Simulating Triple Speed Ethernet, Decryption Fails

HI,

1. May I know which FPGA product that you are using here ?
2. Can you share with me your TSE IP QSYS design file so that I know what setting that you are using in order to duplicate this sim issue ?
3. May I know which Cadence Xcelium version that you use ? Based on TSE user guide, by right there should be another ./cadence or ./xcelium sim folder that you can use
4. Also, have you try with latest Quartus version like Quartus Standard v19.1 to see if it helps to resolve issue ?

Thanks.

Regards,

dlim

Hi thanks for getting back to me-

1. We are using a Cyclone V, 5CEFA9F31I7
2. There was not a Qsys file. I did not use platform designer. I used the IP megawizard to generate the IP. So I generated it again using the platform designer. The results are the same. This system will not allow me to upload a Qsys file, so I had to add a .txt extension to it, hopefully it will remain useable when you remove that extension.
3. We are using Xcelium 19.09. Yes I agree, I expected a ./Cadence and a ./Xcelium within the /Submodules directory. There is a ./cadence under the following path tse_testbench/testbench_verilog/tse_sim/cadence, however it only contains the cds.lib files and not the actual component submodules which I would expect to find under tse_testbench/testbench_verilog/tse_sim/submodules.
4. Yes, I did install v19.1 and had the same results.

Thank you for your help.

Travis

HI Travis,

Thanks for sharing all the info.

Let me try to duplicate the sim run issue from my side.

Thanks.

Regards,

dlim

HI Travis,

I think I figure out what's the issue now.

I cross check Quartus release note doc and found out Xcelium sim tool is only supported in Quartus Pro edition and not supported in Quartus Standard edition.

Attached is the screenshot of Quartus release note doc vs TSE sim model generated in example design.

• I used Quartus v19.1 standard edition to generate Cyclone V TSE example design
• Then I used Quartus v19.1 pro edition to generate Arria 10 TSE example design

Yet, Cyclone V is not supported in Quartus Pro edition as it's older generation FPGA.

So, I am afraid I need to ask you to switch to other simulation tool since you are using Cyclone V FPGA. if you are able to upgrade to newer generation FPGA like Arria 10 or Stratix 10, then it's fine to use Xcelium.

Thanks.

Regards,

dlim

Thank you for taking the time to look into this. Unfortunately switching FPGAs is not an option nor is switching simulation tools. Both are VERY expensive.

However, There is still one avenue to look into. According to the tables you posted Cadence Incisive should still be supported. Xcelium is backward compatible with Incisive. So if those files were present I could use them. But they are not generated, so something is still not right. Can you try to find out why the Cadence Incisive submodules are not generated?

Thanks again.

Travis

Hi Travis,

Sorry, I am not familiar with Cadence simulator tool. I checked Intel internal license. What we used is called Cadence NCSIM and when I launched the GUI, it showed as NClaunch.

• The sim model files is available in \eth_tse_0_testbench\testbench_verilog\eth_tse_0_testbench_sim\cadence\

Like wise, there is another "free" simulator that I can think of which comes together when you purchased Quartus license which is the "Modelsim Intel FPGA starter edition"

Thanks.

Regards,

dlim

Hello Dlim, This is not a Cadence Problem it is a Quartus problem so you don't need to know anything about Cadence; I'll start over.

I am using Quartus Prime Standard, because I am using Cyclone V, which is not supported in Quartus Prime Pro.

The Triple Speed Ethernet submodules are encrypted. I'm not talking about the testbench model files, referenced in your last post. Those are not encrypted.

Cadence Incisive or NCLaunch (same thing) is listed as a supported simulator for the Ethernet IP (shown in your previous post).

When the IP is generated there is a /submodules directory containing all the encrypted components of the Ethernet broken out by simulator ./Aldec and ./Mentor but nothing for Cadence.

Cadence cannot decrypt files that are encrypted for Mentor or for Aldec (as far as I can tell, decryption fails when I try it).

So my question again is, Why are the Cadence submodules not generated and how can I get them?

HI Travis,

It's good to clarify the problem statement again.

1. Now we are aligned that Cadence NCSIM or NCLaunch is the right sim tool to use
2. Regarding your question on "Why are the Cadence submodules not generated and how can I get them ?"

• This is the part that confused me. I used Quartus v19.1 standard edition to open up your earlier TSE QSYS design file, generate verilog sim model design files and I can see that cadence sim submodules design files are generated as per attached pic. These are cadence encrypted design files, not Mentor or Aldec
  • Are you saying you faced some issue in generating "cadence sim submodules design file ?" where you see different outcome as compare to my screenshot pic ? Can you show me your screen shot to highlight the issue to me ?
  • Or you managed to generate "cadence sim submodules design file" but faced problem compiling these design in Cadence NCSIM ? Then can you show me the error log ?

Thanks.

Regards,

dlim

Ok now we are getting somewhere. My submodules folder does not contain all the files that yours does.

The next post shows what the Quartus Generated /submodules folder looks like on my system.

Note that there is nothing for Cadence.

I have tried Quartus Standard 18.0,19.1 even 16 but none of them generated the Cadence folder on my laptop (Windows 10).

Do you have any ideas?

Possibly I could get them from you directly through a dropbox or something like that?