This is a small out-of-order RISC-V core written in synthesizable Verilog that supports the RV64IC unprivileged ISA and parts of the privileged ISA, namely M-mode.
- It currently supports RISC-V I extension
- It currently supports M mode
- It's a double issue architecture
- It supports scalar register renaming
- It currently supports only in-order issue from the issue queue
- It has a ROB to do in-order committment
- When an exception or an interrupt happens, the ROB will be responsible of when to trigger flush
- It supports dynamic branch prediction(gshare)
- It support out-of-order execution
- nonblocking cache
1. Fetch
Instructions are fetched from Icache and pushed into a FIFO queue, known as the instruction buffer(fetch buffer) . Looking up the branch target buffer also occurs in this stage, redirecting the fetched instructions as necessary
F0 stage:
PC_gen will generate the correct PC, the pirority is :*Backend-end redirct target -> predicted PC -> PC+4*.
Meanwhile, Let PC do hashing with BHR, and get the hash index for Gshare.
F1 stage:
Sent the PC to Icache for instruction request
Do*pc+4*
Use PC to index a BTB entry and get*pc_pred.*
Use the hash value to index Gshare and get*taken or not-taken*.
F2 stage:
The response from Icache is put into a FIFO instruction buffer
Sent*pc+4* to the PC_gen
In Redirct logic, if Gshare predicts taken, it will sent pc_pred to PC_gen. Otherwise, pc_gen makes no sense.
2. Decode
F3 stage
In this stage, it pulls instructions out of the instruction buffer and generates the appropriate micro-op($\mu$op) to place into the pipeline
- decode <=2 instruction per cycle
3. Issue
F4 stage
The ISA, or “logical”, register specifiers (e.g. x0-x31) are then*renamed* into “physical” register specifiers
Every instruction will do dependency check with its previous instruction to decide whether instructions will be double issued.
$\mu$op sitting in the head of ROB wait until all of their source registers are ready and they can read their operand then be issued. This is the beginning of the out–of–order piece of the pipeline.
- Double issue conditions:
- There is no dependency between the two instructions
- Function units are both ready
- Only arithemetic and load/store instructions can be double issued. (excluding conditional,csr, wfi etc.)
4. Execute F5 stage Instructions enter the Execute stage where the functional units reside. Issued ALU operations perform their calculation and get results.
For load&store instruction, first the address are calculated and put into the FIFO load/store queue. The instrution at the head of the queue sends request to Dcache if Dcache is ready.
5. Wrieback F6 stage results are written back to physical registers when completing instruction and update ROB status
- About branch prediction If it's a branch instruction, the result will update Gshare and GHR. If it's mispredicted, the instruction buffer will be flushed, and instructions will be fetched from the other path.
6. Instruction commit The Reorder Buffer (ROB), tracks the status of each instruction in the pipeline. When the head of the ROB is not-busy, the ROB commits the instruction.
- instructions will be commited in order in ROB according to program order, at most 2 instructions can be commited at the same time
Select the current pc address, whether it comes from a jump instruction or whether to judge branch in BTB and gshare or whether it comes from an exception. The default value is pc+4.
Instructions from Icache are put into the instruction buffer.
Perform pc+4 or use the pc from other places.
- content
- input/output
-
signal I/O width description interaction is_req_pc I 1 judge if btb need wirte in fu btb_req_pc I 32 btb needed pc fu btb_predict_target I 32 btb needed target pc fu prev_pc I 32 pc to gshare fu prev_branch_in I 1 if this pc is a branch or jump fu prev_taken I 1 if this branch is taken fu rd_en I 1 decode is ready and want a instruction decoder pc_out O 32 a pc out decoder next_pc_out O 32 this pc out plus 4 decoder instruction_out O 32 this pc's instruction decoder valid_real_branch I 1 if fu give a valid real branch fu real_branch I 32 this real branch or jump branch pc fu trap I 1 judge trap writeback mret I 1 judge mret writeback trap_vector I 32 vector of trap csr mret_vector I 32 vector of mret csr stall I 1 if need stall hazard invalidate I 1 if is invalidate hazard fetch_address O 32 pc address busio fetch_data I 32 instruction busio exception_valid_o O 1 exception valid csr ecause_o O 1 exception cause csr
