Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs: User Guide

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ID 784383
Date 9/29/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
1. About This Document 2. Intel® Simics® Simulator and Virtual Platforms 3. Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs Device Portfolio 4. Installing the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs 5. Getting Started with Intel® Simics® Simulator 6. Debugging Target Software 7. Networking with the Simulated Target System 8. Intel® Simics® Scripting 9. Software Debug Examples with Intel® Simics® Simulator 10. Document Revision History for Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera FPGAs User Guide A. Intel® Simics® Simulator Command Reference
1. About This Document x
1.1. Documentation Conventions for Examples 1.2. Terminology 1.3. List of Acronyms
2. Intel® Simics® Simulator and Virtual Platforms x
2.1. Device Model and Virtual Platforms 2.2. Intel® Simics® Simulator 2.3. Intel® Simics® Simulator Architecture
2.2. Intel® Simics® Simulator x
2.2.1. Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs Capabilities
4. Installing the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs x
4.1. Installing the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs on Linux* Systems 4.2. Installing the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs on Microsoft Windows* Systems 4.3. Installing Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera® FPGAs 4.4. Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs Support
5. Getting Started with Intel® Simics® Simulator x
5.1. Simulation Set Up 5.2. Starting the Simulation 5.3. Intel® Simics® Simulator Command-Line Interface (CLI) 5.4. Hardware Inspection 5.5. Intel® Simics® Simulator Timing
5.1. Simulation Set Up x
5.1.1. Initializing an Intel® Simics® Project and Deploying a Virtual Platform 5.1.2. Understanding Target Scripts
5.2. Starting the Simulation x
5.2.1. Starting a Simulation from a Command Prompt 5.2.2. Starting a Simulation with Ashling* RiscFree* IDE
5.3. Intel® Simics® Simulator Command-Line Interface (CLI) x
5.3.1. Version of the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs Software 5.3.2. Simulation Run Control from CLI 5.3.3. Intel® Simics® Simulator Command Scope 5.3.4. Intel® Simics® Simulator CLI Variables and Operations 5.3.5. Intel® Simics® Simulator CLI Command Completion and Command History 5.3.6. Intel® Simics® Command-Line Interface Help 5.3.7. Capture of CLI Session to a File 5.3.8. Intel® Simics® Simulator File Location and Intel® Simics® Search Path
5.4. Hardware Inspection x
5.4.1. Listing Objects in the Target System 5.4.2. Processor (CPU) Inspection 5.4.3. Device Inspection 5.4.4. Memory Mapping and Memory Inspection 5.4.5. Logging
5.4.2. Processor (CPU) Inspection x
5.4.2.1. Listing Processors 5.4.2.2. Inspect Processor Registers
5.4.3. Device Inspection x
5.4.3.1. Retrieve List of Devices 5.4.3.2. Inspecting Device Registers
5.4.4. Memory Mapping and Memory Inspection x
5.4.4.1. Memory Mapping Inspection 5.4.4.2. Memory Inspection
5.4.5. Logging x
5.4.5.1. Breakpoints on CLI Log Messages
5.5. Intel® Simics® Simulator Timing x
5.5.1. CPU Frequency 5.5.2. CPU Cycles and Steps 5.5.3. Events 5.5.4. Enable Real Time
6. Debugging Target Software x
6.1. Intel® Simics® Debugger and Debug Context 6.2. Capturing Serial Console Output 6.3. Breakpoints 6.4. Debugging Target Software with Symbol Files 6.5. Debugging Target Software with Ashling* RiscFree* Debugger 6.6. Capturing CPU Instruction Execution Trace
6.3. Breakpoints x
6.3.1. Memory Breakpoints 6.3.2. Temporal Breakpoints 6.3.3. CPU Control Register Breakpoints 6.3.4. Hardware Access Breakpoints 6.3.5. CPU Register Breakpoints 6.3.6. Tracing Breakpoints 6.3.7. Text Console Activity Breakpoints
6.4. Debugging Target Software with Symbol Files x
6.4.1. Loading Symbol Files in a Simulation
6.5. Debugging Target Software with Ashling* RiscFree* Debugger x
6.5.1. Remote Debugging with RiscFree* IDE
6.5.1. Remote Debugging with RiscFree* IDE x
6.5.1.1. Remote Debugging With Intel® Simics® Simulation and RiscFree* IDE on the Same System 6.5.1.2. Remote Debugging With Intel® Simics® Simulation and RiscFree* IDE on Different Systems 6.5.1.3. Remote Access to the Target System Serial Console
7. Networking with the Simulated Target System x
7.1. Network Simulation and Service Node 7.2. Connectivity Between Host PC and Target System
7.2. Connectivity Between Host PC and Target System x
7.2.1. Port Forwarding 7.2.2. Transferring Files Between Host PC and Target System 7.2.3. Accessing Target System from Host PC Through HTTP 7.2.4. Networking Commands Reference Table
7.2.1. Port Forwarding x
7.2.1.1. Incoming Port Forwarding 7.2.1.2. Outgoing Port Forwarding
7.2.1.1. Incoming Port Forwarding x
7.2.1.1.1. Example of an SSH Connection with Incoming Port Forwarding
7.2.1.2. Outgoing Port Forwarding x
7.2.1.2.1. Example of SSH Connection With Outgoing Port Forwarding 7.2.1.2.2. Example of SSH Connection via NAPT
7.2.2. Transferring Files Between Host PC and Target System x
7.2.2.1. Transferring Files with SCP service 7.2.2.2. Transferring Files with TFTP service
7.2.2.1. Transferring Files with SCP service x
7.2.2.1.1. Transferring Files With SCP Service via Forwarding Ports 7.2.2.1.2. Transferring Files with SCP from Target System to Host PC via NAPT
7.2.2.2. Transferring Files with TFTP service x
7.2.2.2.1. TFTP Using Forwarding Port 7.2.2.2.2. TFTP via NAPT 7.2.2.2.3. TFTP Using TFTP Server in Intel® Simics® Service Node
8. Intel® Simics® Scripting x
8.1. Scripts in CLI
8.1. Scripts in CLI x
8.1.1. Variables 8.1.2. Command Return Values 8.1.3. Control Flow Commands 8.1.4. Local Variables 8.1.5. Integer Conversion 8.1.6. Accessing Configuration Parameters 8.1.7. Error Handling in Scripts 8.1.8. Script Branches
8.1.8. Script Branches x
8.1.8.1. Script Branches Commands 8.1.8.2. Variables in Script Branches 8.1.8.3. Branch Synchronization 8.1.8.4. Canceling Script Branches 8.1.8.5. Script Branches Restrictions
9. Software Debug Examples with Intel® Simics® Simulator x
9.1. Debugging Linux* User-Mode Application
9.1. Debugging Linux* User-Mode Application x
9.1.1. Debugging a Linux Application with GDB 9.1.2. Debugging a Linux Application with RiscFree* IDE
9.1.1. Debugging a Linux Application with GDB x
9.1.1.1. Debugging with GDB Debug from Host PC Using Forwarding Ports 9.1.1.2. Debugging with GDB from Host PC with Intel® Simics® Simulator GDB Server
1. About This Document
2. Intel® Simics® Simulator and Virtual Platforms
3. Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs Device Portfolio
4. Installing the Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera® FPGAs
5. Getting Started with Intel® Simics® Simulator
6. Debugging Target Software
7. Networking with the Simulated Target System
8. Intel® Simics® Scripting
9. Software Debug Examples with Intel® Simics® Simulator
10. Document Revision History for Intel® Simics® Simulator for Altera FPGAs User Guide
A. Intel® Simics® Simulator Command Reference

