home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Newsgroups: comp.lsi,comp.lsi.cad,news.answers,comp.answers
- Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!agate!news.ucdavis.edu!altarrib!hemlock
- From: altarrib@hemlock.ece.ucdavis.edu (Michael Altarriba)
- Subject: comp.lsi.cad Frequently Asked Questions With Answers (Part 4/4) [LONG]
- Message-ID: <lsi-cad-faq/part4_745887741@tyfon.eecs.ucdavis.edu>
- Followup-To: comp.lsi.cad
- Summary: This is a biweekly posting of frequently asked questions with answers
- the for comp.lsi / comp.lsi.cad newsgroups. It should be consulted
- before posting questions to comp.lsi or comp.lsi.cad.
- Keywords: FAQ
- Sender: usenet@ucdavis.edu (News Administrator)
- Supersedes: <lsi-cad-faq/part4_744999725@tyfon.eecs.ucdavis.edu>
- Reply-To: clcfaq@eecs.ucdavis.edu
- Organization: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UC Davis
- References: <lsi-cad-faq/part3_745887741@tyfon.eecs.ucdavis.edu>
- Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1993 23:03:04 GMT
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
- Lines: 671
- Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.lsi:3072 comp.lsi.cad:3354 news.answers:11629 comp.answers:1677
-
- Archive-name: lsi-cad-faq/part4
-
- a palette picture file that displays all 52 symbols in a compact grid
- that you can cut and paste from within TeXcad. Each symbol lives in its
- own .mac file and is defined as a 'savebox' so as to reduce memory con-
- sumption. You must add the [bezier] option to your 'documentstyle' com-
- mand. A small manual is provided in both Postscript and .dvi forms.
-
- The files lcircuit.zip and lcircuit.tar are available for anonymous ftp
- from cscx.cs.rhbnc.ac.uk (134.219.200.45) in directory pub/lcircuit. I
- will also be uploading them to various ftp servers in the coming week.
-
- 46: Tanner Research Tools (Ledit and LVS)
-
- (From Bhusan Gupta <bgupta@micro.caltech.edu>)
-
- Low cost, yet very powerful commercial ASIC design tools are available
- from Tanner Research, Inc. in Pasadena, CA. These products are used by
- industry and universities alike. Tanner's products are nominally priced
- at $995 per program, with a combined package named L-Edit Pro available
- for $3,495 on the PC. Universities are offered a 75% discount. Here is
- a list of their current programs:
-
- L-EditTM : A full-custom layout editor with CIF and GDSII
- input/output. Features a 32-bit coordinate space,
- all-angle geometry, unlimited hierarchy and number
- of layers. The L-Edit Pro package includes L-Edit/DRC
- for design rule checking, L-Edit/SPR for automatic
- standard cell placement and routing, L-Edit/Extract
- for extracting transistors, capacitors, resistors and
- generic devices for SPICE-level simulation or comparison
- to a schematic and LVS ,a netlist comparison tool for
- topological and parametrical verification. Optional
- layout libraries are also available.
-
- T-Spice: Circuit level simulator (See item 41 for detail
-
- GateSimTM : Gate-level simulator. A full array of technology mapping
- libraries are also available.
-
- Products are available for the PC, Macintosh, Sun and Hp UNIX platforms.
- For more information contact Bhushan Mudbhary at Tanner Research (bhushan
- @ tanner.com), phone 818-792-3000 and fax 818-792-0300.
-
- 47: SIMIC, a full-featured logic verification simulator.
-
- (From comp.archives.msdos.announce)
-
- SIMIC is a full-featured logic verification simulator. It has been
- demonstrated that SIMIC can uncover a number of critical design errors
- that other simulators miss. SIMIC has shown superior accuracy and
- throughput when compared to competitive products. Here are some of
- SIMIC's important features:
-
- - Mixed-mode simulation allows the free intermixture of true
- bilateral switches (ideal and resistive), gate, plus functional level
- built-in and user defined primitives.
-
- - A wide variety of output, whose detail, content and format are, to
- large extent, user defined.
-
- - A large repetoire of simulation options and controls that can be
- applied interactively, or in batch operation, and simplify
- trouble-shooting of your design.
-
- - Automated Test equipment emulation, allows debugging test programs
- using SIMIC troubleshooting techniques.
-
- - Sophisticated hazard analysis including: Spike, Pulse, Conflict,
- Oscillation, Setup, Hold, Pulse-width, Near (what-if)
- detection, among others. Hazard propagation is also supported.
