MIDAS can synthesize assertions present in FIRRTL (implemented as stop statements) that would otherwise be lost in the FPGA synthesis flow. Rocket and BOOM include hundreds of such assertions which, when synthesized, can provide great insight into why the target may be failing.
To enable assertion synthesis add the WithSynthAsserts Config to your PLATFORM_CONFIG in SimConfigs.scala. During compilation, MIDAS will print the number of assertions it's synthesized. In the target's generated-src/ directory, you'll find a *.asserts file with the definitions of all synthesized assertions. If assertion synthesis has been enabled, the synthesized_assertions_t endpoint driver will be automatically instantiated the driver.
If an assertion is caught during simulation, the driver will print the assertion cause, the path to module instance in which it fired, a source locator, and the cycle on which the assertion fired. Simulation will then terminate.
An example of an assertion caught in a dual-core instance of BOOM is given below:
id: 1190, module: IssueSlot_4, path: FireBoomNoNIC.tile_1.core.issue_units_0.slots_3]
Assertion failed
at issue_slot.scala:214 assert (!slot_p1_poisoned)
at cycle: 2142042185Assertion synthesis was first presented in our FPL2018 paper, DESSERT.