The module gossip-sim is the core member of the GOSSIP environment. It is the engine that carries out the simulations, given Scheme programs as input.
Overview
Simulations are described as nets of components. The components are connected via signals. A component has ports that can accept the signals. While executing the simulation, a component receives data at its input ports and produces new data at its output ports (which in turn travels thru a signal to the input port of another component). A component must specify how much data it expects at each of its input ports and how much it produces at each output port once enough data has arrived. These sizes must remain constant during the whole simulation. The simulation engine takes care of scheduling all components in the right order.
Components are created by instantiating blocks. A specific block is a blueprint of all components that perform the same kind of function. While instantiating a block you can specify values for the generics of the block. The generics are parameters that influence the behaviour of the resulting components. Each component has its own, independent set of values for the generics of its block. Blocks can be organized into libraries, but they don't have to be.
There are two general kinds of blocks, and correspondingly two general kinds of components: primitive ones and hierarchical ones. A primitive component is one that actually takes part in the final simulation. It contains executable code that gets run whenever enough data has arrived at its input ports and there is room in its output buffer. A hierarchical component on the other hand contains code to instantiate sub-components inside itself. Ultimately, there will be a net of primitive components that can be executed in concert. Thus, primitive components will do the real simulation work, while hierarchical components are a tool for organizing the net of primitive components.
The data itself that is transported via the signals consists of just bits, as far as the simulation engine is concerned. It is up to the primitive components to interpret these bits. There is support for checking that connected components will interpret these bits in the same way, however. There is also support for easily writing primitive blocks that work with complex numbers, or integers of up to 32 bits.
Ports can be declared to be multi ports. A multi port can accept any number of signals that are then treated individually by the component. It is, for example, possible to implement a sum block with a multi port as its sole input and a normal port as its output. When instantiated, the resulting component would then query how much signals are actually connected to the input and add them all up.
The simulation system is targeted at simulations that contain relatively few components with relatively rich behaviour. In a typical use, you might have a couple of hundreds components that do things like matrix multiplications or factorizations, implement radio transmission channel models, adaptively filter a digital signal, or something on that scale. There might also be lesser components that do multiplications or additions, but it wont probably be efficient to simulate gate-level designs that consist of hundred thousands of individual nand gates.
Gossip-sim itself is implemented in two coarse layers. The upper layer that is responsible for building the simulation net from user input, checking its validity and finding a suitable schedule for the primitive components, is written in Guile Scheme. The lower layer that is responsible for actually carrying out the simulation is written in C++.
The consequence of this is that hierarchical blocks are written in Scheme. The top-level user specification of the simulation net is written in Scheme, too, as it can be seen as a special purpose hierarchical block. Primitive blocks are written in C++ and loaded into the simulation as shared libraries.
When describing the layout of your simulation net, you are in effect writing a Scheme program and consequently you can use all features of Scheme. This gives you a considerable flexible, much more than you would get from more special purpose languages like VHDL, for example.
Documentation
The source for the gossip-sim manual is included in the distribution. It is available here in a variety of formats: