71 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
71 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
## Migen (Milkymist generator)
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### a Python toolbox for building complex digital hardware
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Despite being faster than schematics entry, hardware design with Verilog and
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VHDL remains tedious and inefficient for several reasons. The event-driven
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model introduces issues and manual coding that are unnecessary for synchronous
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circuits, which represent the lion's share of today's logic designs. Counter-
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intuitive arithmetic rules result in steeper learning curves and provide a
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fertile ground for subtle bugs in designs. Finally, support for procedural
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generation of logic (metaprogramming) through "generate" statements is very
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limited and restricts the ways code can be made generic, reused and organized.
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To address those issues, we have developed the **Migen FHDL** library that
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replaces the event-driven paradigm with the notions of combinatorial and
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synchronous statements, has arithmetic rules that make integers always behave
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like mathematical integers, and most importantly allows the design's logic to
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be constructed by a Python program. This last point enables hardware designers
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to take advantage of the richness of the Python language - object oriented
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programming, function parameters, generators, operator overloading, libraries,
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etc. - to build well organized, reusable and elegant designs.
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Other Migen libraries are built on FHDL and provide various tools such as a
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system-on-chip interconnect infrastructure, a dataflow programming system, a
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more traditional high-level synthesizer that compiles Python routines into
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state machines with datapaths, and a simulator that allows test benches to be
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written in Python.
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See the doc/ folder for more technical information.
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Code repository:
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https://github.com/m-labs/migen
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System-on-chip design based on Migen:
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https://github.com/m-labs/misoc
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Migen is designed for Python 3.3. Note that Migen is **not** spelled MiGen.
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### Quick intro
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```python
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from migen.fhdl.std import *
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from mibuild.platforms import m1
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plat = m1.Platform()
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led = plat.request("user_led")
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m = Module()
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counter = Signal(26)
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m.comb += led.eq(counter[25])
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m.sync += counter.eq(counter + 1)
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plat.build_cmdline(m)
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```
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### License
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Migen is released under the very permissive two-clause BSD license. Under the
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terms of this license, you are authorized to use Migen for closed-source
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proprietary designs.
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Even though we do not require you to do so, those things are awesome, so please
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do them if possible:
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* tell us that you are using Migen
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* put the Migen logo (doc/migen_logo.svg) on the page of a product using it,
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with a link to http://m-labs.hk
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* cite Migen in publications related to research it has helped
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* send us feedback and suggestions for improvements
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* send us bug reports when something goes wrong
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* send us the modifications and improvements you have done to Migen. The use
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of "git format-patch" is recommended. If your submission is large and
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complex and/or you are not sure how to proceed, feel free to discuss it on
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the mailing list or IRC (#m-labs on Freenode) beforehand.
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See LICENSE file for full copyright and license info. You can contact us on the
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public mailing list devel [AT] lists.m-labs.hk.
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"Electricity! It's like magic!"
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