instructions first go into the BTB, if there is a hit, pc = pc_from_btb; if match fail, PC = PC +4, after execute stage, BTB will be update
Revision Number | Author | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
0.1 | Xinze Wang | 2022.08.10 | init |
0.2 | Xinze Wang | 2022.08.18 | update self check |
- content [x_btb] entry:
- input/output
-
signal I/O width description interaction pc_in I 32 from PC_gen fetch next_pc_out O 32 =pc_target or =pc_current fetch token O 1 to instruction buffer fetch req_pc I 32 update btb execute predict_target I 32 update btb execute
instructions first go into the Gshare, and Gshare will give a prediction, and at execute stage, this prediction will update
content [gshare] entry:
Revision Number | Author | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
0.1 | Qiaowen Yang | 2022.08.10 | init |
- input/output
-
signal I/O width description interaction pc I 32 from PC_gen fetch cur_pred O 1 give a prediction fetch prev_branch_in I 1 whether prev instr is branch execute prev_taken I 1 whether prev instr taken execute prev_pred I 1 prev instr pred result execute prev_mispred O 1 whether prev instr mispred execute
Revision Number | Author | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
0.1 | Xinze Wang | 2022.08.10 | init |
-
content [x_ib] entry:
| PC(32)| instruction(32) | btb_tag -
input/output
-
signal I/O width description interaction pc_in I 32 from PC_gen fetch next_pc_in I 32 from PC_gen fetch instruction_in I 32 from PC_gen fetch pc_out O 32 give to decode decode next_pc_out O 32 give to decode decode instruction_out O 32 give to decode decode wr_en I 1 want write fetch ins_full O 1 stall pc in fetch rd_en I 1 judge decode is ready decode
This decoder supports RV64I instructions. It gets the instr from fetch unit and gives the result to ROB unit. For branch instr, it will output a stall flag, until everything is ready.
Revision Number | Author | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
0.1 | Guohua Yin | 2022.08.16 | init |
0.2 | Guohua Yin | 2022.08.22 | update |
Item Name | Description |
---|---|
decode | decode the instruction in-order from the instruction buffer |
- content
- input/output
-
signal I/O width description interaction clk I 1 clock signal rstn I 1 reset signal, active low, asynchronous reset pc_in I 32 get the pc from fetch unit instr buffer next_pc_in I 32 get the next pc from fetch unit instr buffer instruction_in I 32 get the instr from fetch fetch valid_in I 1 get the valid signal fetch ready_in I 1 get the ready signal rob branch_back I 1 handle the branch stall fu trapped I 1 pipeline control fu wfi_in I 1 pipeline control fu csr_data I 64 get csr data csr csr_readable I 1 flag about reading from csr csr csr_writeable I 1 flag about writing to csr csr csr_address O 12 give to csr csr uses_rs1 O 1 use rs1 rob uses_rs2 O 1 use rs2 rob uses_rd O 1 use rd rob uses_csr O 1 use csr rob pc_out O 32 give to rob the pc rob next_pc_out O 32 give to rob the next pc rob is_csr O 1 flag about csr rob write_select_out O 2 write select out signal rob rd_address_out O 5 give to rob rob csr_address_out O 12 give to rob rob mret_out O 1 give to rob rob wfi_out O 1 give to rob rob ecause_out O 4 give to rob rob exception_out O 1 exception rob half O 1 give to rob rob valid_out O 1 valid flag rob ready_out O 1 tell fecth can read fetch csr_read_out O 1 read signal rob csr_write_out O 1 csr write signal rob csr_readable_out O 1 csr can be read rob csr_writeable_out O 1 can write csr rob csr_data_out O 64 to rob alu rob imm_data_out O 32 to rob alu about immed-data rob alu_function_out O 3 to rob alu rob alu_function_modifier_out O 1 to rob alu rob alu_select_a_out O 2 alu select signal:a rob alu_select_b_out O 2 alu select signal:b rob cmp_function_out O 3 compare function signal rob jump_out O 1 to rob branch rob branch_out O 1 to rob branch rob is_alu_out O 1 to rob (lsu) rob load_out O 1 to rob (lsu) rob store_out O 1 to rob (lsu) rob load_store_size_out O 2 to rob (lsu) rob load_signed_out O 1 to rob (lsu) rob
Revision Number | Author | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
0.1 | Yihai Zhang | 2022.08.12 | init |
2.0 | Yifei Zhu | 2022.08.24 | init |
Item Name | Description |
---|---|
rename table | rename the architecture register to physical one |
rename table backup | rename table recovery from backup when trap or branch |
free list | record the free physical register address |
reorder buffer | store the corresponding data of each instruction |
physical register | - |
Operation | port | Description |
---|---|---|
