Codegen Options

This document outlines some useful knobs for running codegen on an XLS design. Codegen is the process of generating RTL from IR and is where operations are scheduled and mapped into RTL constructs. The output of codegen is suitable for simulation or implementation via standard tools that understand Verilog or SystemVerilog.

• Codegen Options
• Input specification
• Output locations
• Pipelining and Scheduling Options
• Feedback-driven Optimization (FDO) Options
• Naming
• Reset Signal Configuration
• Codegen Mapping
  • Format Strings
• I/O Behavior
• RAMs (experimental)
• Optimization

Input specification

• <input.ir> is a positional argument giving the path to the ir file.
• --top specifies the top function or proc to codegen.
• --codegen_options_proto=... specifies the filename of a protobuf containing the arguments to supply codegen other than the scheduling arguments. Details can be found in codegen_flags.cc
• --scheduling_options_proto=... specifies the filename of a protobuf containing the scheduling arguments. Details can be found in scheduling_options_flags.cc

Output locations

The following flags control where output files are put. In addition to Verilog, codegen can generate files useful for understanding or integrating the RTL.

• --output_verilog_path is the path to the output Verilog file.
• --output_schedule_path is the path to a textproto that shows into which pipeline stage the scheduler put IR ops.
• --output_schedule_ir_path is the path to the "IR" representation of the design, a post-scheduling IR that includes any optimizations or transforms during the scheduling pipeline.
• --output_block_ir_path is the path to the "block IR" representation of the design, a post-scheduling IR that is timed and includes registers, ports, etc.
• --output_signature_path is the path to the signature textproto. The signature describes the ports, channels, external memories, etc.
• --output_verilog_line_map_path is the path to the verilog line map associating lines of verilog to lines of IR.
• --codegen_options_used_textproto_file is the path to write a textproto containing the actual configuration used for codegen.

Pipelining and Scheduling Options

The following flags control how XLS maps IR operations to RTL, and if applicable control the scheduler.

• --generator=... controls which generator to use. The options are pipeline and combinational. The pipeline generator runs a scheduler that partitions the IR ops into pipeline stages.
• --opt_level=... controls the optimization level to apply when using the pipeline generator, to take advantage of any discovered optimization opportunities.
• --delay_model=... selects the delay model to use when scheduling. See the page here for more detail.
• --clock_period_ps=... sets the target clock period. See scheduling for more details on how scheduling works. Note that this option is optional, without specifying clock period XLS will estimate what the clock period should be.
• --pipeline_stages=... sets the number of pipeline stages to use when --generator=pipeline.
• --clock_margin_percent=... sets the percentage to reduce the target clock period before scheduling. See scheduling for more details.
• --period_relaxation_percent=... sets the percentage that the computed minimum clock period is increased. May not be specified with --clock_period_ps.
• --minimize_clock_on_error is enabled by default. If enabled, when --clock_period_ps is given with an infeasible clock (in the sense that XLS cannot pipeline this input for this clock, even with other constraints relaxed), XLS will find and report the minimum feasible clock period if one exists. If disabled, XLS will report only that the clock period was infeasible, potentially saving time.
• --recover_after_minimizing_clock is disabled by default. If both this and --minimize_clock_on_error are enabled, when --clock_period_ps is given with an infeasible clock, XLS will print a warning, find and report the minimum feasible clock period (if one exists), and then continue generating Verilog as if this had been the specified clock period.
• --minimize_worst_case_throughput is disabled by default. If enabled, when --worst_case_throughput is not specified (or disabled by setting it to 0 or a negative value), XLS will find & report the best possible worst-case throughput of the circuit (subject to all other constraints), and then proceed with codegen using that worst-case throughput.

  NOTE: If --clock_period_ps is not set, XLS will first optimize for clock speed, and then find the best possible worst-case throughput within that constraint.

• --worst_case_throughput=... sets the worst-case throughput bound to use when --generator=pipeline. If set, allows scheduling a pipeline with worst-case throughput no slower than once per N cycles (assuming no stalling recvs). If not set, defaults to 1.

  NOTE: If set to 0 or a negative value, no throughput minimum will be enforced.

