VHDLSuite: Unified Pipeline for LLM VHDL Generation with Data Synthesis and Evaluation

NLP Benchmarks AI Systems and Hardware PVDAR Text-to-Code
大型语言模型(LLM)在寄存器传输级(RTL)代码生成方面已展现出卓越能力,尤其在Verilog语言上表现突出。然而,针对其他硬件描述语言(HDL)——特别是VHDL——的性能评估仍十分有限。VHDL具有独特的语言特征,例如更为严格的语义规则,这使得其评估需考虑与Verilog截然不同的因素。当前评估覆盖范围的不足,制约了我们对现有模型在结构与语义差异显著的各类硬件设计语言间泛化能力的全面理解。为填补这一空白,我们提出了VHDLSuite:一个以基准测试为核心的可扩展VHDL代码生成评估基础设施,集成了自动化基准合成、可执行性验证及多模型诊断分析三大功能。首先,我们设计了一条数据流水线,能够自动将Verilog设计及其配套测试平台(testbench)转换为可在VHDL环境中直接运行的基准测试实例,并借助VUnit/GHDL工具链进行验证,确保每个发布的任务均具备可编译性、可运行性,且能在VHDL环境下实现一致、可靠的正确性检查。其次,我们构建了VHDLBench基准测试集,其中包含200余个涵盖广泛复杂度层级的VHDL问题,所有题目均配有完整且经过验证的测试平台。第三,我们对当前最先进的大型语言模型开展了系统性评测,揭示了LLM辅助VHDL生成过程中所面临的关键挑战。本研究所得结论为多语言硬件设计自动化领域的后续工作提供了重要洞见与有力支撑。我们的数据流水线、基准测试集以及评估框架将全部开源。
Large Language Models (LLM) have shown impressive capabilities in Register Transfer Level (RTL) code generation, particularly for Verilog. However, evaluating their performance with other Hardware Description Languages (HDL), especially VHDL, remains limited although its distinct language characteristics, such as stricter semantic rules, introduce evaluation considerations that differ from Verilog. This lack of coverage restricts fully understanding of how well current models generalize across hardware design languages with differing structures and semantics. To address this gap, we introduce VHDLSuite, a benchmark-centered infrastructure for scalable VHDL generation evaluation, integrating automated benchmark synthesis, executable validation, and multi-model diagnostic analysis. First, we propose a data pipeline that automatically converts Verilog designs and their accompanying testbenches into executable VHDL benchmark instances, followed by VUnit/GHDL-based validation to ensure each released task is compilable, runnable, and consistently checkable in the VHDL environment. Second, we introduce VHDLBench, a benchmark with over 200 VHDL problems with complete and validated testbenches across a wide range of complexity levels. Third, we extensively evaluate cutting-edge LLMs and uncover key challenges specific on LLM-aided VHDL generation. Our findings provide important insights and support future work in multi-language hardware design automation.Our data pipeline, benchmark, and evaluation framework will be open-sourced.
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