Richie

Fig. 1 The Richie framework.

Richie is an open-source System-Level Design (SLD) framework, which is meant to facilitate the assembling and specialization of accelerator-rich Heterogeneous Systems-on-Chip (HeSoCs). The project consists of the following key components:

• Platform—Modular and composable HeSoC architecture, based on the RISC-V ISA;

• SLD toolchain—Automatic design and specialization accelerator-rich, multi-cluster platforms;

• Exploration flow—Weigh design trade-offs, identifying the best candidate at meeting your application needs. Richie leverages FPGAs to emulate full-stack applications and navigate the HeSoC design space, enabling deeper introspection into the non-idealities occurring at system-level.

Richie is a joint development effort leaded by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE) and the PULP (Parallel Ultra-Low Power) Platform group, from ETH Zürich and the University of Bologna.

Contents:

• 1. Platform
  • 1.1. Hardware Architecture
    • 1.1.1. Heterogeneous Architecture
    • 1.1.2. Cluster Fabric
    • 1.1.3. Application-Specific Accelerators
  • 1.2. FPGA Deployment
  • 1.3. Verification
  • 1.4. Software Stack
    • 1.4.1. Heterogeneous Stack
• 2. SLD Toolchain
  • 2.1. Introduction
  • 2.2. How to install
    • 2.2.1. Clone the Repository
    • 2.2.2. Integration within the Richie framework
    • 2.2.3. Python Virtual Environment
    • 2.2.4. Third-Party Git Submodules
    • 2.2.5. Third-Party Tools
  • 2.3. System-Level Design
    • 2.3.1. Accelerator Design
    • 2.3.2. System Integration
    • 2.3.3. System Optimization
  • 2.4. Generation Flow
    • 2.4.1. Defintion of Template
    • 2.4.2. How Generation Works
    • 2.4.3. How to Run
  • 2.5. Verification
    • 2.5.1. HWPE Accelerator (Standalone)
  • 2.6. Tools
    • 2.6.1. Verible
    • 2.6.2. Pylint
    • 2.6.3. ShellCheck
    • 2.6.4. Template support in VSCode
  • 2.7. Useful Repositories
    • 2.7.1. AMD-Xilinx Open Hardware Competition 2023
    • 2.7.2. The HWPE Accelerator Interface
• 3. Exploration Flow
  • 3.1. Exploration Flow
• 4. Getting Started
  • 4.1. Repository Structure
  • 4.2. External Sources
  • 4.3. Prerequisites
    • 4.3.1. HERO
• 5. Environments
  • 5.1. Local Configuration File
  • 5.2. List of Environments
    • 5.2.1. Accelerator Design
    • 5.2.2. FPGA Development
    • 5.2.3. Simulation
• 6. Tutorials
  • 6.1. Prerequisites
  • 6.2. Assembling an Accelerator-Rich Computer Vision Platform
    • 6.2.1. Description of the Use-Case
    • 6.2.2. System-Level Design
    • 6.2.3. Software Application
    • 6.2.4. Exploration Flow
• 7. Contribution Guide
  • 7.1. Git Considerations
  • 7.2. Coding Style
    • 7.2.1. General
    • 7.2.2. About the Richie Toolchain
• 8. Bibliography & References
  • 8.1. Publications
  • 8.2. Workshops & Posters
  • 8.3. Additional Readings
• 9. License
• 10. Contacts

Note

This project is under active development.