* Excercise Zero
The goal of this excercise is to gain some familiarity with developing for
FPGAs using chisel.
In this exercise you will implement a circuit capable of performing matrix
matrix multiplication in the chisel hardware description language.
* Chisel
** Prerequisites
You should have some idea of how digital logic circuits work.
** Terms
Before delving into code it's necessary to define some terms.
+ Wire
A wire is a bundle of 1 to N condictive wires (yes, that is a recursive
definition, but I think you get what I mean). These wires are connected
either to ground or a voltage source, corresponding to 0 or 1, which
is useful for representing numbers
We can define a wire consisting of 4 physical wires in chisel like this
#+begin_src scala
val myWire = Wire(UInt(4.W))
#+end_src
+ Driving
A wire in on itself is rather pointless since it doesn't do anything.
In order for something to happen we need to connect them.
#+begin_src scala
val wireA = Wire(UInt(4.W))
val wireB = Wire(UInt(4.W))
wireA := 2.U
wireB := wireA
#+end_src
Here wireA is driven by the signal 2.U, and wireB is driven by wireA.
For well behaved circuits it does not make sense to let a wire be driven
by multiple sources which would make the resulting signal undefined
(maybe it makes sense for a javascript processor, I hear they love undefined)
Similarily a circular dependency is not allowed a la
#+begin_src scala
val wireA = Wire(UInt(4.W))
val wireB = Wire(UInt(4.W))
wireA := wireB
wireB := wireA
#+end_src
+ Module
In order to make development easier we separate functionality into modules,
defined by its inputs and outputs.
+ Combinatory circuit
A combinatory circuit is a circuit whose output is based only on its
inputs.
+ Stateful circuit
A circuit that will give different results based on its internal state.
In common parlance, a circuit without registers (or memory) is combinatory
while a circuit with registers is stateful.
+ Chisel Graph
A chisel program is a program whose result is a graph which can be synthesized
to a transistor level schematic of a logic circuit.
When connecting wires wireA and wireB we were actually manipulating a graph
(actually, two subgraphs that were eventually combined into one).
The chisel graph is directed, but it does allow cycles so long as they are not
combinatorial.
** Your first component
The first component we will consider is a simple combinatorial incrementor:
#+begin_src scala
// These will be omitted in further examples
package Ex0
import chisel3._
class myIncrement(incrementBy: Int) extends Module {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val dataIn = Input(UInt(32.W))
val dataOut = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
io.dataOut := io.dataIn + incrementBy.U
}
#+end_src
TODO: Fig
Let's see how we can use our module:
#+begin_src scala
class myIncrementTwice(incrementBy: Int) extends Module {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val dataIn = Input(UInt(32.W))
val dataOut = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
val first = Module(new myIncrement(incrementBy))
val second = Module(new myIncrement(incrementBy))
first.io.dataIn := io.dataIn
second.io.dataIn := first.io.dataOut
io.dataOut := second.io.dataOut
}
#+end_src
** Scala and chisel
The code for these snippets can be found in Example.scala in the test directory.
You can run them using sbt by running ./sbt in your project root which will open
your sbt console.
A major stumbling block for learning chisel is understanding the difference between scala and chisel.
To highlight the difference between the two consider how HTML is generated.
When creating a list we could just write the HTML manually
#+begin_src html
- Name: Siv Jensen, Affiliation: FrP
- Name: Jonas Gahr Støre, Affiliation: AP
- Name: Bjørnar Moxnes, Affiliation: Rødt
- Name: Malcolm Tucker, Affiliation: DOSAC
#+end_src
However this is rather cumbersome, so we generate HTML programatically.
