contributing and fpga docs

docs/contributing.md

@@ -41,4 +41,4 @@ However, contributions are strongly encouraged and keep the project moving forwa
 
 
 ## Creating  and Adding Tests
-see `testing.md`
+The CI pipeline the vortex tests. If you are contributing code changes, then review `testing.md` to learn how to integrate your own tests

docs/fpga_setup.md

@@ -1,5 +1,153 @@
 # FPGA Startup and Configuration Guide
 
+## Gaining Access to FPGA's with CRNCH
+If you are associated with Georgia Tech and need remote access to the FPGA's, you can utilize CRNCH's server.
+
+## What is CRNCH?
+
+**C**enter for **R**esearch into **N**ovel **C**omputing **H**ierarchies
+
+## What does CRNCH Offer?
+
+**The Rogues Gallery (RG)**: new concept focused on developing our understanding of next-generation hardware with a focus on unorthodox and uncommon technologies. **RG** will acquire new and unique hardware (ie, the aforementioned “*rogues*”) from vendors, research labs, and startups and make this hardware available to students, faculty, and industry collaborators within a managed data center environment
+
+## Why are the Rouges Important?
+
+By exposing students and researchers to this set of unique hardware, we hope to foster cross-cutting discussions about hardware designs that will drive future *performance improvements in computing long after the Moore’s Law era of “cheap transistors” ends*.
+
+## How is the Rouges Gallery Funded?
+
+Rogues Gallery testbed is primarily supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under NSF Award Number [#2016701](https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2016701&HistoricalAwards=false)
+
+## Rouges Gallery Documentation
+
+You can read about RG in more detail on its official documentation [page](https://gt-crnch-rg.readthedocs.io/en/main/index.html#).
+
+You can listen to a talk about RG [here](https://mediaspace.gatech.edu/media/Jeff%20Young%20-%20Rogues%20Gallery%20-%20CRNCH%20Summit%202021/1_lqlgr0jj)
+
+[CRNCH Summit 2023](https://github.com/gt-crnch/crnch-summit-2023/tree/main)
+
+## Request Access for Rouges Gallery
+
+You should use [this form](https://crnch-rg.cc.gatech.edu/request-rogues-gallery-access/) to request access to RG’s reconfigurable computing (vortex fpga) resources. You should receive an email with your ticket item being created. Once it gets processed, you should get an email confirmed your access has been granted. It might take some time to get processed.
+
+## How to Access Rouges Gallery?
+
+CRNCH resources do not require any VPN access for GT members so you can head to the web url for open on-demand: [rg-ood.crnch.gatech.edu](http://rg-ood.crnch.gatech.edu/)
+
+Alternatively, you can `ssh` into rg with: `ssh <your-gt-acctname>@rg-login.crnch.gatech.edu`
+
+(`ssh usubramanya3@rg-login.crnch.gatech.edu`)
+
+Once you’ve logged in, you can use Slurm to request other nodes within the testbed. See more information on Slurm at [this page](https://gt-crnch-rg.readthedocs.io/en/main/general/using-slurm.html).
+
+Note that you can also use VSCode to log into the Rogues Gallery via its terminal functionality. See [this page for more details](https://gt-crnch-rg.readthedocs.io/en/main/general/visual-studio-code.html).
+
+## **What Machines are Available in the Rogues Gallery?**
+
+Complete list of machines can be found [here](https://gt-crnch-rg.readthedocs.io/en/main/general/rg-hardware.html). 
+
+## Which Machine do we Need from RG?
+
+There are three primary nodes you might use. The table below summarizes:
+
+| Name | Device | Description |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| flubber1 | u50 | can synthesize vortex |
+| flubber4 | u250 | missing HBM |
+| flubber5 | u280 | can synthesize vortex |