• --additional_input_delay_ps=... adds additional input delay to the inputs. This can be helpful to meet timing when integrating XLS designs with other RTL. Note that flow-controlled channel operations all have inputs and outputs, so this adds delay to both sends and receives.

• --additional_output_delay_ps=... adds additional output delay to the outputs. This can be helpful to meet timing when integrating XLS designs with other RTL. Note that flow-controlled channel operations all have inputs and outputs, so this adds delay to both sends and receives.

• --ffi_fallback_delay_ps=... Delay of foreign function calls if not otherwise specified. If there is no measurement or configuration for the delay of an invoked modules, this is the value used in the scheduler.

• --io_constraints=... adds constraints to the scheduler. The flag takes a comma-separated list of constraints of the form foo:send:bar:recv:3:5 which means that sends on channel foo must occur between 3 and 5 cycles (inclusive) before receives on channel bar. Note that for a constraint like foo:send:foo:send:3:5, no constraint will be applied between a node and itself; i.e.: this means all different pairs of nodes sending on foo must be in cycles that differ by between 3 and 5. If the special minimum/maximum value none is used, then the minimum latency will be the lowest representable int64_t, and likewise for maximum latency. For an example of the use of this, see this example and the associated BUILD rule.

• explain_infeasibility configures what to do if scheduling fails. If set, the scheduling problem is reformulated with extra slack variables in an attempt to explain why scheduling failed.

• infeasible_per_state_backedge_slack_pool If specified, the specified value must be > 0. Setting this configures how the scheduling problem is reformulated in the case that scheduling fails. If specified, this value will cause the reformulated problem to include per-state backedge slack variables, which increases the complexity. This value scales the objective such that adding slack to the per-state backedge is preferred up until total slack reaches the pool size, after which adding slack to the shared backedge slack variable is preferred. Increasing this value should give more specific information about how much slack each failing backedge needs at the cost of less actionable and harder to understand output.

• --scheduling_options_used_textproto_file is the path to write a textproto containing the actual configuration used for scheduling.

Feedback-driven Optimization (FDO) Options

The following flags control the feedback-driven optimizations in XLS. For now, an iterative SDC scheduling method is implemented, which can take low-level feedbacks (typically from downstream tools, e.g., OpenROAD) to guide the delay estimation refinements in XLS. For now, FDO is disabled by default (--use_fdo=false).

• --use_fdo=true/false Enable FDO. If false, then the --fdo_* options are ignored.
• --fdo_iteration_number=... The number of FDO iterations during the pipeline scheduling. Must be an integer >= 2.
• --fdo_delay_driven_path_number=... The number of delay-driven subgraphs in each FDO iteration. Must be a non-negative integer.
• --fdo_fanout_driven_path_number=... The number of fanout-driven subgraphs in each FDO iteration. Must be a non-negative integer.
• --fdo_refinement_stochastic_ratio=... *path_number over refinement_stochastic_ratio paths are extracted and *path_number paths are randomly selected from them for synthesis in each FDO iteration. Must be a positive float <= 1.0.
• --fdo_path_evaluate_strategy=... Path evaluation strategy for FDO. Supports path, cone, and window.
• --fdo_synthesizer_name=... Name of synthesis backend for FDO. Only supports yosys.
• --fdo_yosys_path=... Absolute path of yosys.
• --fdo_sta_path=... Absolute path of OpenSTA.
• --fdo_synthesis_libraries=... Synthesis and STA libraries.
• --fdo_default_driver_cell=... Cell to assume is driving primary inputs.
• --fdo_default_load=... Cell to assume is being driven by primary outputs.

Naming

Some names can be set at codegen via the following flags:

• --module_name=... sets the name of the generated verilog module.
• --output_port_name=.... sets the name of the output port for functions.
• For functions, --input_valid_signal=... and --output_valid_signal=... adds and sets the name of valid signals when --generator is set to pipeline.
• --manual_load_enable_signal=... adds and sets the name of an input that sets the load-enable signals of each pipeline stage.
• For procs, --streaming_channel_data_suffix=..., --streaming_channel_valid_suffix=..., and --streaming_channel_ready_suffix=... set suffixes to be used on their respective signals in ready/valid channels. For example, --streaming_channel_valid_suffix=_vld for a channel named ABC would result in a valid port called ABC_vld.
• --[no]emit_sv_types sets whether the sv type names set for DSLX structures by the #[sv_type(NAME)] annotation are honored or not.