A. Intel® Simics® Simulator Command Reference

The following sections list the Intel® Simics® simulator commands that were described in this document.

The text between < > indicates the type of object used to call the command (local scope command).

Intel® Simics® Simulator Help

help help help
help-search list-commands
api-help version

Simulation Control

run; r continue; c
stop stepi; si
step-cycle step-instruction

Hardware Inspection

list-objects  
Hardware Inspection - Processor
list-processors processor-status
<processor>.info <processor>.print-processor-registers; pregs
<processor>.read-reg <processor>.status
<processor>.write-reg %<processor reg>
psel
Hardware Inspection – Device Inspection
devs get-device-reg
get-device-offset print-device-regs
print-device-reg-info set-device-offset
set-device-reg write-device-offset
write-device-reg read-device-offset
read-device-reg
Hardware Inspection – Memory Inspection
<memory_space>.get; get <memory_space>.info
<memory_space>.load-file <memory_space>.load-binary
<memory_space>.log-level <memory_space>.map
<memory_space>.memory_map <memory_space>.read
<memory_space>.set; set <memory_space>.write
probe-address  

Time Control

disable-real-time-mode enable-real-time-mode
list-processors <processor>.info
<processor>.status <processor>.set-step-rate
ptime run # cycles,steps,us,ps,ns,ms
step-cycle stepi
step-instruction

Debug Target Software

add-pathmap-entry add-symbol-file
context-query-for-object debug-context
<debug context>.list <debug context>.next-instruction
<debug context>.next-line <debug context>.stack-trace
<debug context>.sym-address <debug context>.sym-type
<debug context>.sym-value <debug context>.sym-write
disable-debugger down
enable-debugger finish-function
frame list-debug-contexts
list-sections list-segments
remove-symbol-file show-memorymap
step-line up
start-eclipse-backend new-tracer-tool

Breakpoints

<bp manager>.bank.break <bp manager>.bank.run-until
<bp manager>.bank.trace <bp manager>.bank.wait-for
<bp manager>.console_string.break <bp manager>.control_register.break
<bp manager>.control_register.trace <bp manager>.cycle.break
<bp manager>.delete <bp manager>.list
<bp manager>.log.break <bp manager>.memory.trace
<bp manager>.memory.break <bp manager>.source_location.break
<bp manager>.show <bp manager>.source_location.trace
<bp manager>.source_line.break <bp manager>.step.break
<bp manager>.source_location.run-until <object>.regs.bp-break-bank
<bp manager>.source_location.wait-for <object>.regs.bp-trace-bank
<bp manager>.time.break <processor>.bp-break-cycle
<object>.regs.bp-run-until-bank <processor>.bp-break-step
<object>.regs.bp-wait-for-bank <processor>.break-register
<processor>.bp-break-control-register <text console>.con.bp-break-console-string
<processor>.bp-break-time  

Log Control

echo log-level
log-setup log-type
output-radix start-command-line-capture
stop-command-line-capture <SerialConsole>.con.capture-start
<SerialConsole>.con.capture-stop <SerialConsole>.con.save-to-file

File Handling

pwd ls
cd cat
%simics% %script%
add-directory clear-directories
list-directories lookup-file
resolve-file

Networking

connect-real-network connect-real-network-napt
connect-real-network-port-in connect-real-network-port-out
disconnect-real-network list-port-forwarding-setup
service_node_cmp0.arp service_node_cmp0.list-host-info
service_node_cmp0.log-level service_node_cmp0.sn.info
service_node_cmp0.sn.status

Scripting in CLI

$variable local $variable
if if-else
if-else if-else while
foreach signed
atoi bits
int-to-*-float bin
dec hex
oct sim->
try-except get-error-message
get-error-line get-error-file
get-error-command script-branch
wait-for-* list-script-branches
interrupt-script-branch run-command-file
run-python-file create-script-barrier
wait-for-script-barrier script-barrier-limit
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