Simulating with Third-Party Simulators - 2024.1 English - UG900

Vivado Design Suite User Guide: Logic Simulation (UG900)
Document ID
UG900
Release Date
2024-05-30
Version
2024.1 English

The AMD Vivado™ Design Suite supports simulation using third-party tools. Simulation with third-party tools can be performed directly from within the Vivado Integrated Design Environment (IDE) or using a custom external simulation environment.

Table 1. Supported Third-Party Simulators
Third-party Simulators Red Hat 64-bit Linux Windows 64-bit
Siemens EDA ModelSim DE Yes Yes
Siemens EDA Questa Advanced Simulator Yes Yes
Cadence Xcelium Parallel Simulator Yes NA
Synopsys VCS Yes NA
Aldec Active HDL NA Yes
Aldec Riviera PRO Yes Yes

The Vivado Design Suite User Guide: Using the Vivado IDE (UG893) describes the use of the Vivado IDE.

Set the following environment variables before running simulation in Vivado IDE.

Table 2. Environment Variable Setting for Third-Party Simulators
Simulator Linux Windows
Modelsim 
setenv MODEL_TECH <tool installation path>
setenv LM_LICENSE_FILE <license file>
setenv PATH ${MODEL_TECH}/bin:$PATH
 
set MODEL_TECH=<tool installation path>
set LM_LICENSE_FILE=<license file>
set Path=%MODEL_TECH%\win32;%Path%
Questa 
setenv MODEL_TECH <tool installation path>
setenv LM_LICENSE_FILE <license file>
setenv PATH ${MODEL_TECH}/bin:$PATH
 
set MODEL_TECH=<tool installation path>
set LM_LICENSE_FILE=<license file>
set Path=%MODEL_TECH%\win32;%Path%
Riviera 
In BASH 
source <install_path>/etc/setenv
source <install_path>/etc/setgcc
 
call <install_path>/etc/setenv.bat
call <install_path>/etc/setgcc.bat
Active-HDL NA 
set ACTIVE_BIN=<tool installation path>
set Path=%<Active_hdl install dir>%\BIN;%Path%
set LM_LICENSE_FILE=<license file>
Xcelium 
setenv CDS_INST_DIR <xcelium_install_dir>
setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH $CDS_INST_DIR/tools/xcelium/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
setenv PATH $CDS_INST_DIR/tools/xcelium/bin:$CDS_INST_DIR/tools/bin:$PATH
setenv CDS_LICENSE_DIR <tool_license>
 NA
VCS 
setenv VCS_HOME <tool_install_path>
setenv LM_LICENSE_FILE <license_file_path>
setenv PATH ${VCS_HOME}/bin:${PATH}
 NA
  1. Tool installation path should be added to environment variable PATH (irrespective of OS). To simulate SystemC-based designs for the supported simulator, provide the required g++ version installation path as mentioned in SystemC Support in Vivado IDE. The LD_LIBRARY_PATH should also include the simulator library path.

For links to more information on your third-party simulator, see Links to Additional Information on Third-Party Simulators.

Important: Use only supported versions of third-party simulators. For more information on supported Simulators and Operating Systems, see the Compatible Third-Party Tools table in the Vivado Design Suite User Guide: Release Notes, Installation, and Licensing (UG973).