Naming
Historically, Chisel has had trouble reliably capturing the names of signals. The reasons for this are due to (1)
primarily relying on reflection to find names, (2) using @chiselName macro which had unreliable behavior.
Chisel 3.4 introduced a custom Scala compiler plugin which enables reliabe and automatic capturing of signal names, when they are declared. In addition, this release includes prolific use of a new prefixing API which enables more stable naming of signals programmatically generated from function calls.
This document explains how naming now works in Chisel for signal and module names. For cookbook examples on how to fix systemic name-stability issues, please refer to the naming cookbook.
Compiler Plugin
// Imports used by the following examples
import chisel3._
import chisel3.experimental.{prefix, noPrefix}
With the release of Chisel 3.5, users are required to add the following line to their build.sbt settings:
// chiselVersion is the String version (eg. "3.5.3")
addCompilerPlugin("edu.berkeley.cs" % "chisel3-plugin" % chiselVersion cross CrossVersion.full)
This plugin will run after the ‘typer’ phase of the Scala compiler. It looks for any user code which is of the form
val x = y, where x is of type chisel3.Data, chisel3.MemBase, or chisel3.experimental.BaseModule. For each
line which fits this criteria, it rewrites that line. In the following examples, the commented line is the what the
line above is rewritten to.
If the line is within a bundle declaration or is a module instantiation, it is rewritten to replace the right hand
side with a call to autoNameRecursively, which names the signal/module.
class MyBundle extends Bundle {
val foo = Input(UInt(3.W))
// val foo = autoNameRecursively("foo")(Input(UInt(3.W)))
}
class Example1 extends Module {
val io = IO(new MyBundle())
// val io = autoNameRecursively("io")(IO(new MyBundle()))
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module Example1(
input clock,
reset,
input [2:0] io_foo
);
endmodule
Otherwise, it is rewritten to also include the name as a prefix to any signals generated while executing the right-hand- side of the val declaration:
class Example2 extends Module {
val in = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
// val in = autoNameRecursively("in")(prefix("in")(IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))))
val out = IO(Output(UInt(2.W)))
// val out = autoNameRecursively("out")(prefix("out")(IO(Output(UInt(2.W)))))
def inXin() = in * in
val add = 3.U + inXin()
// val add = autoNameRecursively("add")(prefix("add")(3.U + inXin()))
// Note that the intermediate result of the multiplication is prefixed with `add`
out := add + 1.U
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module Example2(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in,
output [1:0] out
);
assign out = in * in;
endmodule
Prefixing can also be derived from the name of signals on the left-hand side of a connection. While this is not implemented via the compiler plugin, the behavior should feel similar:
class ConnectPrefixing extends Module {
val in = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
// val in = autoNameRecursively("in")(prefix("in")(IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))))
val out = IO(Output(UInt(2.W)))
// val out = autoNameRecursively("out")(prefix("out")(IO(Output(UInt(2.W)))))
out := { // technically this is not wrapped in autoNameRecursively nor prefix
// But the Chisel runtime will still use the name of `out` as a prefix
val double = in * in
// val double = autoNameRecursively("double")(prefix("double")(in * in))
double + 1.U
}
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module ConnectPrefixing(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in,
output [1:0] out
);
assign out = in * in + 2'h1;
endmodule
Note that the naming also works if the hardware type is nested in an Option or a subtype of Iterable:
class Example3 extends Module {
val in = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
// val in = autoNameRecursively("in")(prefix("in")(IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))))
val out = IO(Output(UInt()))
// val out = autoNameRecursively("out")(prefix("out")(IO(Output(UInt()))))
def func() = {
val delay = RegNext(in)
delay + 1.U
}
val opt = Some(func())
// Note that the register in func() is prefixed with `opt`:
// val opt = autoNameRecursively("opt")(prefix("opt")(Some(func()))
out := opt.get + 1.U
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module Example3(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in,
output [1:0] out
);
reg [1:0] opt_delay;
always @(posedge clock)
opt_delay <= in;
assign out = opt_delay - 2'h2;
endmodule
There is also a slight variant (autoNameRecursivelyProduct) for naming hardware with names provided by an unapply:
class UnapplyExample extends Module {
def mkIO() = (IO(Input(UInt(2.W))), IO(Output(UInt())))
val (in, out) = mkIO()
// val (in, out) = autoNameRecursivelyProduct(List(Some("in"), Some("out")))(mkIO())
out := in
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module UnapplyExample(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in,
output [1:0] out
);
assign out = in;
endmodule
Note that the compiler plugin will not insert a prefix in these cases because it is ambiguous what the prefix should be. Users who desire a prefix are encouraged to provide one as described below.
Prefixing
As shown above, the compiler plugin automatically attempts to prefix some of your signals for you. However, you as a user can also add your own prefixes. This is especially useful for ECO-type fixes where you need to add some logic to a module but don’t want to influence other names in the module.
