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Home > FPGA Technical Tutorials > Designing with Xilinx FPGAs Using Vivado > Emulation Using FPGAs > Types of Emulators

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Types of Emulators

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1. Array of simulation - specififi c processors ( Cadence Palladium series ): Array of  processors whose instruction set and software is tailored to simulation tasks. One  set of such arrays is called a board . Each processor on the board can simulate  millions of gates in parallel. Furthermore, each processor on the board talks to  other processors via a fifi xed (specififi c) protocol.   

2. Array of FPGAs (Synopsys ZeBu series): Array of FPGAs. Each FPGA can have  mapped gates programmed into it. Each FPGA in the Array usually has dedicated wiring with other FPGAs.

Cascading 4 processorsFPGAs to build a larger emulation system.png

3. A hybrid array of both simulation - specififi c processors and FPGAs (Mentor  Veloce series) .

For large designs boards in an emulator can be cascaded. To better utilize the  components in the emulator, there are partitions possible which enable multiple  users to simultaneously access the resources of the emulator.

Since emulators comprise of hardware components, it is possible to connect the  emulator to real external targets like JTAG, UART, QSPI, I2C, etc. The JTAG and  UART are used by the software team to do hardware-software co-design and debug  at the programmers view level.

Figure 18.1 illustrates an FPGA or processor array-based emulator system with  multiple user terminals, standard connectors, IOs, and a backplane to cascade multiple such boards. Multiple users can then use the emulator boards for improving  resource utilization.

Uses of Emulation/Prototyping

Substitute for simulation : This is the most obvious usage. In practice, however,  emulation is resorted to only after the RTL design reaches a certain level of maturity. A not-so-mature RTL design will fifi nd iterative debug to be diffifi cult, due to  limited observability and controllability of emulation.

Enabling pre-silicon software development : Once the RTL is reasonably mature,  the software teams can use the emulator for developing BOOTROM, Software  (UBOOT, Linux, Android, RTOS, UEFI), Device Drivers (BSP), etc. Doing so provides several months of lead time to the software teams. This enables the software  components to be available and ready for use, immediately after the device silicon  is available.

Silicon Evaluation Board with a socket being interposed with FPGA-based emulator.png


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