3D Compiler and Interpreters Mind Bending Other Hardware The Answer to Life the Universe and Everything Else
See in schedule: Fri, Jul 30, 14:15-15:00 CEST (45 min)The Libre-SOC Project aims to bring to market a mass-volume System-on-a-Chip suitable for use in smartphones netbooks tablets and chromebooks, which is end-user programmable right to the bedrock. No spying backdoors, no treacherous DRM.
Python and standard Libre Project Management is used throughout:
* nmigen, a python-based HDL, is a fundamental and critical strategic choice in creating the hardware.
* An IEEE754 FP hardware library has been developed using nmigen/python, as are hundreds of thousands of unit tests
* An OpenPOWER ISA simulator is written in python, and is actually a PLY compiler based on the GardenSnake example
* Several thousand unit tests for the HDL and simulator are written in python
* coriolis2, the VLSI ASIC layout toolchain, is a mixed c++ python application
* cocotb, a hardware co-simulation system, is used to verify the HDL is correct, down to the gate level
* a JTAG "remote" system has been written in python which allows the simulated processor to be connected to with openocd.
* Even the Standard Cell Library being used, called FlexLib, by Chips4Makers, is in python.
To say that python is critical to the project would be a massive understatement. This talk will give a brief overview of the above areas and give a glimpse into why python was chosen for each.
Type: Talk (45 mins); Python level: Advanced; Domain level: Intermediate