In scala we might do something (sloppy) like this:
#+begin_src scala
def generateList(politicians: List[String], affiliations: Map[String, String]): String = {
val inner = new ArrayBuffer[String]()
for(ii <- 0 until politicians.size){
val nameString = politicians(ii)
val affiliationString = affiliations(nameString)
inner.add(s"Name: $nameString, Affiliation: $affiliationString")
}
"\n" + inner.mkString("\n") + "
"
}
// Or if you prefer brevity
def generateList2(politicians: List[String], affiliations: Map[String, String]): String = {
val inner = politicians.map(p => s"Name: $p, Affiliation ${affiliations(p)}")
"\n" + inner.mkString("\n") + "
"
}
#+end_src
Similarily we can use constructs such as for loops to manipulate the chisel graph:
#+begin_src scala
class myIncrementN(incrementBy: Int, numIncrementors: Int) extends Module {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val dataIn = Input(UInt(32.W))
val dataOut = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
val incrementors = Array.fill(numIncrementors){ Module(new myIncrement(incrementBy)) }
for(ii <- 1 until numIncrementors){
incrementors(ii).io.dataIn := incrementors(ii - 1).io.dataOut
}
incrementors(0).io.dataIn := io.dataIn
io.dataOut := incrementors(numIncrementors).io.dataOut
}
#+end_src
Keep in mind that the for-loop only exists at design time, just like a for loop
generating a table in HTML will not be part of the finished HTML.
*Important!*
In the HTML examples differentiating the HTML and scala was easy because they're
fundamentally very different. However with hardware and software there is a much
larger overlap.
A big pitfall is vector types and indexing, since these make sense both in software
and in hardware.
Here's a rather silly example highligthing the confusion:
#+begin_src scala
class MyVector() extends Module {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val idx = Input(UInt(32.W))
val out = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
val values = List(1, 2, 3, 4)
io.out := values(io.idx)
}
#+end_src
If you try to compile this you will get an error.
#+begin_src scala
sbt:chisel-module-template> compile
...
[error] found : chisel3.core.UInt
[error] required: Int
[error] io.out := values(io.idx)
[error] ^
#+end_src
This error tells us that io.idx was of the wrong type, namely a chisel UInt.
The List is a scala construct, it only exists when your design is synthesized, so
attempting to index using a chisel type would be like HTML attempting to index the
generating scala code which is nonsensical.
Let's try again:
#+begin_src scala
class MyVector() extends Module {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val idx = Input(UInt(32.W))
val out = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
// val values: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3, 4)
val values = Vec(1, 2, 3, 4)
io.out := values(io.idx)
}
#+end_src
Egads, now we get this instead
#+begin_src scala
[error] /home/peteraa/datateknikk/TDT4255_EX0/src/main/scala/Tile.scala:30:16: inferred type arguments [Int] do not conform to macro method apply's type parameter bounds [T <: chisel3.Data]
[error] val values = Vec(1, 2, 3, 4)
[error] ^
[error] /home/peteraa/datateknikk/TDT4255_EX0/src/main/scala/Tile.scala:30:20: type mismatch;
[error] found : Int(1)
[error] required: T
[error] val values = Vec(1, 2, 3, 4)
...
#+end_src
What is going wrong here? In the error message we see that the type Int cannot be constrained to a
type T <: chisel3.Data, but what does that mean?
The <: symbol means subtype, meaning that the compiler expected the Vec to contain a chisel data type
such as chisel3.Data.UInt or chisel3.Data.Boolean, and Int is not one of them!
A scala int represent 32 bits in memory, whereas a chisel UInt represents a bundle of wires that we
interpret as an unsigned integer, thus they are not interchangeable although they represent roughly
the same thing.
Let's fix this
#+begin_src scala
class MyVector() extends Module {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val idx = Input(UInt(32.W))
val out = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
val values = Vec(1.U, 2.U, 3.U, 4.U)
// Alternatively
// val values = Vec(List(1, 2, 3, 4).map(scalaInt => UInt(scalaInt)))
io.out := values(io.idx)
}
#+end_src
This works!
So, it's impossible to access scala collections with chisel types, but can we do it the other way around?
