{"id":2056,"date":"2011-03-08T09:05:50","date_gmt":"2011-03-08T16:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mentor.com\/verificationhorizons\/?p=2056"},"modified":"2026-03-27T08:33:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T12:33:59","slug":"using-the-uvm-10-release-with-questa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/verificationhorizons\/2011\/03\/08\/using-the-uvm-10-release-with-questa\/","title":{"rendered":"Using the UVM libraries with Questa"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Rich Edelman and Dave Rich<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/h3>\n

The UVM is a derivative of OVM 2.1.1. It has similar use model, and is run in generally the same way.<\/p>\n

One significant change is that the UVM requires a DPI compiled library in order to enable regular expression matching, backdoor access and other functionality.<\/p>\n

When running UVM based testbenches, we recommend using the built-in, pre-compiled UVM and DPI compiled libraries. This will remove the need to install any compilers or create a “build” environment.<\/p>\n

One other issue to mention if you are converting from OVM to UVM, and if you use stop_request() and\/or global_stop_request(), then you will need to use the following plusarg, otherwise your testbench will end prematurely without awaiting your stop_request().<\/p>\n

vsim +UVM_USE_OVM_RUN_SEMANTIC<\/strong> +UVM_TESTNAME=hello …<\/p>\n

Simulating with UVM Out-Of-The-Box with Questa<\/h3>\n

The UVM base class libiraries can be used out of the box with Questa 10.0b or higher very easily. There is no need to compile the SystemVerilog UVM package or the C DPI source code yourself. The Questa 10.0b release and every release afterwards contains a pre-compiled DPI library, as well as a pre-compiled UVM library. The only dependency is that your host system requires glibc-2.3.4 or later installed. Questa 10.0c Windows users only, please read this important note <\/a>about the location of the DPI libraries.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can easily use these steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
vlib work<\/div>\n
vlog hello.sv<\/div>\n
vsim hello …<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Notice that we don’t have to specify +incdir+$(UVM_HOME)\/src,\u00a0 $(UVM_HOME)\/src\/uvm_pkg.sv\u00a0 to vlog<\/strong>, or add a -sv_lib command to the vsim<\/strong> command to load the uvm_dpi shared object.<\/p>\n

Controling UVM Versions<\/h3>\n

Each release of Questa comes with multiple versions of the UVM pre-compiled and ready to load. \u00a0By default, a fresh install of Questa will load the latest version of UVM that is available in the release. \u00a0If an older version of UVM is needed, this version can be selected in one of two ways.<\/p>\n