write | one write port | write from free list when rob ready to be written |
read | one read port | read when rob ready to be written |
flush | one flush port | roll back to backup when trap comes |
reset | - | when reset signal |
Operation | port | Description |
---|---|---|
- | - | used for rename table rolling back itself |
reset | - | when reset signal |
Operation | port | Description |
---|---|---|
write | two write ports | write when function unit finish |
read | two read ports | read when rob ready to issue |
flush | two flush port | set finish bit to regfile to indicate regfile has used |
reset | - | when reset signal |
Operation | port | Description |
---|---|---|
write | one write port | write when instr commit |
read | one read port | read when rob ready to be written |
reset | - | when reset signal |
Item Name | Width | Description |
---|---|---|
rob op | - | to buffer data from decode for the use of pc, lsu, alu, csr and exception |
use | 1 bit | indicate whether rob is used |
issue | 1 bit | indicate whether rob issued |
commit | 1 bit | indicate whether rob is commited |
finish | 1 bit | indicate whether function unit writeback finished |
exception | 1 bit | indicate whether the instr raise an exception |
prs1 | 6 bit | the mapped physical resource reg1 after renaming |
prs2 | 6 bit | the mapped physical resource reg2 after renaming |
prd | 6 bit | the mapped physical destination reg after renaming |
rd | 5 bit | the architecture reg before ranaming |
lprd | 6 bit | the mapped reg which is replaced |
Revision Number | Author | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
0.1 | Peichen Guo | 2022.08.10 | init |
Item Name | Description |
---|---|
AGU | Address Generation Unit |
Address Checker | to check address validation |
Control Unit | to interact with dcache and send stall |
- LSU top diagram
decode interface:
Name | Group | Width | Direction | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
//global interface | ||||
clk | 1 | 1 | input | clock signal. |
rstn | 1 | 1 | input | reset signal, active low, asynchronous reset. |
stall | 1 | RCT_EXE_STG_NUM | input | high to indicate that stall the lsu pipeline. |
//Interface with ROB | ||||
valid_i | 1 | 1 | input | input valid signal,当指令为SL指令时置1,启动LSU |
rob_index_i | 1 | ROB_INDEX_WIDTH | input | ROB slot id,需要和zyh进一步商量 |
rd_addr_i | 1 | 5 | input | rd addr,可能不需要,在没有ROT的情况下输入这个地址仅仅是因为需要进行rd != x0的判断,decoder也可以做。但如果有ROB的情况就需要rd addr了 |
imm_i | 1 | XLEN | input | immediate ,符号扩展的XLEN位立即数,此处是地址偏移量 |
opcode_i | 1 | 1 | input | 1是store,0是load |
size_i | 1 | 2 | input | size of operation, 00是byte,01是half word, 10是word,11是double word |
load_sign_i | 1 | 1 | input | sign of load, 1是unsigned |
ROB_index_o | 1 | ROB_INDEX_WIDTH | output | ROB Index out,代表会回填到哪行 |
ls_done_o | 1 | 1 | output | ls 完成 |
lsu_ready_o | 1 | 1 | output | lsu is ready or not |
//Interface with dcache | ||||
TODO: 还没有商量 | ||||
//Interface with PRF | ||||
rs2_data_i | 1 | XLEN | input | src2 data,在store里是src reg,也就是store的数据 |
rs1_data_i | 1 | XLEN | input | rs1 data,在sl中是基址寄存器 |
rd_addr_o | 1 | 5 | output | reg 回填地址 |
load_data_valid_o | 1 | 1 | output | load data有效,这次回填的指令是load |
load_data_o | 1 | XLEN | output | load data |
//Interface with Exception handler | ||||
exception_valid_o | 1 | 1 | output | just for unit test, will be changed when exceprion handler is designed |
ecause_o | 1 | 5 | output | just for unit test, will be changed when exceprion handler is designed |
Decode Interface:
Name | Group | Width | Direction | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
//global interface | ||||
clk | 1 | 1 | input | clock signal |
rstn | 1 | 1 | input | reset signal, active low, asynchronous reset |
stall | 1 | RCT_EXE_STG_NUM | input | high to indicate that stall the lsu pipeline |
//Interface with ROB | ||||
valid_i | 1 | 1 | input | input valid signal, set 1 when the instruction is SL, and start |
rob_index_i | 1 | ROB_INDEX_WIDTH | input | ROB slot id, further discussion with zyh is required |
rd_addr_i | 1 | 5 | input | rd address |
imm_i | 1 | XLEN | input | immediate, symbol extended XLEN bit immediate number, here is the address offset |
opcode_i | 1 | 1 | input | 1 represent 'store',0 represent 'load' |
size_i | 1 | 2 | input | size of operation, '00' represent 'byte','01' represent 'half word', '10' represent 'word', '11' represent 'double' word |
load_sign_i | 1 | 1 | input | sign of load, 1 represent 'unsigned' |
ROB_index_o | 1 | ROB_INDEX_WIDTH | output | ROB Index out, which represent which line to be backfilled |