#+begin_src scala
class MyVector() extends Module {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val idx = Input(UInt(32.W))
val out = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
val values = Vec(1.U, 2.U, 3.U, 4.U)
io.out := values(3)
}
#+end_src
...turns out we can?
This is nonsensical, however thanks to behind the scenes magic the 3 is changed
to 3.U, much like [] can be a boolean in javascript.
To get acquainted with the (rather barebones) testing environment, let's test this.
#+begin_src scala
class MyVecSpec extends FlatSpec with Matchers {
behavior of "MyVec"
it should "Output whatever idx points to" in {
wrapTester(
chisel3.iotesters.Driver(() => new MyVector) { c =>
new MyVecTester(c)
} should be(true)
)
}
}
class MyVecTester(c: MyVector) extends PeekPokeTester(c) {
for(ii <- 0 until 4){
poke(c.io.idx, ii)
expect(c.io.out, ii)
}
}
#+end_src
#+begin_src
sbt:chisel-module-template> testOnly Ex0.MyVecSpec
...
...
[info] Compiling 1 Scala source to /home/peteraa/datateknikk/TDT4255_EX0/target/scala-2.12/test-classes ...
...
...
MyVecSpec:
MyVec
[info] [0.001] Elaborating design...
...
Circuit state created
[info] [0.001] SEED 1556197694422
test MyVector Success: 4 tests passed in 5 cycles taking 0.009254 seconds
[info] [0.002] RAN 0 CYCLES PASSED
- should Output whatever idx points to
Run completed in 605 milliseconds.
Total number of tests run: 1
Suites: completed 1, aborted 0
Tests: succeeded 1, failed 0, canceled 0, ignored 0, pending 0
All tests passed.
#+end_src
Great!
** Compile time and synthesis time
In the HTML example, assume that we omitted the last tag. This would not
create valid HTML, however the code will happily compile. Likewise, we can easily
create invalid chisel:
#+begin_src scala
class Invalid() extends Module {
val io = IO(new Bundle{})
val myVec = Module(new MyVector)
}
#+end_src
This code will happily compile!
Turns out that when compiling, we're not actually generating any chisel at all!
Let's create a test that builds chisel code for us:
#+begin_src scala
class InvalidSpec extends FlatSpec with Matchers {
behavior of "Invalid"
it should "Probably fail in some sort of way" in {
chisel3.iotesters.Driver(() => new Invalid) { c =>
// chisel tester expects a test here, but we can use ???
// which is shorthand for throw new NotImplementedException.
//
// This is OK, because it will fail during building.
???
} should be(true)
}
}
#+end_src
This gives us the rather scary error:
#+begin_src scala
sbt:chisel-module-template> compile
...
[success] Total time: 3 s, completed Apr 25, 2019 3:15:15 PM
...
sbt:chisel-module-template> testOnly Ex0.InvalidSpec
...
firrtl.passes.CheckInitialization$RefNotInitializedException: @[Example.scala 25:21:@20.4] : [module Invalid] Reference myVec is not fully initialized.
: myVec.io.idx <= VOID
at firrtl.passes.CheckInitialization$.$anonfun$run$6(CheckInitialization.scala:83)
at firrtl.passes.CheckInitialization$.$anonfun$run$6$adapted(CheckInitialization.scala:78)
at scala.collection.TraversableLike$WithFilter.$anonfun$foreach$1(TraversableLike.scala:789)
at scala.collection.mutable.HashMap.$anonfun$foreach$1(HashMap.scala:138)
at scala.collection.mutable.HashTable.foreachEntry(HashTable.scala:236)
at scala.collection.mutable.HashTable.foreachEntry$(HashTable.scala:229)
at scala.collection.mutable.HashMap.foreachEntry(HashMap.scala:40)
at scala.collection.mutable.HashMap.foreach(HashMap.scala:138)
at scala.collection.TraversableLike$WithFilter.foreach(TraversableLike.scala:788)
at firrtl.passes.CheckInitialization$.checkInitM$1(CheckInitialization.scala:78)
#+end_src
While scary, the actual error is only this line:
#+begin_src scala
firrtl.passes.CheckInitialization$RefNotInitializedException: @[Example.scala 25:21:@20.4] : [module Invalid] Reference myVec is not fully initialized.
: myVec.io.idx <= VOID
#+end_src
Which tells us that myVec has unInitialized wires!
While our program is correct, it produces an incorrect design, in other words, the scala part
of the code is correct as it compiled, but the chisel part is incorrect because it does not synthesize.
Let's fix it:
#+begin_src scala
class Invalid() extends Module {
val io = IO(new Bundle{})
val myVec = Module(new MyVector)
myVec.io.idx := 0.U
}
#+end_src
Hooray, now we get ~scala.NotImplementedError: an implementation is missing~
as expected, along with an enormous stacktrace..
The observant reader may have observed that it is perfectly legal to put chisel types in scala
collection, how does that work?
A scala collection is just a collection of references, or pointers if you will.
If it happens to contain values of chisel types then these will exist in the design, however the
collection will not, so we cannot index based on the collection.
This can be seen in ~myIncrementN~ where an array of incrementors is used.
The array is only used help the scala program wire the components together, and once this is
done the array is not used.
We could do the same with MyVector, but it's not pretty:
#+begin_src scala
class MyVector2() extends Module {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val idx = Input(UInt(32.W))
val out = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
val values = Array(0.U, 1.U, 2.U, 3.U)
io.out := values(0)
for(ii <- 0 until 3){
when(io.idx === ii.U){
io.out := values(ii)
}
}
}
#+end_src
Note that it is nescessary to specify a default for io.out even though it will never be
selected.
While it looks ugly, the generated hardware should, at least in theory, not take up any
more space or run any slower than the Vec based implementation, save for one difference
as we will see in the next section.
** Bit Widths
What happens if we attempt to index the 6th element in our 4 element vector?
In MyVector we get 1, and in MyVector2 we get 0, so they're not exactly the same.
In MyVector the Vec has 4 elements, thus only two wires are necessary (00, 01, 10, 11),
thus the remaining 28 wires of io.idx are not used.
In MyVector2 on the other hand we have specified a default value for io.out, so for any
index higher than 3 the output will be 0.
What about the values in the Vec?
0.U can be represented by a single wire, whereas 3.U must be represented by at
least two wires.
In this case it is easy for chisel to see that they must both be of width 32 since they will
be driving the output signal which is specified as 32 bit wide.
In theory specifying widths should not be necessary other than at the very endpoints of your
design, however this would quickly end up being intractable, so we specify widths at module
endpoints.
** Stateful circuits
#+begin_src scala
class SimpleDelay() extends Module {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val dataIn = Input(UInt(32.W))
val dataOut = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
val delayReg = RegInit(UInt(32.W), 0.U)
delayReg := io.dataIn
io.dataOut := delayReg
}
#+end_src
This circuit seems rather pointless, it simply assigns the input to the output.
However, unlike the previous circuits, the simpleDelay circuit stores its value
in a register, causing a one cycle delay between input and output.
Lets try it!
#+begin_src scala
class DelaySpec extends FlatSpec with Matchers {
behavior of "SimpleDelay"
it should "Delay input by one timestep" in {
chisel3.iotesters.Driver(() => new SimpleDelay) { c =>
new DelayTester(c)
} should be(true)
}
}
class DelayTester(c: SimpleDelay) extends PeekPokeTester(c) {
for(ii <- 0 until 10){
val input = scala.util.Random.nextInt(10)
poke(c.io.dataIn, input)
expect(c.io.dataOut, input)
}
}
#+end_src
We then run the test:
#+begin_src
sbt:chisel-module-template> testOnly Ex0.DelaySpec
...
[info] [0.001] Elaborating design...
[info] [0.071] Done elaborating.
Total FIRRTL Compile Time: 144.7 ms
Total FIRRTL Compile Time: 9.4 ms
End of dependency graph
Circuit state created
[info] [0.001] SEED 1556196281084
[info] [0.002] EXPECT AT 0 io_dataOut got 0 expected 7 FAIL
[info] [0.002] EXPECT AT 0 io_dataOut got 0 expected 6 FAIL
[info] [0.003] EXPECT AT 0 io_dataOut got 0 expected 1 FAIL
[info] [0.003] EXPECT AT 0 io_dataOut got 0 expected 2 FAIL
[info] [0.003] EXPECT AT 0 io_dataOut got 0 expected 7 FAIL
[info] [0.003] EXPECT AT 0 io_dataOut got 0 expected 4 FAIL
[info] [0.003] EXPECT AT 0 io_dataOut got 0 expected 8 FAIL
[info] [0.003] EXPECT AT 0 io_dataOut got 0 expected 8 FAIL
[info] [0.003] EXPECT AT 0 io_dataOut got 0 expected 7 FAIL
#+end_src
Oops, the tester doesn't advance the clock befor testing output, totally didn't
make an error on purpose to highlight that...
#+begin_src scala
class DelayTester(c: SimpleDelay) extends PeekPokeTester(c) {
for(ii <- 0 until 10){
val input = scala.util.Random.nextInt(10)
poke(c.io.dataIn, input)
step(1)
expect(c.io.dataOut, input)
}
}
#+end_src
Much better..
You should now be able to implement myDelayN following the same principles as
myIncrementN
#+begin_src scala
class myDelayN(delay: Int) extends Module {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val dataIn = Input(UInt(32.W))
val dataOut = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
???
}
#+end_src
Before you continue you should have a good grasp on the difference between scala and
chisel. For instance, what is the difference between ~=~ and ~:=~?
If ~a~ is the input for a module, and ~b~ is the output, should it be ~a := b~ or ~b := a~?
What's the difference between
~if( ... ) ... else ...~
and
~when( ... ){ ... }.elsewhen( ... ){ ... }.otherwise{ ... }~
?
** Debugging
A rather nasty pain point in chisel is the debuggability.
In order to inspect our circuits we have two main tools, the peekPokeTester and trusty
old printf, however both have huge flaws.
*** Printf
Printf statements will be executed once per clock cycle if the surrounding block is executed.
This means we can put a printf statement in a module and have it print some state every
cycle, and we can put it inside a when block in order to conditionally print.
Other than quickly creating a tremendous amount of noise, printf has a tendency to fool you
since it often reports values that are one clock cycle off.
To see this in action, try running EvilPrintfSpec
*** PeekPoke
The good thing about PeekPokeTester is that it won't lie to you, but it's not a very
flexible tester either.
The most annoying flaw is that it cannot inspect the value of a submodule.
Consider the following module
#+begin_src scala
class Outer() extends Module {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val dataIn = Input(UInt(32.W))
val dataOut = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
val inner = Module(new Inner).io
inner.dataIn := io.dataIn
io.dataOut := inner.dataOut
}
#+end_src
It would be nice if we could use the peekPokeTester to inspect what goes on inside
Inner, however this information gets removed before the peekPokeTester is run.
The way I deal with this is using a multiIOModule.
In this example I have done the same for inner, using a special debug IO bundle to
separate the modules interface and whatever debug signals I'm interested in.
MultiIOModule can do everything Module can, so if you want to you can use it everywhere.
#+begin_src scala
import chisel3.experimental.MultiIOModule
class Outer() extends MultiIOModule {
val io = IO(
new Bundle {
val dataIn = Input(UInt(32.W))
val dataOut = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
val debug = IO(
new Bundle {
val innerState = Output(UInt(32.W))
}
)
val inner = Module(new Inner)
inner.io.dataIn := io.dataIn
io.dataOut := inner.io.dataOut
debug.innerState := inner.debug.frobnicatorState
}
#+end_src
* Matrix matrix multiplication
For your first foray into chisel you will design a matrix matrix multiplication unit.
Matrix multiplication is fairly straight forward, however on hardware it's a little
trickier than the standard for loops normally employed..
** Task 1 - Vector
The first component you should implement is a register bank for storing a vector.
In Vector.scala you will find the skeleton code for this component.
Unlike the standard Chisel.Vec our custom vector has a read enable which means that
the memory pointed to by idx will only be overWritten when readEnable is true.
(You could argue that writeEnable would be a more fitting name, it's a matter of
perspective)
Implement the vector and test that it works by running
~testOnly Ex0.VectorSpec~ in your sbt console.
** Task 2 - Matrix
The matrix works just like the vector only in two dimensions.
The skeleton code and associated tests should make the purpose of this module obvious.
Run the tests with ~testOnly Ex0.VectorSpec~
** Task 3 - Dot Product
This component differs from the two previous in that it has no explicit control input,
which might at first be rather confusing.
With only two inputs for data, how do we know when the dotproduct has been calculated?
The answer to this is the ~elements~ argument, which tells the dot product calculator the
size of the input vectors.
Consequently, the resulting hardware can only (at least on its own) compute dotproducts
for one size of vector, which is fine in our circuit.
To get a better understanding we can model this behavior in regular scala:
#+begin_src scala
case class DotProdCalculator(vectorLen: Int, timeStep: Int, accumulator: Int){
def update(inputA: Int, inputB: Int): (Int, Boolean, DotProdCalculator) = {
val product = inputA * inputB
if(((timeStep + 1) % vectorLen) == 0){
(accumulator + product, true, this.copy(timeStep = 0, accumulator = 0))
else
(accumulator + product, false, this.copy(timeStep = this.timeStep + 1, accumulator = accumulator + product))
}
}
}
#+end_src
To see it in action run ~testOnly Ex0.DPCsimulatorSpec~ in your sbt console.
As with the previous tasks, the dot product calculator must pass the tests with
~testOnly Ex0.DotProdSpec~
** Task 4 - Matrix Matrix multiplication
With our matrix modules and dot product calculators we have every piece needed to
implement the matrix multiplier.
When performing matrix multiplication on a computer transposing the second matrix
can help us reduce complexity by quite a lot. To examplify, consider
#+begin_src
| 2, 5 |
A = | 7, -1 |
| 0, 4 |
B = | 1, 1, 2 |
| 0, 4, 0 |
#+end_src
It would be much simpler to just have two modules with the same dimensions, and we
can do this by transposing B so we get
#+begin_src
| 2, 5 |
A = | 7, -1 |
| 0, 4 |
| 1, 0 |
BT = | 1, 4 |
| 2, 0 |
#+end_src
Now all we need to do is calculate the dot products for the final matrix:
#+begin_src
if A*B = C then
| A[0] × BT[0], A[0] × BT[1], A[0] × BT[2] |
C = | A[1] × BT[0], ... , ... |
| ... , ... , A[2] × BT[2] |
where
A[0] × BT[0] is the dot product of [2, 5] and [1, 0]
and
A[0] × BT[1] is the dot product of [2, 5] and [1, 4]
and so forth..
#+end_src
Because of this, the input for matrix B will be supplied transposed, thus you do not
have to worry about this. For B the input would be [1, 0, 1, 4, 2, 0]
The skeleton code for the matrix multiplier is less detailed, with only one test.
You're encouraged to write your own tests to make this easier.
Additionally, if you feel like you're getting stuck you can take a look at
MatMulTips.org
** Bonus exercise - Introspection on code quality and design choices
This last exercise has no deliverable, but you should spend some time thinking about
where you spent most of your efforts.
A common saying is "A few hours of work can save you from several minutes of planning",
and this holds especially true for writing chisel!!