A Novel HDL Code Generator for Effectively Testing FPGA Logic Synthesis Compilers

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Xu, Zhihao, Guo, Shikai, Zhao, Guilin, Zou, Peiyu, Li, Xiaochen, Jiang, He
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Xu, Zhihao
Guo, Shikai
Zhao, Guilin
Zou, Peiyu
Li, Xiaochen
Jiang, He
author_facet Xu, Zhihao
Guo, Shikai
Zhao, Guilin
Zou, Peiyu
Li, Xiaochen
Jiang, He
contents Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) logic synthesis compilers (e.g., Vivado, Iverilog, Yosys, and Quartus) are widely applied in Electronic Design Automation (EDA), such as the development of FPGA programs.However, defects (i.e., incorrect synthesis) in logic synthesis compilers may lead to unexpected behaviors in target applications, posing security risks. Therefore, it is crucial to thoroughly test logic synthesis compilers to eliminate such defects.Despite several Hardware Design Language (HDL) code generators (e.g., Verismith) have been proposed to find defects in logic synthesis compilers, the effectiveness of these generators is still limited by the simple code generation strategy and the monogeneity of the generated HDL code.This paper proposes LegoHDL, a novel method to generate syntax valid HDL code for comprehensively testing FPGA logic synthesis compilers.LegoHDL can generate more complex and diverse defect-trigger HDL code (e.g., Verilog, VHDL, and SystemVerilog) by leveraging the guidance of abstract syntax tree and the extensive function block libraries of cyber-physical systems. Extensive experiments show that the diversity and defect-trigger capability of HDL code generated by LegoHDL are significantly better than the state-of-the-art method (i.e., Verismith).In three months, LegoHDL has reported 20 new defects--many of which are deep and important; 16 of them have been confirmed.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_12037
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Novel HDL Code Generator for Effectively Testing FPGA Logic Synthesis Compilers
Xu, Zhihao
Guo, Shikai
Zhao, Guilin
Zou, Peiyu
Li, Xiaochen
Jiang, He
Hardware Architecture
Software Engineering
Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) logic synthesis compilers (e.g., Vivado, Iverilog, Yosys, and Quartus) are widely applied in Electronic Design Automation (EDA), such as the development of FPGA programs.However, defects (i.e., incorrect synthesis) in logic synthesis compilers may lead to unexpected behaviors in target applications, posing security risks. Therefore, it is crucial to thoroughly test logic synthesis compilers to eliminate such defects.Despite several Hardware Design Language (HDL) code generators (e.g., Verismith) have been proposed to find defects in logic synthesis compilers, the effectiveness of these generators is still limited by the simple code generation strategy and the monogeneity of the generated HDL code.This paper proposes LegoHDL, a novel method to generate syntax valid HDL code for comprehensively testing FPGA logic synthesis compilers.LegoHDL can generate more complex and diverse defect-trigger HDL code (e.g., Verilog, VHDL, and SystemVerilog) by leveraging the guidance of abstract syntax tree and the extensive function block libraries of cyber-physical systems. Extensive experiments show that the diversity and defect-trigger capability of HDL code generated by LegoHDL are significantly better than the state-of-the-art method (i.e., Verismith).In three months, LegoHDL has reported 20 new defects--many of which are deep and important; 16 of them have been confirmed.
title A Novel HDL Code Generator for Effectively Testing FPGA Logic Synthesis Compilers
topic Hardware Architecture
Software Engineering
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.12037