Modify the modelsim.ini File<\/h4>\n

Inside the modelsim.ini file, it contains a line which defines a library mapping for Questa. \u00a0That line is the mtiUvm line. \u00a0It looks something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
mtiUvm = $MODEL_TECH\/..\/uvm-1.1b<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
This example is pointing to the UVM 1.1b release included inside the Questa release. \u00a0If we wanted to downgrade to UVM 1.1a, then we would simply modify the line to look like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
mtiUvm = $MODEL_TECH\/..\/uvm-1.1a<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Command Line Switch<\/h4>\n
The Questa commands can also accept a switch on the command line to tell it which libraries to look for. \u00a0This switch overrides what is specified in the modelsim.ini file if there is a conflict. \u00a0The switch is ‘-L’. \u00a0If this switch is used, then all Questa commands with the exception of vlib will need to use the switch.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
vlib work\nvlog hello.sv -L $QUESTA_HOME\/uvm-1.1a\nvsim hello -L $QUESTA_HOME\/uvm-1.1a ...<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
If you are using some other platform, or you want to compile your own DPI library, please follow the directions below.<\/p>\n
If you use an earlier Questa installation, like 6.6d or 10.0, then you must supply the +incdir, and you must compile the UVM.<\/p>\n
For example, with 10.0a on linux, you can do<\/p>\n
vlib work
\nvlog hello.sv
\nvsim -c -sv_lib $UVM_HOME\/lib\/uvm_dpi …<\/p>\n
if you use your own UVM download, or you use Questa 6.6d or 10.0 you need to do the following:<\/p>\n
vlib work
\nvlog +incdir+$UVM_HOME\/src $UVM_HOME\/src\/uvm_pkg.sv
\nmkdir -p $UVM_HOME\/lib
\ng++ -m32 -fPIC -DQUESTA -g -W -shared
\n-I\/u\/release\/10.0a\/questasim\/\/include
\n$UVM_HOME\/src\/dpi\/uvm_dpi.cc
\n-o $UVM_HOME\/lib\/uvm_dpi.so
\nvlog +incdir+$UVM_HOME\/src hello.sv
\nvsim -c -sv_lib $UVM_HOME\/lib\/uvm_dpi …<\/p>\n
Building the UVM DPI Shared Object Yourself<\/h3>\n
If you don’t use the built-in, pre-compiled UVM, then you must provide the vlog +incdir+ and you must compile the UVM yourself, including the DPI library.<\/p>\n
In $UVM_HOME\/examples, there is a Makefile.questa which can compile and link your DPI shared object.<\/p>\n
For Linux (linux):<\/h4>\n
cd $UVM_HOME\/examples
\nsetenv MTI_HOME \/u\/release\/10.0a\/questasim\/
\nmake -f Makefile.questa dpi_lib<\/p>\n
> mkdir -p ..\/lib
\n> g++ -m32 -fPIC -DQUESTA -g -W -shared
\n>\u00a0\u00a0 -I\/u\/release\/10.0a\/questasim\/\/include
\n>\u00a0\u00a0 ..\/src\/dpi\/uvm_dpi.cc -o ..\/lib\/uvm_dpi.so<\/p>\n
For Linux 64 (linux_x86_64)<\/h4>\n
cd $UVM_HOME\/examples
\nsetenv MTI_HOME \/u\/release\/10.0a\/questasim\/
\nmake LIBNAME=uvm_dpi64 BITS=64 -f Makefile.questa dpi_lib<\/p>\n
> mkdir -p ..\/lib
\n> g++ -m64 -fPIC -DQUESTA -g -W -shared
\n>\u00a0\u00a0 -I\/u\/release\/10.0a\/questasim\/\/include
\n>\u00a0\u00a0 ..\/src\/dpi\/uvm_dpi.cc -o ..\/lib\/uvm_dpi64.so<\/p>\n
For Windows (win32):<\/h4>\n
cd $UVM_HOME\/examples
\nsetenv MTI_HOME \/u\/release\/10.0a\/questasim\/
\nmake -f Makefile.questa dpi_libWin<\/p>\n
> mkdir -p ..\/lib
\n> c:\/QuestaSim_10.0a\/gcc-4.2.1-mingw32vc9\/bin\/g++.exe
\n>\u00a0\u00a0 -g -DQUESTA -W -shared
\n>\u00a0\u00a0 -Bsymbolic -Ic:\/QuestaSim_10.0a\/include
\n>\u00a0\u00a0 ..\/src\/dpi\/uvm_dpi.cc -o
\n>\u00a0\u00a0 ..\/lib\/uvm_dpi.dll
\n>\u00a0\u00a0 c:\/QuestaSim_10.0a\/win32\/mtipli.dll -lregex<\/p>\n
Note: For Windows, you must use the GCC provided on the Questa download page: (questasim-gcc-4.2.1-mingw32vc9.zip)<\/p>\n
Save to \/tmp\/questasim-gcc-4.2.1-mingw32vc9.zip
\ncd $MTI_HOME
\nunzip \/tmp\/questasim-gcc-4.2.1-mingw32vc9.zip
\n<creates the GCC directories in the MTI_HOME><\/p>\n
Using the UVM DPI Shared Object<\/h3>\n
You should add the -sv_lib switch to your vsim invocation. You do not need to specify the extension, vsim will look for ‘.so’ on linux and linux_x86_64, and ‘.dll’ on Windows.<\/p>\n
linux:<\/h4>\n
vsim -sv_lib $UVM_HOME\/lib\/uvm_dpi -do “run -all; quit -f”<\/p>\n
linux_x86_64:<\/h4>\n
vsim -sv_lib $UVM_HOME\/lib\/uvm_dpi64 -do “run -all; quit -f”<\/p>\n
win32:<\/h4>\n
cp $UVM_HOME\/lib\/uvm_dpi.dll .
\nvsim -sv_lib uvm_dpi -do “run -all; quit -f”<\/p>\n
Running the examples from the UVM 1.1 Release<\/h3>\n
If you want to run the examples from the UVM 1.0 Release you need to get the Open Source kit – it contains the examples.<\/p>\n
1. Download the UVM tar.gz and unpack it.<\/p>\n