VHDL Hardware Model interface

ModelSim VHDL interfaces to a hardware model through a foreign architecture. The foreign architecture contains a foreign attribute string that associates a specific hardware model with the architecture. On elaboration of the foreign architecture, the simulator automatically loads the hardware modeler software and establishes communication with the specific hardware model.

The ModelSim software locates the hardware modeler interface software based on entries in the modelsim.ini initialization file. The simulator and the hm_entity tool (for creating foreign architectures) both depend on these entries being set correctly. These entries are found under the [lmc] section of the default modelsim.ini file located in the ModelSim installation directory. The default settings are as follows:

[lmc]
; ModelSim's interface to Logic Modeling's hardware modeler SFI software
libhm = $MODEL_TECH/libhm.sl
; ModelSim's interface to Logic Modeling's hardware modeler SFI software (Windows NT)
; libhm = $MODEL_TECH/libhm.dll
;  Logic Modeling's hardware modeler SFI software (HP 9000 Series 700)
; libsfi = <sfi_dir>/lib/hp700/libsfi.sl
;  Logic Modeling's hardware modeler SFI software (IBM RISC System/6000)
; libsfi = <sfi_dir>/lib/rs6000/libsfi.a
;  Logic Modeling's hardware modeler SFI software (Sun4 Solaris)
; libsfi = <sfi_dir>/lib/sun4.solaris/libsfi.so
;  Logic Modeling's hardware modeler SFI software (Window NT)
; libsfi = <sfi_dir>/lib/pcnt/lm_sfi.dll 

The libhm entry points to the ModelSim dynamic link library that interfaces the foreign architecture to the hardware modeler software. The libsfi entry points to the Logic Modeling dynamic link library software that accesses the hardware modeler. The simulator automatically loads both the libhm and libsfi libraries when it elaborates a hardware model foreign architecture.

By default, the libhm entry points to the libhm.sl supplied in the ModelSim installation directory indicated by the MODEL_TECH environment variable. ModelSim automatically sets the MODEL_TECH environment variable to the appropriate directory containing the executables and binaries for the current operating system. If you are running the Windows operating system, then you must comment out the default libhm entry (precede the line with the ";" character) and uncomment the libhm entry for the Windows operating system.

Uncomment the appropriate libsfi entry for your operating system, and replace <sfi_dir> with the path to the hardware modeler software installation directory. In addition, you must set the LM_LIB and LM_DIR environment variables as described in the Logic Modeling documentation.

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