-
- The student version of SIMIC is limited to a maximum of 500 elements
- (parts). In all other respects it is the same program as the commercial
- offering. The PC student version requires a 386 or better and at least 2
- Meg of memory. Both a DPMI and a VCPI version are included in the pack-
- age. Both versions require EMS *NOT* be disabled. SIMIC is also avail-
- able on Sun and other platforms.
-
- 48: LASI CAD System, IC and device layout for IBM compatibles
-
- (from Mike Fitsimmons <mikef@hendrix.ece.uiuc.edu>)
-
- On behalf of the author I have uploaded to WSMR-SIMTEL20.Army.Mil:
-
- pd1:<msdos.cad> LASI41A.ZIP LASI v4.1 IC layout CAD prgm: unzip in
- LASI41B.ZIP LASI v4.1 IC layout CAD prgm: unzip in LASI41C.ZIP
- LASI v4.1 IC layout CAD prgm: unzip in LASIDEMO.ZIP LASI v4.1 DEMO
- drawing: unzip in
-
- The LASI CAD System has been developed to do integrated circuit and dev-
- ice layout on almost any IBM compatable personal computer.
-
- LASIDEMO is a small IC layout to be used as a demonstration when first
- learning to use LASI.
-
- I offered to pay the author for some sort of site license for this pro-
- gram, but he refused, saying that he actually wants educational institu-
- tions to use it for free. What a guy!
-
- 49: EEDRAW, an electrical/electronic diagramming tool for IBM compatibles
-
- (from <pcc@minster.york.ac.uk>)
-
- I have uploaded to WSMR-SIMTEL20.Army.Mil:
-
- pd1:<msdos.graphics> EEDRAW24.ZIP Electrical Engineering drawing (with
- layers)
-
- This is the 2.4 release of EEDRAW, an electrical/electronic diagramming
- tool for the IBM PC.
-
- pd1:<msdos.graphics> EEDSRC24.ZIP C sources for EEDRAW24.ZIP program.
- TC/BC++
-
- This is the source of the EEdraw 2.4 program. Please read the readme file
- in the primary archive for information on other source programs needed
- such as the Libary files.
-
- 50: MagiCAD, GaAs Gate Array Design through MOSIS
-
- (from Tom Smith <tsmith@mayo.edu>)
-
- The Mayo Graphical Integrated Computer Aided Design (MagiCAD) system is a
- package which provides a comprehensive design environment for the
- development of digital systems, from initial concept to post-layout
- verification of integrated circuits (ICs). MagiCAD focuses on the
- development of high-speed Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) gate array designs.
- Specialized electromagnetic simulation tools are provided to address high
- clock rate issues such as crosstalk and reflections, which become more
- important as clock rates exceed several hundred MHz or signal edge rates
- become less than 500 pico- seconds. MagiCAD provides all the necessary
- tools for high clock rate GaAs IC design, and is also integrated with
- non-Mayo circuit, logic, and fault simulators.
-
- MagiCAD provides a lower risk approach than full-custom design for
- universities wishing to perform digital GaAs design through MOSIS. This
- is done by providing a gate array design environment where low-level
- transistor design and layout issues have already been solved and
- abstracted into a technology library of pre-defined cells. This frees the
- student or researcher to solve the still challenging tasks of system and
- gate-level design and layout to get high clock rate chips fabricated
- through MOSIS that meet all specifications.
-
- MagiCAD supports hierarchical, top-down, middle-out, or bottom-up
- development styles. MagiCAD has been used in the design of many GaAs
- chips that have been successfully fabricated. The MagiCAD electromagnetic
- modeling tools have been used in the analysis of many actual packages,
- multi-chip modules (MCMs), and printed circuit boards (PCBs), uncovering
- and avoiding problems that are commonly associated with high-frequency,
- fast edge-rate designs. The Vitesse Fury (TM) GaAs VSC2K gate array is
- provided as a MagiCAD technology library, and has been used for both gra-
- duate and undergraduate student chip designs.
-
- Functionality that has been integrated into MagiCAD includes:
-
- o Vitesse VSC2K GaAs gate array technology library
- o Database which integrates all tools
- o Schematic entry through a general purpose graphics editor
- o Circuit simulator
- o Logic and timing simulators
- o Fault analysis
- o Place and route tools
- o Layout verification tools
- o Retargeting from generic design to specific technology
- o Output to standard GDSII format for mask creation
- o Electromagnetic analysis
- - Cross section entry with graphics editor
- - Multilayer multiconductor transmission line (MMTL) modeling
- - Network tool for solving cases with many transmission line
- components
- - Lossy and non-lossy cases
- - Frequency and time domain result displays
- - Used for analyzing complex design paths, through chip, MCM,
- and PCB
-
- The Vitesse VSC2K has the following characteristics:
-
- o HGaAs-2 (TM) process o 2700 available gates
- o Enhancement/depletion MESFET process o 80 signal pads
- o 2 GHz flip-flop toggle rates o 40 power, ground pads
- o 280 psec loaded gate delays o 2.4 watts maximum
- o 170 mils x 135 mils o ECL or TTL I/O
- o 132 pin LDCC package available o 2 routing layers
-
- The Mayo Foundation has used MagiCAD to design several VSC2K designs that
- have been fabricated through both MOSIS and Vitesse. These designs have
- measured operating frequencies of 500 MHz to 1 GHz, depending upon the
- section of the circuit being tested. The general application thrust of
- these designs has been components which are being used to evaluate MCM
- technologies for high speed systems, as well as high speed data genera-
- tion and acquisition circuits.
-
- The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee has used MagiCAD to design
- several VSC2K designs that have been fabricated through MOSIS. These
- designs have simulated clock rates from 100 MHz to 600 MHz. The general
- application thrust of these designs has been components of digital signal
- processors with medical image processing applications. The descriptions
- of these VSC2K personalizations that have been designed and fabricated
- include:
-
- o 8-bit Booth's algorithm multiplier
- o 4-bit arithmetic logic unit
- o 8-bit combinatorial multiplier
- o 24-bit carry look-ahead adder
-
- The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has authorized and
- funded Mayo to supply MagiCAD to universities in the U.S. for research
- and educational purposes. The direct cost to the universities for the
- MagiCAD software itself is zero (although there may be costs for any
- non-Mayo software that universities may want, as well as possible costs
- to get the proper hardware/software platform). Mayo-supplied MagiCAD
- training and support costs to these institutions is funded by DARPA, and
- is therefore free to the universities.
-
- While the MagiCAD tools are presently only available for VAX/VMS environ-
- ments, work is presently underway to port MagiCAD to POSIX-compliant
- platforms (POSIX is the IEEE "UNIX-like" portable operating system defin-
- ition). First POSIX platforms presently planned to port to include DECs-
- tations and HP workstations, likely availability of MagiCAD on these
- platforms is second half of 1993.
-
- The general steps for a university to begin using MagiCAD for digital
- GaAs gate array design include:
- 1) Contact Mayo Foundation to acquire MagiCAD software
- 2) Contact MOSIS to acquire general MOSIS information
- and Vitesse-specific technology information.
-
- Point Of Contact For Acquiring MagiCAD And MagiCAD Support:
-
- Thomas J. Smith
- Mayo Foundation
- Special Purpose Processor Development Group
- 200 First St. S. W.
- Rochester, Minnesota 55905
- Telephone: (507) 284-0840
- Telefax: (507) 284-9171
- EMail: tsmith@mayo.edu
-
- Point Of Contact For Acquiring General MOSIS Information
- And Vitesse-specific Technology Information:
-
- Sam Reynolds
- The MOSIS Service
- USC/ISI
- 4676 Admiralty Way
- Marina del Rey, CA 90292-6695
- Telephone: (310) 822-1511 x172
- Telefax: (310) 823-5624
- EMail: sdreynolds@mosis.edu
-
- 51: XSPICE, extended version of Spice
-
- (from Jeff Murray <jm67@hydra.gatech.edu>)
-
- I am one of the developers of XSPICE, and at the risk of being deluged
- with requests for specific information on the tools, I can volunteer to
- answer at least some questions. Currently there is no ftp site for infor-
- mation; if there were, this posting would likely be unnecessary. However,
- we are prohibited from posting even the User's Manual due to technology
- export restrictions.
-
- The following is a copy of the original press release on XSPICE. If
- anyone would like additional clarification beyond this, or if some
- aspects of the release are unclear, we can certainly take this as an
- opportunity to remedy the situation. Please note that at the current time
- there are many dozens of individuals who have obtained a copy of the
- tools; if they have any comments or observations to make, I'm sure they
- would be most welcome to other members of the user community.
