Which Tool Chains are supported?

The PoC-Library and its Python-based infrastructure currently supports the following free and commercial vendor tool chains:

  • Synthesis Tool Chains:
    • Altera Quartus
      Tested with Quartus-II ≥ 13.0.
      Tested with Quartus Prime ≥ 15.1.
    • Intel Quartus
      Tested with Quartus Prime ≥ 16.1.
    • Lattice Diamond
      Tested with Diamond ≥ 3.6.
    • Xilinx ISE
      Only ISE 14.7 inclusive Core Generator 14.7 is supported.
    • Xilinx PlanAhead
      Only PlanAhead 14.7 is supported.
    • Xilinx Vivado
      Tested with Vivado ≥ 2015.4.
      Due to a limited VHDL language support compared to ISE 14.7, some PoC IP cores need special work arounds. See the synthesis documention section for Vivado for more details.
  • Simulation Tool Chains:
    • Aldec Active-HDL
      Tested with Active-HDL (or Student-Edition) ≥ 10.3
      Tested with Active-HDL Lattice Edition ≥ 10.2
    • Cocotb with Mentor QuestaSim backend
      Tested with Mentor QuestaSim 10.4d
    • Mentor Graphics ModelSim
      Tested with ModelSim PE (or Student Edition) ≥ 10.5c
      Tested with ModelSim SE ≥ 10.5c
      Tested with ModelSim Altera Edition 10.3d (or Starter Edition)
    • Mentor Graphics QuestaSim/ModelSim
      Tested with Mentor QuestaSim ≥ 10.4d
    • Xilinx ISE Simulator
      Tested with ISE Simulator (iSim) 14.7.
      The Python infrastructure supports isim, but PoC’s simulation helper packages and testbenches rely on VHDL-2008 features, which are not supported by isim.
    • Xilinx Vivado Simulator
      Tested with Vivado Simulator (xsim) ≥ 2016.3.
      The Python infrastructure supports xsim, but PoC’s simulation helper packages and testbenches rely on VHDL-2008 features, which are not fully supported by xsim, yet.
    • GHDL + GTKWave
      Tested with GHDL ≥ 0.34dev and GTKWave ≥ 3.3.70
      Due to ungoing development and bugfixes, we encourage to use the newest GHDL version.