HercuLeS downloads

• HercuLeS FREE version for Windows 7 (64-bit). [downloaded 771 times]
• HercuLeS FREE version for Linux (32-bit). [downloaded 600 times]
• HercuLeS FREE version for Linux (64-bit). [downloaded 691 times]

Update information

• 2013-11-06: HercuLeS GUI integration simplifications (Windows 7 only).
• 2013-10-30: Linux 64-bit version added! (experimental)
• 2013-10-29: Windows and Linux 32-bit version fix: Garbage collection library was missing.
• 2013-10-25: Linux 32-bit version added!

Setup information

Since 2013-10-22, the FREE version is distributed as a single archive; you will just have to download a "NO USER" licensed archive for Windows 64-bit: http://www.nkavvadias.com/temp/hercules-2013a-free.tar.bz2 or Linux 32-bit: http://www.nkavvadias.com/temp/hercules-2013a-free-lin32.tar.bz2.

Some guidelines follow:

HercuLeS setup on Windows 64-bit

1. Download the corresponding HercuLeS FREE version archive for Windows 64-bit: HercuLeS for Windows 64-bit


2. Unarchive the archive, e.g. to the C: drive on Windows (Windows 7 is currently supported).
3. If you don't have MinGW installed on your system, run the MinGW installer (mingw-get-inst-20110802.exe) from the C:\hercules\thirdparty\mingw-installer directory.
4. Follow the prompts and choose:
   • Download latest repository packages,
   • Install at C:\MinGW,
   • Choose MinGW compiler suite and enable C++ compiler as well
   • Choose MinGW development kit when asked (this will include the MSYS Basic System as well, don't enable this separately)
   to install the MinGW environment on your system. This requires an internet connection and about 400 MB of disk space. Accept the default prompt for installing to C:\MinGW.
5. To summarize, the MinGW installer should choose the following options upon installation:
   • Installing: mingw-get, pkginfo, C Compiler, C++ Compiler, MSYS Basic System, MinGW Developer Toolkit
   • Downloading latest repository catalogues
   • Destination location: C:\MinGW
6. Following that, edit C:\hercules\hercules.ini to match your system's configuration. If you intend to use Xilinx ISE/XST you have to indicate the specific path to XILINX_PATH/bin/xst.exe. Xilinx Vivado is not yet supported.

If you have unarchived hercules to C:\ (thus C:\hercules is the top-level directory) you can try to not perform any changes to hercules.ini, especially if you don't intend to run Xilinx XST/ISE.

HercuLeS setup on Linux 32-bit/64-bit

1. Download the corresponding HercuLeS FREE version archive for Linux 32-bit: HercuLeS for Linux 32-bit or Linux 64-bit: HercuLeS for Linux 64-bit


2. Unarchive the archive to the /home/user (assuming your username is "user"). The reference Linux platform for using HercuLeS is Linux Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (32-bit).
3. Certain third-party tools are assumed to be in your PATH, such as eog (Eye of GNOME), evince (PDF reader), graphviz (graph layout and visualization engine), ghdl (the VHDL simulator).
4. Edit /home/user/hercules/hercules.ini to match your system's configuration. If you intend to use Xilinx ISE/XST you have to indicate the specific path to XILINX_PATH/bin/xst. Xilinx Vivado is not yet supported.

If you have unarchived hercules to /home/user/ (thus /home/user/hercules is the top-level directory) you can try to not perform any changes to hercules.ini, especially if you don't intend to run Xilinx XST/ISE, and already have all third-party tools in your PATH.

HercuLeS usage

1. Double-click on the HercuLeS shortcut in C:\hercules (Windows).
2. Or: Open a terminal, change directory to /home/user/hercules/gui and run ./hercules.sh (Linux)
3. From the File>Load C file choose a C program file from the C:\hercules\tests\ansic subdirectories.
   For instance, to evaluate the "fibo" algorithm choose fibo.c from C:\hercules\tests\ansic\fibo.
4. Load HercuLeS configuration by performing the following:
   File>Load HercuLeS configuration and choose default.config from the C:\hercules\gui directory.
   If you don't want to run logic synthesis, choose the nosynth.config configuration.
5. Press the Run HercuLeS from either the Action menu (Action>Run HercuLeS) or from the separate control near the bottom-left of the basic HercuLeS GUI screen (always visible).
6. You can examine the generated result files by pressing the Display results button from the Action menu or by pressing the "Results browser" button which is placed right next to the "Run HercuLeS" button (again, at the bottom of the basic GUI screen).
7. If you only want to examine existing results, omit step 4.
8. To run new VHDL simulations, you need to have Mentor Modelsim installed on your system. Specifically, the executables' directory (where vsim.exe, vcom.exe are placed should be in your path).

Important notes

1. The archive provides sample C and NAC (N-Address Code) benchmarks for testing.
2. hlo (the C-to-C optimizer) is not included.
3. copt, kdiv, kmul, fgmp are included in both source and executable forms. These components are intended to be licensed under BSD or have been placed in the public domain (fgmp).
4. The "official" C frontend is not included.
5. Most source codes and most of the build system (scripts) have been removed.
   However, library VHDL codes (e.g. operator and IP libraries) are accessible in order to perform third-party VHDL simulations without Modelsim.
6. You can find an unbiased comparison of HercuLeS HLS and Xilinx Vivado HLS here: Vivado HLS vs HercuLeS

What to report

Please feel free and motivated to report your experience with the HercuLeS GUI.
The following is an indicative list of what to report.

• Bugs in the usage of the GUI.
• Unexpected and/or unintended behavior of any function and control.
• Suggestions (what to add and/or remove from the GUI).
• Quality report regarding the generated source codes.
• There is a manual (PDF and HTML forms) in C:\hercules\doc. You may want to read through it, e.g. Chapter 8 provides more details on the GUI functions.
• Anything else that you deem relevant.