-
- XSPICE Press Release
-
- January 2, 1993
-
- Georgia Tech Research Corporation
-
- XSPICE, introduced at the 1992 International Symposium on Circuits and
- Systems (ISCAS), is an extended and enhanced version of the popular SPICE
- analog circuit simulation program originally developed at the University
- of California at Berkeley. XSPICE was developed at the Georgia Tech
- Research Institute (GTRI) as a tool for simulating circuits and systems
- at multiple levels of abstraction. XSPICE permits a user to simulate ana-
- log, digital, and even non-electronic designs from the circuit level
- through the system level in a single simulator. A special Code Modeling
- feature allows users to add new models directly into the simulator exe-
- cutable for maximum simulation speed and accuracy. Code models are writ-
- ten in the C programming language allowing arbitrarily complex behavior
- to be described. Code model development tools are provided to simplify
- the process of creating new models, compiling them, and linking them with
- the XSPICE core.
-
- XSPICE provides a rich set of predefined code models in addition to the
- standard discrete device models available in SPICE. The XSPICE code model
- library contains over 40 new functional blocks including summers, multi-
- pliers, integrators, magnetics models, limiters, S-domain transfer func-
- tions, digital gates, digital storage elements, and a generalized digital
- state-machine.
-
- Digital functions are simulated in XSPICE through an embedded event-
- driven algorithm added to the SPICE core. This algorithm is coordinated
- with the analog simulation algorithm to provide fast and accurate simula-
- tion of mixed-signal circuits and systems. The event-driven algorithm
- supports a new "User-Defined Node" capability allowing additional event-
- driven data types to be defined and used. XSPICE comes with a 12-state
- digital data type as well as a user-defined node library that includes
- 'real' and 'integer' types useful in simulating sampled-data systems such
- as Digital Signal Processing algorithms.
-
- XSPICE is currently available for UNIX workstations and is supplied in
- source code form allowing users to customize and extend the simulator and
- models to particular needs. To date, the simulator has been successfully
- compiled and used on HP Apollo and Sun workstations. The XSPICE simulator
- and User's Manual are available with a cost-free license arrangement from
- the Georgia Tech Research Corporation for a distribution charge of US
- $200 (including first class postage within the U.S.A.; an additional US
- $25 is required for overseas delivery by air). For further information,
- please contact the Office of Technology Licensing, Georgia Tech Research
- Corporation, Georgia Institute of Technology, 400 Tenth Street, Atlanta,
- GA 30332-0415, USA, or phone (404) 894-6287 (voice) or (404) 894-9728
- (FAX). Internet users may send email to XSPICE@GTRI.GATECH.EDU to obtain
- copies of the order form and license agreement (please include the word
- "license" in the subject header when mailing to this address).
-
- 52: MISIM, a model-independent circuit simulation tool
-
- (from Bardo Muller <bardo@ief-paris-sud.fr>)
-
- University of Washington has recently released the updated MISIM simula-
- tor. The new release (Sun version) is now available through ftp with
- anonymous login. The node address is 128.95.31.10. The release is under
- /pub/misim.SUN.2.3.a. If you have any question, please don't hesitate to
- contact us (misim_support@ee.washington.edu). Or, you can contact Prof.
- Andrew Yang at 206-543-2932.
-
- Attention:
- ---------
-
- We are currently re-writing the whole MISIM system in C with broader
- design consideration. The noise and temperature simulation capability
- will be incorporated into our next release. It would have more flexible
- front end with better simulation performance. The new version is
- expected sometime around the end of this summer. Since the actual
- release no longer reflected the level of our technology, we removed it
- from our ftp directory.
-
- MISIM Development Team
- Department of Electrical Engineering
- University of Washington
-
- MISIM 2.3A Release: General Information
- ------------------------------------------
-
- A) New capabilities:
- ----------------
-
- MISIM 2.3A is distinguishable from the previous release in that is now
- integrates a transistor-level mixed analog-digital simulator based on
- analytical digital macromodeling. The mixed-signal simulator is equipped
- with a front-end translator which accepts standard SPICE netlist syntax
-
- and converts it into MISIM mixed-mode syntax. Analytic macromodels for
- digital subcircuits are generated and loaded into MISIM core simulator
-
- automatically. Synchronized simulation is then performed for the digital
- subcircuits (processed by analytic solution) and the analog subcircuits
- (processed by proven analog simulation algorithms) with much accelerated
- speed and superior analog accuracy ( within 3-5 % of SPICE).
