Buckyball Scala Source Code

This directory contains all Scala/Chisel hardware description language source code for the Buckyball project, implementing hardware architecture design and simulation environments.

Overview

Buckyball uses Scala/Chisel as the hardware description language, built on Berkeley's Rocket-chip and Chipyard frameworks. This directory contains implementations from low-level hardware components to system-level integration.

Main functional modules include:

• framework: Core framework implementation, including processor core, memory subsystem, bus interconnect, etc.
• prototype: Prototype implementation of dedicated accelerators
• examples: Example configurations and reference designs
• sims: Simulation environment configurations and interfaces
• Util: General utility classes and helper functions

Code Structure

scala/
├── framework/          - Buckyball core framework
│   ├── blink/          - Blink communication components
│   ├── builtin/        - Built-in hardware components
│   │   ├── frontend/   - Frontend processing components
│   │   ├── memdomain/  - Memory domain implementation
│   │   └── util/       - Framework utility classes
│   └── rocket/         - Rocket core extensions
├── prototype/          - Dedicated accelerator prototypes
│   ├── format/         - Data format processing
│   ├── im2col/         - Image processing acceleration
│   ├── matrix/         - Matrix computation engine
│   ├── transpose/      - Matrix transpose acceleration
│   └── vector/         - Vector processing unit
├── examples/           - Examples and configurations
│   └── toy/            - Toy example system
├── sims/               - Simulation configurations
│   ├── firesim/        - FireSim FPGA simulation
│   └── verilator/      - Verilator simulation
└── Util/               - General utility classes

Module Description

framework/ - Core Framework

Implements Buckyball's core architecture components, including:

• Processor core and extensions
• Memory subsystem and cache hierarchy
• Bus interconnect and communication protocols
• System configuration and parameterization mechanisms

prototype/ - Accelerator Prototypes

Contains hardware implementations of dedicated computation accelerators:

• Machine learning accelerators (matrix operations, convolution, etc.)
• Data processing accelerators (format conversion, transpose, etc.)
• Vector processing units (SIMD, multi-threading, etc.)

examples/ - Example Configurations

Provides system configuration examples and reference designs:

• Basic configuration templates
• Custom extension examples
• Integration test cases

sims/ - Simulation Environment

Supports multiple simulators and verification environments:

• Verilator simulation
• FireSim FPGA simulation
• Performance analysis and debugging tools

Development Guide

Build System

Buckyball uses Mill as the build tool:

# Compile all modules
mill arch.compile

# Generate Verilog
mill arch.runMain examples.toy.ToyBuckyball

# Run tests
mill arch.test

Code Standards

• Follow Scala and Chisel coding conventions
• Use ScalaFmt for code formatting
• Each module includes documentation and tests
• Configuration parameterization uses Chipyard Config system

Extension Development

1. Add new accelerator: Create new module in prototype/ directory
2. Modify framework: Extend existing components in framework/ directory
3. Add configuration: Create new configuration files in examples/ directory
4. Integration testing: Use simulation environments in sims/ directory for verification

Related Documentation

• Core Framework Documentation
• Accelerator Prototype Documentation
• Example Configuration Documentation
• Simulation Environment Documentation
• Utility Classes Documentation