ls_done_o | 1 | 1 | output | ls done |
lsu_ready_o | 1 | 1 | output | lsu is ready or not |
exception_valid_o | 1 | 1 | output | just for unit test, will be changed when exceprion handler is designed |
ecause_o | 1 | 5 | output | just for unit test, will be changed when exceprion handler is designed |
//Interface with dcache | ||||
req_valid_o | 1 | 1 | output | request valid |
req_opcode_o | 1 | 1 | output | 0 for load, 1 for store |
req_size_o | 1 | 2 | output | opcode[2] stands for unsigend; opcode[1:0] stands for ls width |
req_addr_o | 1 | ADDR_WIDTH | output | request address |
req_data_o | 1 | XLEN | output | request data |
req_ready_i | 1 | 1 | input | request ready |
resp_valid_i | 1 | 1 | input | response valid |
resp_data_i | 1 | XLEN | input | response data |
resp_ready_o | 1 | 1 | output | response ready |
//Interface with PRF | ||||
rs2_data_i | 1 | XLEN | input | src2 data,the src reg, which is the data of the store, is in the store |
rs1_data_i | 1 | XLEN | input | rs1 data,it is the base address register in sl |
rd_addr_o | 1 | 5 | output | reg backfill address |
load_data_valid_o | 1 | 1 | output | load data is valid, backfill the load instruction this time |
load_data_o | 1 | XLEN | output | load data |
Zhangxin TAN, Wei CHEN
Guohua Yin,; Xinze Wang,; Yihai Zhang,; Qiaowen Yang,; Zhenxuan Luan,; Peichen Guo,; Minzi Wang,; Guangyuan Ma,; Yucheng Wang,; Shenwei Hu,; Yifei Zhu
Front-end group: Xinze Wang(BTB, Fetch), Qiaowen Yang(Gshare), Guohua Yin(Decoder)
Back-end group: Yihai Zhang(ROB,renaming), Peichen Guo(Hazard), Mingzi Wang(Cache),
Validation group: Xinlai Wan, Guangyuan Ma, Yucheng Wang, Shenwei Hu,
SoC: Qiaowenyang
Top module: Zhenxuan Luan, Yifei Zhu
Verification suite includes unit test and regression test. We choose open source tool Verilator as simulator. In the module RTL design stage, the verifiers and designers firstly make clear the top-level signals and functions of the module, building an independent verification environment for submodules (such as Cache, Decoder, Gshare, etc.) that need to be verified. We give the module specific inputs and check whether the outputs meet the design expectations of the module functions, so as to accelerate the progress of RTL design.
After the preliminary completion of core design, the function of the core should be verified. Since Verilator compiles RTL code into C++ code and then runs the simulation, we use C++ to write a simulating memory and load Elf in it, so that core (including Icache and Dcache) interacts with memory, forming a basic computer system, and verifying the correctness of core functions. Step 1: Run isa-test given by RISC-V international to check whether the operation of a single instruction is correct. After passing isa-test, we decide to use RISC-V torture as stimulation for regression test, and iteratively fix our code during the testing process. The current system can achieve 99.99% accuracy when running 10000 torque test samples.
GreenRio V1.0's Soc is equipped with instruction RAM and data RAM, in addition to the ILA interface. Our Soc verification scheme is to load Elf's instruction segments and data segments into the corresponding RAM, and then reset the core to start running the test program. Check whether the running results are correct through ila.
Ecosystem Wants to be Free
By David A. Patterson · Director of RIOS Lab
RISC-V International Open Source Laboratory (RIOS Lab) is a Shenzhen-based research facility focused on computer system architecture, supported by the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Research Institute. As an Open Source and Nobel Prize Laboratory, RIOS Lab promotes open-source innovation and collaboration. Our philosophy is that the computer architecture ecosystem should be free for all to access and build upon.
In November 2019, RIOS Lab was officially unveiled. Under the leadership of 2017 A.M. Turing Award winner Prof. David A. Patterson and operational support from TBSI, RIOS Lab will conduct cutting-edge research in RISC-V hardware and software technology. Patterson first proposed the Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC), an open and free instruction set architecture enabling a new era of processor innovation through open standard collaboration. Released in 2010, the latest Fifth Generation RISC has gained worldwide attention.
The name for the lab RIOS is also inspired by the Spanish word for “rivers.” It symbolizes the flow of information from many sources, coming together to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.