In the following example, we prefix additional logic with “ECO”, where Example4 is pre-ECO and Example5 is post-ECO:
class Example4 extends Module {
val in = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
val out = IO(Output(UInt()))
val add = in + in + in
out := add + 1.U
}
class Example5 extends Module {
val in = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
val out = IO(Output(UInt()))
val add = in + in + in
out := prefix("ECO") { add + 1.U + in }
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module Example4(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in,
output [1:0] out
);
assign out = {in[0], 1'h0} + in + 2'h1;
endmodule
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module Example5(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in,
output [1:0] out
);
assign out = {in[0], 1'h0} + in + in + 2'h1;
endmodule
Also note that the prefixes append to each other (including the prefix generated by the compiler plugin):
class Example6 extends Module {
val in = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
val out = IO(Output(UInt()))
val add = prefix("foo") { in + in + in }
out := add
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module Example6(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in,
output [1:0] out
);
assign out = {in[0], 1'h0} + in;
endmodule
Sometimes you may want to disable the prefixing. This might occur if you are writing a library function and
don’t want the prefixing behavior. In this case, you can use the noPrefix object:
class Example7 extends Module {
val in = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
val out = IO(Output(UInt()))
val add = noPrefix { in + in + in }
out := add
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module Example7(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in,
output [1:0] out
);
assign out = {in[0], 1'h0} + in;
endmodule
Suggest a Signal’s Name (or the instance name of a Module)
If you want to specify the name of a signal, you can always use the .suggestName API. Please note that the suggested
name will still be prefixed (including by the plugin). You can always use the noPrefix object to strip this.
class Example8 extends Module {
val in = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
val out = IO(Output(UInt()))
val add = (in + (in + in).suggestName("foo"))
out := add
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module Example8(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in,
output [1:0] out
);
assign out = in + {in[0], 1'h0};
endmodule
Note that using .suggestName does not affect prefixes derived from val names;
however, it can affect prefixes derived from connections (eg. :=):
class ConnectionPrefixExample extends Module {
val in0 = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
val in1 = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
val out0 = {
val port = IO(Output(UInt()))
// Even though this suggestName is before mul, the prefix used in this scope
// is derived from `val out0`, so this does not affect the name of mul
port.suggestName("foo")
// out0_mul
val mul = in0 * in1
port := mul + 1.U
port
}
val out1 = IO(Output(UInt()))
val out2 = IO(Output(UInt()))
out1 := {
// out1_sum
val sum = in0 + in1
sum + 1.U
}
// Comes after so does *not* affect prefix above
out1.suggestName("bar")
// Comes before so *does* affect prefix below
out2.suggestName("fizz")
out2 := {
// fizz_diff
val diff = in0 - in1
diff + 1.U
}
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module ConnectionPrefixExample(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in0,
in1,
output [3:0] foo,
output [1:0] bar,
fizz
);
assign foo = {2'h0, in0} * {2'h0, in1} + 4'h1;
assign bar = in0 + in1 + 2'h1;
assign fizz = in0 - in1 + 2'h1;
endmodule
As this example illustrates, this behavior is slightly inconsistent so is subject to change in a future version of Chisel.
Behavior for “Unnamed signals” (aka “Temporaries”)
If you want to signify that the name of a signal does not matter, you can prefix the name of your val with _.
Chisel will preserve the convention of leading _ signifying an unnamed signal across prefixes.
For example:
class TemporaryExample extends Module {
val in0 = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
val in1 = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
val out = {
val port = IO(Output(UInt()))
val _sum = in0 + in1
port := _sum + 1.U
port
}
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module TemporaryExample(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in0,
in1,
output [1:0] out
);
assign out = in0 + in1 + 2'h1;
endmodule
If an unnamed signal is itself used to generate a prefix, the leading _ will be ignored to avoid double __ in the names of further nested signals.
class TemporaryPrefixExample extends Module {
val in0 = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
val in1 = IO(Input(UInt(2.W)))
val out = IO(Output(UInt()))
val _sum = {
val x = in0 + in1
x + 1.U
}
out := _sum & 0x2.U
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module TemporaryPrefixExample(
input clock,
reset,
input [1:0] in0,
in1,
output [1:0] out
);
assign out = in0 + in1 + 2'h1 & 2'h2;
endmodule
Set a Module Name
If you want to specify the module’s name (not the instance name of a module), you can always override the desiredName
value. Note that you can parameterize the name by the module’s parameters. This is an excellent way to make your module
names more stable and is highly recommended to do.
class Example9(width: Int) extends Module {
override val desiredName = s"EXAMPLE9WITHWIDTH$width"
val in = IO(Input(UInt(width.W)))
val out = IO(Output(UInt()))
val add = (in + (in + in).suggestName("foo"))
out := add
}
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module EXAMPLE9WITHWIDTH8(
input clock,
reset,
input [7:0] in,
output [7:0] out
);
assign out = in + {in[6:0], 1'h0};
endmodule
// Generated by CIRCT firtool-1.40.0
module EXAMPLE9WITHWIDTH1(
input clock,
reset,
in,
output out
);
assign out = in;
endmodule
Reflection Naming
Regardless of whether the compiler plugin is enabled or not, after Chisel constructs a module, it attempts to name all members of the Module. This will name all vals which are fields of the module class, but it will not name any vals in nested functions or scopes.
If the plugin successfully names a signal, the reflection naming will do nothing. We plan to deprecate all reflection naming in a future Chisel release, but are leaving it to allow the plugin naming to be optional (but recommended).
For example, the signals in the following module are in a nested scope; the plugin successfully names them, but reflection naming cannot:
class Example10 extends Module {
{
val in = IO(Input(UInt(3.W)))
val out = IO(Output(UInt()))
val add = in + in
out := add
}
}
@chiselName
This macro is no longer recommended as its functionality is entirely replaced by the compiler plugin. Feel free to delete from your Chisel designs!