Step 7: Running Functional Simulation with SAIF Output - 2020.2 English

Vivado Design Suite Tutorial: Power Analysis and Optimization (UG997)

Document ID
UG997
Release Date
2020-11-18
Version
2020.2 English

Now that you have created a Vivado Design Suite project for the tutorial design, you can set up and launch the Vivado simulator to run post-synthesis functional simulation. Simulation will generate a switching activity values file (SAIF) that will enable you to do more accurate power estimation on your design.

  1. In the Flow Navigator, click Settings to open the Project Settings dialog box and set the simulation properties in Simulation section.
  2. In the Simulation section of Project Settings dialog box, note that the following Simulation defaults are automatically set for you based on the design files:
    • Simulator language: Mixed
    • Simulation set: sim_1
    • Simulation top-module name: testbench
  3. In the Elaboration tab of Simulation section, make sure the xsim.elaborate.debug_level is set to typical, which is the default value.

  4. In the Simulation tab enter the SAIF file name as power_tutorial_func.saif for xsim.simulate.saif. Observe that the xsim.simulate.runtime is 1000 ns.
  5. Click OK.

    With the simulation settings properly configured, you can launch the Vivado simulator to perform a post-synthesis functional simulation of the design.

    Note: The power reporting and analysis are not performed at the RTL level. They are performed at the gate level.
  6. In the Flow Navigator, click Run Simulation > Run Post-Synthesis Functional Simulation.

    When you launch the Run Post-Synthesis Functional Simulation command, the Vivado simulator is invoked to run the simulation.



    After the simulation completes, click x at the top right corner to close the simulation window.