-
- The MISIM mixed-signal simulator supports all standard Berkeley MOS model
- (Level 1, 2, 3, BSIM 1, BSIM 2). User-defined MOS models of arbitrary
- complexity are also supported.
-
- Currently, the procedure of processing analytic digital macromodeling
- cannot be applied to bipolar devices (G-P model). Hence, all bipolar
- transistors will be simulated as "analog" components.
-
- MISIM's X-window graphic environment, WISE, has been upgraded to support
- the mixed-signal simulation capabilities.
-
- B) Model Improvements:
- ------------------
-
- MISIM 2.3A now supports improved SPICE models (MOS, Diode, BJT). Many of
- the model discontinuities have been resolved leading to more reliable
- simulation. The MOS Level 2 and Level 3 models have also been upgraded to
- an improved charge-conserved models. The standard SPICE diode model has
- been enhanced to a non-quasi-static model capable of simulating accu-
- rately the diode recovery effect.
-
- These improved SPICE models are released as linked models. Users are not
- recommeded to unload these improved models.
-
- C) A New Parser:
- ------------
-
- MISIM 2.3A incorporates a new netlist parser which supports two different
- modes:
-
- 1) Standard SPICE netlist syntax - default mode. 2) Enhanced SPICE net-
- list syntax - MISIM mode.
-
- This new capability is designed to make MISIM completely spice-
- compatible. In addition, the new parser now handles symbolic names and
- expressions.
-
- D) Updated Documentations:
- ----------------------
-
- An updated MISIM User's guide is available in postcript form. On-line
- documentations is also provided.
-
- E) Future Release (MISIM 3.0):
- --------------------------
-
- 1) The next release will include a new C-version analog simulator which
- has been benchmarked to be a factor of 2 to 3 times faster than the
- current fortran version.
-
- 2) The mixed-signal simulator will be enhanced to improve digital cover-
- age rate (percentage of a mixed A/D circuit which can be processed by the
- analytic digital macromodel) for better simulation performance.
-
- 53: Nelsis Cad Framework
-
- (from their 'README' file)
-
- Release 4.3 is the latest version of the Nelsis IC Design System. It
- contains a CAD framework that puts a substantial added-value under the
- fingertips of the designer by organizing the design information and
- keeping track of the design evolution. It permits integration of
- tools of different origin and achieves run-time efficiency. The
- framework is based on intelligent management of meta data on top of
- the actual design descriptions; it administers high level information
- about the design activities and the structure and status of the design,
- rather than operating at the level of the detailed design descriptions.
-
- The framework services, such as flow management, version manage-
- ment, concurrency control and state management, have been implemented
- on top of the meta data management module. The framework controls
- access to the design objects and administers meta data by performing
- OTO-D queries. Tools operate on top of the framework via the Data
- Management Interface, obtaining access to the design data according to a
- nested transaction schema.
-
- The Nelsis CAD Framework is available, together with a set of design
- tools for demonstration purposes, through anonymous ftp from
- dutente.et.tudelft.nl (130.161.144.6), in /pub/nelsis.
-
- 54: APLAC, a system-level simulator and IEEE-488 measurement tool
-
- (from Sakari Aaltonen <sakari@picea.hut.fi>)
-
- -----------------------------------------
- APLAC 6.1
- -----------------------------------------
-
- General information
-
- APLAC, a program for circuit simulation and analysis, is a joint develop-
- ment of the Circuit Theory Lab of Helsinki University of Technology and
- Nokia Corporation's Research Center. The main analysis modes are DC, AC,
- noise, transient, oscillator, and (multitone harmonic) steady state.
- APLAC can also be used for measurements with IEEE-488 apparatus. APLAC's
- transient analysis uses convolution for correct treatment of components
- with frequency-dependent characteristics. Monte Carlo analysis is avail-
- able in all basic analysis modes, as is sensitivity analysis in DC and AC
- modes. N-port Z, Y, and S parameters, as well as two-port H parameters,
- can be used in AC analysis. APLAC also includes a versatile collection of
- system level blocks for the simulation and design of analog and digital
- communication systems.