Reset Signal Configuration

• --reset=... sets the name of the reset signal. If not specified, no reset signal is used.
• --reset_active_low sets if the reset is active low or high. Active high by default.
• --reset_asynchronous sets if the reset is synchronous or asynchronous (synchronous by default).
• --reset_data_path sets if the datapath should also be reset. True by default.

Codegen Mapping

• --use_system_verilog sets if the output should use SystemVerilog constructs such as SystemVerilog array assignments, @always_comb, @always_ff, asserts, covers, etc. True by default.
• --separate_lines causes every subexpression to be emitted on a separate line. False by default.
• --max_inline_depth=N puts a bound on how deeply subexpressions can be nested in a single line. 5 by default; overridden if separate_lines is set, which functionally forces this flag to 1.
• --multi_proc causes every proc to be codegen'd.
• --max_trace_verbosity=N is the maximum verbosity allowed for traces. Traces with higher verbosity are stripped from codegen output. 0 by default.
• --simulation_macro_name=... sets the name of the Verilog macro used to guard simulation-only constructs.

Format Strings

For some XLS ops, flags can override their default codegen behavior via format string. These format strings use placeholders to fill in relevant information.

• --gate_format=... sets the format string for gate! ops. Supported placeholders are:

  - {condition}: Identifier (or expression) of the gate. - {input}: Identifier (or expression) for the data input of the gate. - {output}: Identifier for the output of the gate. - {width}: The bit width of the gate operation.

  For example, consider a format string which instantiates a particular custom AND gate for gating:

  my_and gated_{output} [{width}-1:0] (.Z({output}), .A({condition}), .B({input}))
  

  And the IR gate operation is:

  the_result: bits[32] = gate(the_cond, the_data)

  This results in the following emitted Verilog:

  my_and gated_the_result [32-1:0] (.Z(the_result), .A(the cond), .B(the_data));

  To ensure valid Verilog, the instantiated template must declare a value named {output} (e.g. the_result in the example).

• --assert_format=... sets the format string for assert statements. Supported placeholders are:

  - {message}: Message of the assert operation. - {condition}: Condition of the assert. - {label}: Label of the assert operation. It is an error not to use the label placeholder. - {clk}: Name of the clock signal. It is an error not to use the clk placeholder. - {rst}: Name of the reset signal. It is an error not to use the rst placeholder.

  For example, the format string:

  {label}: `MY_ASSERT({condition}, "{message}")

  could result in the following emitted Verilog:

  my_label: `MY_ASSERT(foo < 8'h42, "Oh noes!");

• --smulp_format=... and --umulp_format=... set the format strings for smulp and umulp ops respectively. These ops perform partial (or split) multiplies. Supported placeholders are:

  - {input0} and {input1}: The two inputs. - {input0_width} and {input1_width}: The width of the two inputs - {output}: Name of the output. Partial multiply IP generally produces two outputs with the property that the sum of the two outputs is the product of the inputs. {output} should be the concatenation of these two outputs. - {output_width}: Width of the output.

  For example, the format string:

  multp #(
      .x_width({input0_width}),
      .y_width({input1_width}),
      .z_width({output_width}>>1)
    ) {output}_inst (
      .x({input0}),
      .y({input1}),
      .z0({output}[({output_width}>>1)-1:0]),
      .z1({output}[({output_width}>>1)*2-1:({output_width}>>1)})])
    );
  

  could result in the following emitted Verilog:

  multp #(
    .x_width(16),
    .y_width(16),
    .z_width(32>>1)
  ) multp_out_inst (
    .x(lhs),
    .y(rhs),
    .z0(multp_out[(32>>1)-1:0]),
    .z1(multp_out[(32>>1)*2-1:(32>>1)])
  );
  

  Note the arithmetic performed on output_width to make the two-output multp block fill the concatenated output expected by XLS.

I/O Behavior

• --flop_inputs and --flop_outputs control if inputs and outputs should be flopped respectively. These flags are only used by the pipeline generator.

