I did an independent evaluation of Caravel, Caravel-Mini and chipIgnite Demo Board on five platforms: Ubuntu, Lubuntu, Simply / ALT Linux, Windows WSL and MacOS, and here is my report: https://verilog-meetup.com/2025/01/17/the-state-of-caravel-the-first-look/ The table of contents: # The State of Caravel: the First Look ## 1. Caravel as a tool to train balancing microarchitecture, area and timing ## 2. The Usage Scenario ## 3. The Alternatives ## 4. The Evaluation ### 4.1. Step 1. The capacity estimation ### 4.2. Step 2. Generating the baseline projects from the templates ### 4.3. Step 3. Setup #### 4.3.1. Setup on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS #### 4.3.2. Setup on Lubuntu 24.04 LTS #### 4.3.3. Setup on Simply Linux 10.4 #### 4.3.4. Setup on MacOS Sequoia 15.2, Apple Silicon, Mac Mini 4 #### 4.3.5. Setup on Windows 11 with WSL (Windows Subsystem Linux) Ubuntu #### 4.3.6. The setup bottom line ### 4.4. Step 4. Running RTL-to-GDSII flow for the included example #### 4.4.1. Running RTL-to-GDSII flow for the example included in Caravel-Mini #### 4.4.2. Running RTL-to-GDSII flow for the example included in regular (not Mini) Caravel ### 4.5. Step 5. Verification #### 4.5.1. Caravel and cocotb #### 4.5.2. Caravel and RISC-V #### 4.5.3. Verification results ##### 4.5.3.1. Caravel-Mini RTL verification results ##### 4.5.3.2. The regular Caravel RTL verification results ##### 4.5.3.3. The regular Caravel gate-level verification results ### 4.6. Step 6. Running other make targets #### 4.6.1.

make caravel-sta

does not like an array of instances in gate-level Verilog #### 4.6.2. Other target errors ### 4.7. Step 7. Working with chipIgnite demo / evaluation / development board #### 4.7.1. Getting the board and soldering the header #### 4.7.2. Getting the board documentation #### 4.7.3. Running a precompiled test ##### 4.7.3.1 Blinking light on Simply Linux ##### 4.7.3.2 Blinking light on Ubuntu and Lubuntu ##### 4.7.3.3 Unsuccessfull blinking light on Windows WSL ##### 4.7.3.4 Unsuccessfull blinking light on MacOS #### 4.7.4. Modifying the test, building it with RISC-V toolchain and running it on the board ## 5. The Next Steps ### 5.1. Hackathons in Mexico and Armenia ### 5.2. Updating the materials ## Appendix A.1. Ubuntu setup commands ## Appendix A.2. Commands used to setup under Lubuntu 24.04 LTS ## Appendix B.1. Caravel-Mini area report: 1-synthesis.AREA_0.stat.rpt ## Appendix B.2. 33-rcx_sta.summary.rpt static timing analysis summary ## Appendix B.3. A fragment of 33-rcx_sta.max.rpt report: critical path / setup ## Appendix B.4. A fragment of 33-rcx_sta.min.rpt report: timing path details / hold ## Appendix B.5. A fragment of 33-rcx_sta.power.rpt report: power estimation ## Appendix C.1. Log for unsuccessful run 'make user_project_wrapper' under Lubuntu LTS 24.04 ## Appendix C.2. Log 1 for unsuccessful run 'make user_project_wrapper' under Simply Linux 10.4 ## Appendix C.3. Log 2 for unsuccessful run 'make user_project_wrapper' under Simply Linux 10.4 ## Appendix D.1. cocotb-based RTL verification run logs for Caraven-Mini on Lubuntu. ## Appendix D.2. Error running cocotb-based gate-level verification for the regular Caravel. ## Appendix E.1. Error on Lubuntu when running

make create-spef-mapping

for full Caravel ## Appendix E.2. Error on Lubuntu when running

make extract-parasitics

for full Caravel ## Appendix E.3. Error on MacOS when running

make extract-parasitics

for full Caravel