     at gbvga.MemVga.<init>(memvga.scala:86)
[error]     at gbvga.GbVga.$anonfun$memvga$1(gbvga.scala:24)
[error]     at chisel3.Module$.do_apply(Module.scala:54)
[error]     at gbvga.GbVga.<init>(gbvga.scala:24)
[error]     at gbvga.GbVgaDriver$.$anonfun$new$9(gbvga.scala:53)
[error]     ... (Stack trace trimmed to user code only, rerun with --full-stacktrace if you wish to see the full stack trace)
...

To manage it, I have to use switch(){is()} format :

    switch(io.mem_data) {
      is("b00".U) {
        io.vga_color := GB_GREEN0
      }
      is("b01".U) {
        io.vga_color := GB_GREEN1
      }
      is("b10".U) {
        io.vga_color := GB_GREEN2
      }
      is("b11".U) {
        io.vga_color := GB_GREEN3
      }
    }

But it's too verbose I think. What is wrong with my VecInit() «rom» ?

[edit]

My versions are :

$ java -version
java version "1.8.0_151"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_151-b12)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.151-b12, mixed mode)
$ scala -version
Scala code runner version 2.11.7-20150420-135909-555f8f09c9 -- Copyright 2002-2013, LAMP/EPFL

In build.sbt :

val defaultVersions = Map(
  "chisel3" -> "3.4.0-RC1",
  "chisel-iotesters" -> "1.5.0-RC1",
  "chisel-formal" -> "0.1-SNAPSHOT",
  )

Solution

  • I think the problem here is because the Bundles in GbConst are created outside of a Module. One potential fix would be to make GbConst into a trait and add it to Modules who need access to those values. (I have created a PR that seems to show this approach works, though it's probably creating a lot of copies of the Bundles). Another approach (that I have not tried) would be to create a Module that serves up all the Bundles as outputs (which should make less copies).

    My PR also changed the chisel3 and chisel-testers dependencies to be SNAPSHOTS.