[Libre-soc-dev] pia as cycle accurate simulator?

[Lauri Kasanen]

On Thu, 15 Oct 2020 12:31:59 +0100
Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton <lkcl at lkcl.net> wrote:

> On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 7:45 AM Lauri Kasanen <cand at gmx.com> wrote:
> > I'd like to repeat my request for the simulator to be based on
> > something existing (qemu, pearpc, etc) in C/C++.
>
> ok, noted.  personally i agree with you: my experience with spike was
> that it was really straightforrward.  here's where things stand:
>
> * qemu is not cycle-accurate, it's a JIT.  it's flat-out eliminated on
> this basis alone.
> * pearpc is nowhere near complete (64-bit) and is in c
> * IBM's simulator *is* complete, it's in c, it's proprietary, but IBM
> would, if asked, actually consider opening it.
> * gem5 power branch is still experimental, and is... quite hairy to
> work with.  it's in c++.
> * pia is not a simulator (no way to "execute" instructions) and would
> be a big project.
> * ISAcaller - part of LibreSOC - "does the job", is cycle-accurate, in
> python is relatively slow, however has the advantage of being
> co-developed with the HDL.
>
> so those are the options, none of them particularly attractive.

I recall Dolphin and Sheepshaver were also mentioned before.

- Lauri