-
- Component models
-
- Too many to be listed here. In addition to familiar Spice models, a great
- number of microwave components (microstrip/stripline) are included. Sys-
- tem models include formula-based and discrete-time models useful in RF
- design. The model parameters of the components may have any functional
- dependency on frequency, time, temperature, or any other parameter. Users
- can create new components by defining their - possibly nonlinear - static
- and dynamic characteristics in APLAC's interpreter-type language. Spice-
- syntax models can be imported.
-
- Input
-
- APLAC reads its input - the nodes, branches, and model parameters of the
- components - from a text file. Model libraries can be created and
- included. Expressions are written in a program-like manner; user func-
- tions may be defined. Conditional and looping control structures are sup-
- ported.
-
- Output
-
- The output results from one or several sweeps of any user-defined func-
- tion of the circuit parameters, time, frequency, or temperature. The
- results may be printed or plotted in rectangular or polar coordinates, or
- on the Smith chart. Graphics output can be directed to an HPGL- or CSDF-
- type file, or to a graphics file for later viewing.
-
- Optimization
-
- APLAC includes several optimization methods: gradient, conjugate gra-
- dient, minmax, random, simulated annealing, tuning (manual optimization)
- and gravity center (design centering). Any parameter in a design problem
- can be used as a variable and any user-defined function may act as an
- objective.
-
- Machine environment
-
- Unix: X11; PC: MS-Windows (math coprocessor required).
-
- Contact information
- -------------------
- Martti Valtonen Heikki Rekonen
- Helsinki University of Technology Nokia Research Center
- Circuit Theory Laboratory Hardware Design Technology
- Otakaari 5A, SF-02150 Espoo, FINLAND P.O.Box 156, SF-02101 Espoo,
- FINLAND
- Fax: 358-0-460224 Tel: 358-0-43761
- e-mail:martti@aplac.hut.fi Fax: 358-0-455 2557
-
- Free (university version) binaries for HP9000/700, Sun4, and PC machines
- are available via FTP from nic.funet.fi:/pub/cae/aplac. Help files, PS
- manuals, and collections of APLAC examples are in the same directory.
-
- 55: SLS, a switch-level simulator
-
- (from comp.lsi.cad)
-
- DELFT UNIVERSITY OFFERS UNIQUE SWITCH-LEVEL SIMULATOR
-
- SLS is a switch-level simulator that can be used to simulate the logic
- and timing behavior of large digital circuits that are described at the
- (mixed) MOS transistor, gate and functional level. It has fast and accu-
- rate algorithms to predict the timing behavior of MOS circuits containing
- > 100,000 transistors. MOS transistor-level circuit descriptions are
- easily mixed with gate-level and functional-level circuit descriptions,
- where the behavior of the latter are described in the C programming
- language. There is an X-window based user-interface to graphically edit
- the input signals and to inspect the simulation output signals. The same
- interface is used to alternatively simulate the circuit with the well-
- known circuit simulator SPICE. SLS has already been used by many people
- at many different sites, and numerous chips have been designed with it.
- SLS is now made available world-wide to serve as a useful design and
- verification tool to the international design community. Apart from
- being used as a stand-alone tool, SLS can also be used as a part of the
- popular design system for Sea-Of-Gates circuits OCEAN, or it can be con-
- nected to the advanced Nelsis CAD framework.
-
- The SLS simulator has three different simulation levels:
-
- 1. Purely logic simulation based on abstract transistor strengths:
- This level more or less behaves similar to the original switch-level
- model as proposed by R.E. Bryant. It computes logic states by
- only considering node states and transistor types.
-
- 2. Logic simulation based on exact transistor dimensions and node
- capacitances: This level uses resistance division and capacitance
- division algorithms to compute logic states. It finds correct logic
- states in much more situations than conventional switch-level
- simulators, e.g. when a resistance division occurs between a saturated
- transistor and a non-saturated transistor.
-
- 3. Logic and timing simulation based on transistor and node parameters:
- RC time constant evaluations are used to approximate real voltages by
- PIECEWISE-LINEAR VOLTAGE WAVEFORMS. This not only provides delay times
- for the circuit, but is also delivers an accurate representation for
- transient effects like spikes and races.
-
- Apart from electrical network elements like MOS transistors, resistors
- and capacitors, an SLS network may contain (i) gate primitives like
- inverters, nands, nors, etc. and (ii) user-defined function blocks like
- roms, shiftregisters, multipliers. The behavior of function blocks is
- described by the user in the C programming language: it is specified by
- the user how the values of the output terminals and the state variables
- are computed from the values of the input terminals and the state vari-
- ables.
