Using a Test Bench for IP - 2022.2 English

Vivado Design Suite User Guide: Designing with IP (UG896)

Document ID
UG896
Release Date
2022-11-02
Version
2022.2 English

Many IP in the IP catalog also deliver a test bench for simulating the IP standalone. If an IP delivers a test bench, you see it listed as an output product in the Generate Output Product dialog box, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 1. Test Bench Output Product

To use the test bench provided by the IP, in the Sources window, find the IP in the hierarchy in the Simulation Sources section and expand the IP hierarchy.

The files in the Hierarchy tab of the sources window display as shown in the following figure.

Figure 2. Expanding the IP Hierarchy

Note: Files are red are because an OOC Synthesis has yet to be run.

Click OK to expand the hierarchy. Find and select the IP test bench, named tb_<ip_name>, then right-click and select Set as Top.

In the Flow Navigator select Run Simulation or use the launch_simulation command in the Tcl Console to launch the simulator on the new top-level of the design, which is the simulation test bench for the IP.

Note: You can look at the current simulation settings by clicking on Settings and then navigating to the Simulation section. Here you see the simulation top-module name, which should match the IP test bench that you set. You can also change the simulator setting here, which affects the behavior of the Run Simulation button.