How to read data from an .mif file in Vivado?

Question

My knowledge on the subject is bare-bones. I created a .coe file and used Block Memory Generator to get an .mif file. I need to store the contents in the block memory and then use it. Following is my code:

module read_file;
reg [15:0] music [0:255];
initial
$readmemh("blk_mem_gen_1.mif", music);
integer i;
initial begin for(i=0; i<16; i=i+1)
$display("music[%d] = %h", i, music[i]);
end
endmodule

As you can probably tell, I have no idea what I am doing. Please guide me through and point me to some resources if you happen to know some.

• Maxsash: This is just to test if I can read data successfully. With $display I was hoping to get an output on Tcl console. My experience with Vivado is limited to 4-bit full adder using switches and LEDs.
• Mitu Raj: so what happened when you compiled this ... were correct values read ? (I assume your coe file has contents which you added correctly)
• Maxsash: @MituRaj No. There is no output in the console. Additionally from the Utilization report I can see that No Block RAM Tile is being utilized at all, which tells me I am doing something fundamentally wrong.
• Mitu Raj: Give the full path of .mif file in the code ...
• Maxsash: @MituRaj Thanks a lot! This seems to be working for now. Edit: I see output in the console now, though the Block RAM utilization is still zero. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Seems like your file path is causing problem. Specify full file path to .mif file

Anyway Vivado will synthesise only a distributed RAM for your array music. To use Block RAM, you have to generate one with initial values in a .coe file and instantiate it. But then, you can access the data only one at time in a clock cycle. You can't access multiple data in 'parallel'.

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