+
+
+*Note*: The `USERSCRATCH` folder is synchronized between all RG nodes. That means you can upload your files to `rg-login` and have them available on `flubber[1,4-5`. Changes on one node will be reflected across all nodes.
+
+## How to Access flubber for Synthesis?
+
+Now that you have the files prepared and available on the FPGA node, you can start the synthesis.  To run on hardware we need a rg-xilinx-fpga-hw cluster which includes **flubber[1,4-5]**. First `ssh` into the rouges gallery:
+
+```bash
+ssh <username>[@rg-login.crnch.gatech.edu](mailto:usubramanya3@rg-login.crnch.gatech.edu)
+```
+
+Then, to access the hardware node you need to `ssh` into flubber:
+
+```bash
+ssh flubber1
+```
+
+## Synthesis for Xillinx Boards
+
+XRT Environment Setup
+----------------------
+
+    $ source /opt/xilinx/Vitis/2023.1/settings64.sh
+    $ source /opt/xilinx/xrt/setup.sh
+
+
+Check Installed FPGA Platforms
+------------------------------
+
+    $ platforminfo -l
+
+
+Build FPGA image
+----------------
+
+    $ cd hw/syn/xilinx/xrt
+    $ PREFIX=test1 PLATFORM=xilinx_u50_gen3x16_xdma_5_202210_1 TARGET=hw NUM_CORES=4 make
+
+Will run the synthesis under new build directory: BUILD_DIR := "\<PREFIX>\_\<PLATFORM>\_\<TARGET>"
+
+The generated bitstream will be located under <BUILD_DIR>/bin/vortex_afu.xclbin
+
+Sample FPGA Run Test
+--------------------
+
+Ensure you have the correct opae runtime for the FPGA target
+
+    $ make -C runtime/xrt clean
+    $ TARGET=hw make -C runtime/xrt
+
+Run the following from your Vortex build directory
+
+    $ TARGET=hw FPGA_BIN_DIR=<BUILD_DIR>/bin ./ci/blackbox.sh --driver=xrt --app=sgemm --args="-n128"
+
+---
+
+The directory `hw/syn/xilinx/xrt` contains the makefile used to synthesize Vortex.
+
+For long-running jobs, invocation of this makefile can be made of the following form:
+
+`[CONFIGS=<vortex macros>] [PREFIX=<prefix directory name>] [NUM_CORES=<#>] TARGET=hw|hw_emu PLATFORM=<platform baseName> nohup make > <log filename> 2>&1 &`
+
+For example:
+
+```bash
+CONFIGS="-DL2_ENABLE -DDCACHE_SIZE=8192" PREFIX=build_4c_u280 NUM_CORES=4 TARGET=hw PLATFORM=xilinx_u280_gen3x16_xdma_1_202211_1 nohup make > build_u280_hw_4c.log 2>&1 &
+```
+
+The build is complete when the bitstream file `vortex_afu.xclbin` exists in `<prefix directory name><platform baseName>hw|hw_emu/bin`.
+
+## Running a Program on FPGA
+
+The blackbox.sh script in `ci` can be used to run a test with Vortex’s xrt driver using the following command:
+
+`FPGA_BIN_DIR=<path to bitstream directory> TARGET=hw|hw_emu PLATFORM=<platform baseName> ./ci/blackbox.sh --driver=xrt --app=<test name>`
+
+For example:
+
+`FPGA_BIN_DIR=`realpath hw/syn/xilinx/xrt/build_4c_u280_xilinx_u280_gen3x16_xdma_1_202211_1_hw/bin` TARGET=hw PLATFORM=xilinx_u280_gen3x16_xdma_1_202211_1 ./ci/blackbox.sh --driver=xrt --app=demo`
+
+## Synthesis for Intel (Altera) Boards
+
+To set up the environment, source the XRT setup.sh and other Xilinx scripts. For example:
+
+```
+source /opt/xilinx/xrt/setup.sh
+source /tools/reconfig/xilinx/Vivado/2022.1/settings64.sh
+source /tools/reconfig/xilinx/Vitis/2022.1/settings64.sh
+
+```
+
 OPAE Environment Setup
 ----------------------
 

docs/simulation.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SimX is a C++ cycle-level in-house simulator developed for Vortex. The relevant
 
 ### FGPA Simulation
 
-The current target FPGA for simulation is the Arria10 Intel Accelerator Card v1.0. The guide to build the fpga with specific configurations is located [here.](fpga_setup.md)
+The guide to build the fpga with specific configurations is located [here.](fpga_setup.md) You can find instructions for both Xilinx and Intel (Altera) based FPGAs.
 
 ### How to Test