Getting Started

This is an introduction and step-by-step guide for beginning with UVVM, along with examples of common tasks that the designers will have to carry out.

UVVM (Universal VHDL Verification Methodology) is a free and open source methodology for making very structured VHDL-based testbenches. UVVM has been released with two different complexity levels, a low complexity UVVM Light repository with the Utility library and BFMs (Bus Functional Models), without advanced features such as VVCs and command distribution system, and the complete UVVM repository with all features available. The UVVM Light repository is a lightweight version of UVVM that can be used with simple testbenches and as a low-level introduction to UVVM.

Note

UVVM and UVVM Light require VHDL-2008 or newer to compile.

Installation

UVVM can be downloaded as a zip file or cloned using git. We are continuously adding new features to UVVM and the easiest way to receive the updates is by cloning UVVM with git.

Navigate to the UVVM repository on GitHub: https://github.com/UVVM/UVVM
Select “Clone or download” marked with a red circle:
1. Clone by copying the repository address (green circle), and from the project folder running the command: git clone https://github.com/UVVM/UVVM.git
2. Or download everything as a zip (blue circle) and extract the downloaded file in the project folder.
After cloning or unzipping UVVM you have all that is needed to start using UVVM and all of its features with your testbench.

Updating UVVM

The method for updating UVVM depends on the chosen installation method:

Cloned using git: run the following command in terminal inside the UVVM folder to receive the latest release changes: git pull
Downloaded as a zip: repeat step 2b and replace the old UVVM version with the new downloaded version. Note that this will overwrite any local changes to UVVM, e.g. local changes in the adaptations_pkg.vhd

Testbench

Include uvvm_util_context and the VVCs or BFMs you will be using in your testbench to start using UVVM:

library uvvm_util;
context uvvm_util.uvvm_util_context;
library uvvm_vvc_framework;
use uvvm_vvc_framework.ti_vvc_framework_support_pkg.all;
library bitvis_vip_sbi;
context bitvis_vip_sbi.vvc_context;

The context files will ensure that everything necessary are made available from within the testbench, e.g.

Compilation

UVVM can be compiled by calling the UVVM/script/compile_all.do file using simulator GUI or from the command line. This will compile all of UVVM. Each of the modules/VIPs in UVVM also have their own compilation scripts in a /script folder, e.g. for the SBI VIP bitvis_vip_sbi/script/compile_src.do. The compile_src.do script can take two arguments, where the first argument is the module/VIP installation path and the second is the target path of the compilation, i.e. compile_src.do <source_path> <target_path>.

The following example of compiling UVVM from the command line and with Modelsim GUI have the following directory structure:

/UVVM
  ...
  /bitvis_vip_sbi
  /uvvm_util
  /uvvm_vvc_framework

/my_project
  /sim
  /my_src
  ...

and the vsim command / Modelsim GUI is run from the /my_project folder with the /sim folder as compilation target:

Command line example for UVVM Utility Library compilation:

$ vsim -c -do "do ../UVVM/uvvm_util/script/compile_src.do ../UVVM/uvvm_util ./sim"
Modelsim GUI example:

Note

../UVVM/uvvm_util/script/compile_src.do is the relative path to the compile_src.do script for the UVVM Utility Library.
../UVVM/uvvm_util is the relative path to UVVM installation (source path), for ../UVVM/script/compile_all.do, use ../UVVM/script as source path.
./sim is the relative path to the compilation target (target path).

Compilation Order

Most of the modules/VIPs have some dependencies, thus compilation has to be performed in a specific order. The compilation order of the source files for a module/VIP is listed in the script/compile_order.txt file and in the quick reference PDF in the /doc folder. The library dependencies, i.e. other modules/VIPs that needs to be compiled prior to compiling a particular module/VIP, is listed in the quick reference PDF of each module/VIP.

As a rule of thumb, every module/VIP have the following dependencies:

UVVM Utility Library
UVVM VVC Framework
Bitvis VIP Scoreboard (most of the VVCs have built in scoreboard functionality)