-
- For more information about SLS, see,
-
- "Switch-level timing simulation," P.M. Dewilde, A.J. van Genderen,
- A.C. de Graaf, Proc. ICCAD 85 Conf., Santa Clara, Nov. 1985,
- pp. 182-184
-
- "SLS: An Efficient Switch-Level Timing Simulator Using Min-Max Voltage
- waveforms," A.J. van Genderen, Proc. VLSI 89 Conf., Munich, Aug. 1989,
- pp. 79-88.
-
- "SLS: Switch-Level Simulator User's Manual," A.C. de Graaf, A.J. van
- Genderen, Delft University of Technology (available for ftp at the
- address below).
-
- Availability:
-
- SLS is written in C and runs under UNIX and X-windows. It runs, among
- other things, on Sun SPARC stations, HP 9000 series 700/800 machines, and
- PCs running Linux. The program is available for free under the terms of
- the GNU General Public License. It can be retrieved via anonymous ftp
- from the directory pub/sls on dutentb.et.tudelft.nl.
-
- It is also possible to obtain SLS as a part of the OCEAN system for the
- design of Sea-Of-Gates circuits. This system can be obtained from the
- directory pub/ocean on donau.et.tudelft.nl. The OCEAN system among other
- things contains a layout-to-circuit extractor that can extract large lay-
- outs and that stores the result directly in the database that is read by
- SLS. Furthermore, SLS is available as a tool in the Nelsis CAD framework
- from the directory pub/nelsis on dutente.et.tudelft.nl. The latest ver-
- sion of SLS can always be found on dutentb.et.tudelft.nl.
-
- For questions, remarks and bug reports, contact
-
- Arjan van Genderen
- Delft University of Technology
- Department of Electrical Engineering
- Mekelweg 4 phone: 31-15-786258
- 2628 CD Delft fax: 31-15-623271
- The Netherlands email: arjan@dutentb.et.tudelft.nl
-
- 56: OCEAN, a sea-of-gates design system
-
- (from Patrick Groeneveld <ocean@donau.et.tudelft.nl>)
-
- About OCEAN: the sea-of-gates design system
- -------------------------------------------
-
- OCEAN is a comprehensive chip design package which was developed at Delft
- University of Technology, the Netherlands. It includes a full set of
- powerful tools for the synthesis and verification of semi-custom sea-of-
- gates and gate-array chips. OCEAN covers the back-end of the design tra-
- jectory: from circuit level, down to layout and a working chip. In a nut-
- shell, OCEAN has the following features:
-
- + Available for free, including all source code.
- + Short learning curve making it suitable for student design courses.
- + Hierarchical (full-custom-like) layout style on sea-of-gates.
- + Powerful tools for placement, routing, simulation and extraction.
- + Any combination of automatic and interactive manual layout.
- + OCEAN can handle even the largest designs.
- + Running on popular HP, Sun and 386/486 PC machines, easy
- installation.
- + Includes three sea-of-gates images with libraries and a
- 200,000 transistor sea-of-gates chip.
- + Can be easily adapted to arbitrary images with any number of layers.
- + Interface programs for other tools and systems (SIS, cadence, etc.)
- + Robust and 'combat-proven', used by hundreds of people.
-
- How to retrieve OCEAN and additional documentation?
- ---------------------------------------------------
-
- The entire OCEAN system is available for free via anonymous ftp, gopher
- or on tape. A powerful installation script is included, so you can get
- started very quickly without hacking up the code. You can retrieve OCEAN
- and additional documentation via:
-
- anonymous ftp: donau.et.tudelft.nl - directory pub/ocean
- gopher: olt.et.tudelft.nl (port 70) or use the path
- World --> Europe --> Netherlands -->
- Delft University of Technology Electronic Engineering
- --> Research activities -->
- The OCEAN sea-of-gates Design System
-
- We advise to retrieve first the documents with the user manual. (The file
- 'ocean_docs.tar.gz'). If you have any questions, remarks or problems,
- just contact us:
-
- Patrick Groeneveld or Paul Stravers
- Electronic Engineering Group, Electrical Engineering Faculty
- Delft University of Technology
- Mekelweg 4, 2628 CD Delft The Netherlands
- Phone: +31-15786240 Fax: +31-15786190
- Email: ocean@donau.et.tudelft.nl
-
-