A free, open-source electronic design automation (EDA) platform combines HDL editing, circuit visualisation, simulation, and FPGA development tools in a single environment.
OpenCircuitX is an open-source platform for EDA that allows users to design digital hardware using VHDL and Verilog. The platform unifies the development process by an HDL IDE, visual design of circuits, viewing RTL schematics, waveform analysis, and FPGA-specific features. OpenCircuitX can be used by both hardware engineers, students, and FPGA designers.
Designed to simplify the design process for FPGAs by unifying different steps of the design flow into one application. Developers are able to write and modify HDL code, view RTL schematics generated by the synthesiser, analyse simulation waveforms, and work with FPGA-related projects within one tool.
The platform focuses exclusively on FPGA devices, including the iCE40 and ECP5 FPGA families. The platform uses open-source FPGA toolchains like Project IceStorm and Project Trellis that generate production-ready bitstreams for certain FPGA devices. Thus, an easy-to-use development environment is provided without using any proprietary ASIC design flows.
The software is distributed using the MIT Licence, permitting users to view, change, and redistribute the source code. The platform’s open-source architecture ensures that the community benefits from the initiative and provides a transport platform that can be extended to meet different hardware development needs.
It presently supports 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11, but support for mac and Linux will be developed in future. By combining HDL editing, schematic viewing, waveform analysis, and FPGA toolchain, the platform provides a convenient environment for open-source digital logic and FPGA development.
