Chisel (programming language)

Chisel (an acronym for Constructing Hardware in a Scala Embedded Language^[1] ) is an open-source hardware description language (HDL) used to describe digital electronics and circuits at the register-transfer level.^{[2] [3]}

Chisel is based on Scala as a domain-specific language (DSL). Chisel inherits the object-oriented and functional programming aspects of Scala for describing digital hardware. Using Scala as a basis allows describing circuit generators. High quality, free access documentation exists in several languages.^[4]

Circuits described in Chisel can be converted to a description in Verilog for synthesis and simulation.

A simple example describing an adder circuit and showing the organization of components in Module with input and output ports:

classAddextendsModule{
valio=IO(newBundle{
vala=Input(UInt(8.W))
valb=Input(UInt(8.W))
valy=Output(UInt(8.W))
})
io.y:=io.a+io.b
}

A 32-bit register with a reset value of 0:

valreg=RegInit(0.U(32.W))

A multiplexer is part of the Chisel library:

valresult=Mux(sel,a,b)

Although Chisel is not yet a mainstream hardware description language, it has been explored by several companies and institutions. The most prominent use of Chisel is an implementation of the RISC-V instruction set, the open-source Rocket chip.^[5] Chisel is mentioned by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as a technology to improve the efficiency of electronic design, where smaller design teams do larger designs.^[6] Google has used Chisel to develop a Tensor Processing Unit for edge computing.^[7] Some developers prefer Chisel as it requires 5 times lesser code and is much faster to develop than Verilog.^[8]

Circuits described in Chisel can be converted to a description in Verilog for synthesis and simulation using a program named FIRRTL.^{[9] [better source needed ]}

• VHDL
• Verilog
• SystemC
• SystemVerilog

• Official website
• Chisel 3 on GitHub
• Chisel's channel on YouTube

• University of California, Berkeley
• Hardware description languages
• Science and technology in California

• CS1 Chinese-language sources (zh)
• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• CS1 Vietnamese-language sources (vi)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• All articles lacking reliable references
• Articles lacking reliable references from September 2022
• Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia