Arilla

Arilla - Computer Architecture project, spring 2021.

About

The project was about running Paint on a Cyclone III FPGA. This included:

• a RISC-V (rv32i) CPU,
• a C program compiled using GCC,
• a GPU (outputting on a VGA display) with the ability to draw a pixel, line or square,
• a module for communication with SDRAM (within the GPU),
• a PS/2 mouse controller, and
• additional tools.

You can read additional information under folders for each of these components.

Development tools

• Quartus 13.1 Web Edition (developing for the FPGA)
• ModelSim-Altera Starter Edition (simulating and debugging our components)
• Code::Blocks (C program development)
• RARS and Compiler Explorer (RISC-V core debugging)

Best practices

The following are best practices when developing components for Arilla - they allow easier simulation through ModelSim and make development more consistent:

• Single bit constant signals should not be named 0 and 1, but zero and one instead.
  • 0 and 1 are reserved VHDL characters.
• Signals should not be named IN or OUT, but I and O.
  • Similarly to the above.
• Identifiers must begin with a letter and should end with a letter (ending with a digit is allowed but discouraged).
• When generating components, generate them in the components folder from the components project and make sure they are included in that project.
• Generate megafunctions using VHDL and only generate required files (.vhd and .bsf).
• Microcode memory initialization (.mif) files should be placed in the mic folder while .vhd asynchronous ROM files belong to folder of the project in which they are used.

Documentation

• DE0 User Manual
• Cyclone III Device Handbook