  For procs, inputs and outputs are channels with ready/valid signalling and have additional options controlling how inputs and outputs are registered. --flop_inputs_kind=... and --flop_outputs_kind=... flags control what the logic around the outputs and inputs look like respectively. The list below enumerates the possible kinds of output flopping and shows what logic is generated in each case:

  - flop: Adds a pipeline stage at the beginning or end of the block to hold inputs or outputs. This is essentially a single-element FIFO.

  

  - skid: Adds a skid buffer at the inputs or outputs of the block. The skid buffer can hold 2 entries.

  

  - zerolatency: Adds a zero-latency buffer at the beginning or end of the block. This is essentially a single-element FIFO with bypass.

  

• --flop_single_value_channels controls if single-value channels should be flopped.

• --add_idle_output adds an additional output port named idle. idle is the NOR of:

  1. Pipeline registers storing the valid bit for each pipeline stage.

  2. All valid registers stored for the input/output buffers.

  3. All valid signals for the input channels.

• For functions, when --generator is set to pipeline, optional 'valid' logic can be added by using --input_valid_signal=... and --output_valid_signal=..., which also set the names for the valid I/O signals. This logic has no 'ready' signal and thus provides no backpressure. See also Naming.

• See also Reset Signal Configuration.

RAMs (experimental)

XLS has experimental support for using proc channels to drive an external RAM. For an example usage, see this delay implemented with a single-port RAM (modeled here). Note that receives on the response channel must be conditioned on performing a read, otherwise there will be deadlock.

The codegen option --ram_configurations takes a comma-separated list of configurations in the format ram_name:ram_kind[:kind-specific-configuration]. For a 1RW RAM, the format is ram_name:1RW:req_channel_name:resp_channel_name:write_comp_name[:latency], where latency is 1 if unspecified. For a 1RW RAM, there are several requirements these channels must satisfy:

• The request channel must be a tuple type with 4 entries corresponding to (addr, wr_data, we, re). All entries must have type bits, and we and re must be a single bit.
• The response channel must be a tuple type with a single entry corresponding to (rd_data). rd_data must have the same width as wr_data.

Instead of the normal channel ports, the codegen option will produce the following ports:

• {ram_name}_addr
• {ram_name}_wr_data
• {ram_name}_we
• {ram_name}_re
• {ram_name}_rd_data

Note that there are no ready/valid signals as RAMs have fixed latency. There is an internal buffer to catch the response and apply backpressure on requests if needed.

When using --ram_configurations, you should generally add a scheduling constraint via --io_constraints to ensure the request-send and response-receive are scheduled to match the RAM's latency.

Optimization

• --gate_recvs emits logic to gate the data value of a receive operation in Verilog. In the XLS IR, the receive operation has the semantics that the data value is zero when the predicate is false. Moreover, for a non-blocking receive, the data value is zero when the data is invalid. When set to true, the data is gated and has the previously described semantics. However, the latter does utilize more resource/area. Setting this value to false may reduce the resource/area utilization, but may also result in mismatches between IR-level evaluation and Verilog simulation.

• --array_index_bounds_checking: With this option set, an out of bounds array access returns the maximal index element in the array. If this option is not set, the result relies on the semantics of out-of-bounds array access in Verilog which is not well-defined. Setting this option to true may result in more resource/area. Setting this value to false may reduce the resource/area utilization, but may also result in mismatches between IR-level evaluation and Verilog simulation.

• --mutual_exclusion_z3_rlimit controls how hard the mutual exclusion pass will work to attempt to prove that sends and receives are mutually exclusive. Concretely, this roughly limits the number of malloc calls done by the Z3 solver, so the output should be deterministic across machines for a given rlimit.

• --default_next_value_z3_rlimit controls how hard our scheduling passes will work to prove that state params are fully covered by their next_value nodes, so that we can skip special handling for the case where no next_value node triggers. This is purely an optimization; everything will work correctly even if this is disabled (omitted, or set to -1). Concretely, this roughly limits the number of malloc calls done by the Z3 solver, so the output should be deterministic across machines for a given rlimit.

• --register_merge_strategy controls how we merge registers between stages which may be shared. The options are identity which merges registers which can be shared and contain exactly the same value and none which disables register merging. Registers are eligible for merging if the stages they are read in are not simultaneously activatable and the registers are the same type.