Changing the Bitstream File Format Settings - 2021.1 English

Vivado Design Suite User Guide Programming and Debugging (UG908)

Document ID
UG908
Release Date
2021-06-16
Version
2021.1 English

By default, the write_bitstream Tcl command generates a binary bitstream (.bit) file only. You can optionally change the file formats written out by the write_bitstream Tcl command by using the following command switches:

  • -raw_bitfile: (Optional) This switch causes write_bitstream to write a raw bit file (.rbt), which contains the same information as the binary bitstream file, but is in ASCII format. The output file is named filename .rbt.
  • -mask_file: (Optional) Write a mask file (.msk), which has mask data where the configuration data is in the bitstream file. This file determines which bits in the bitstream should be compared to readback data for verification purposes. If a mask bit is 0, that bit should be verified against the bitstream data. If a mask bit is 1, that bit should not be verified. The output file is named file .msk.
  • -no_binary_bitfile: (Optional) Do not write the binary bitstream file (.bit). Use this command when you want to generate the ASCII bitstream or mask file, or to generate a bitstream report, without generating the binary bitstream file.
  • -logic_location_file: (Optional) Creates an ASCII logic location file (.ll) that shows the bitstream position of latches, flip-flops, LUTs, Block RAMs, and I/O block inputs and outputs. Bits are referenced by frame and bit number in the location file to help you observe the contents of FPGA registers.
  • -bin_file: (Optional) Creates a binary file (.bin) containing only device programming data, without the header information found in the standard bitstream file (.bit).
  • -reference_bitfile <arg>: (Optional) Read a reference bitstream file, and output an incremental bitstream file containing only the differences from the specified reference file. This partial bitstream file can be used for incrementally programming an existing device with an updated design.