etas - A timing file .dtx and .ttx browser
This software belongs to the ALLIANCE CAD system from the CAO-VLSI team at
ASIM/LIP6/UPMC laboratory.
LIP6/ASIM
University P. et M. Curie
4, place Jussieu
75252 PARIS Cedex 05
FRANCE
Fax : {33/0} 1.44.27.62.86
E-mail support : alliance-support@asim.lip6.fr
etas [options] [root_file]
etas is the browser of the timing result files provided by the hierarchical timing analyzer tas. It requires a file with the ttx extension to report information on the path delays and possibly a file with the dtx extension to report information on the detailed delays (gate) of the paths.
etas reports timing information selected according to the user's requests. When entering etas, the prompt etas appears. On-line help can be provided by running:
etas> help [options|commands|arguments]
the options should be specified when running etas, they are described in the following section. The commands and the arguments are specified after entering etas. They are described in the following sections. Previously performed commands are available through the keyboard arrow.
tas is a switch level, pattern independent, timing analyzer for CMOS circuits. The input file root_file is a netlist of transistors and capacitances extracted from the layout (ALLIANCE or SPICE format). The netlist can be hierarchical and is flattened if necessary. tas uses a technology file dedicated for each target process (file with elp extension). The default version works out a flattened timing view of the circuit and does not take into account the resistances of wires. In the hierarchical analysis mode, tas uses existing timing views of leaf cell blocks to work out the timing view of the whole circuit, and takes possibly into account the resistances of the interconnecting wires.
The default option of tas provides one output, called `general perfmodule'
(root_file.ttx ). It is the entire timing view of the circuit in a special
format suitable for the hierarchical analysis and the text browser of
the results etas. It contains the propagation times between reference
points. Reference points are:
- Terminals (input or/and output of path)
- Registers or latches (input and output of path)
- Register Commands (output of path)
- Precharged signals (optional, input and output of path)
Another possible output of tas is the `detailed perfmodule' (root_file.dtx). The corresponding file contains detailed informations on gate delays in a special format suitable for the hierarchical analysis and the text browser of the results etas.
Options may appear in any order before or after the input filename.
The commands allow the user to request a report on some specified timing data. You run the commands by :
etas> command_name [command_parameter] [command_argument]
On-line help can be provided by running:
etas> help command
If an arrow follows the name of the command, further information can be retrieved by :
etas> help command command_name
list(l)
list
_parameter
[list
_argument]
request a list of items list_parameter in the circuit
(instance, command, terminal, latch or precharged signal). The
list_parameter allow the user to specify the type of items of
the requested list. They are:
instance(i)
: report the list of instances
command(q)
: report the list of commands (of memory points)
connector(c)
: report the list of terminals
latch(l)
: report the list of latches
precharge(p)
: report the list of precharged signals
signal(s)
: report the other kind of signals
path(p)
path
_parameter
[path
_argument]
request for path search according to path_parameter (delay,
critic or parallel). The path_parameter allow the user to specify
the type of path report requested. They are:
delay(d)
: report all the critical paths (possibly specified
by the path_argument)
critic(c)
: report only the longest (or shortest) critical
path
parallel(p)
: report the parallel paths of a specified path
(use path_argument)
NB. The critic
path
_parameter
can be used to report more than
one path. You can use :
path
critic
number
to specify the number (integer) of longest
(or shortest) paths to be reported
path
critic
delaymax=value1
delaymin=value2
to specify the time
interval between value1 (pisosecond) and value2 (picosecond), in
which you want the paths to be reported.
detail(d)
detail
_parameter
[detail
_argument]
request for detailed delay search according to detail_parameter
(delay, critic or parallel). The detail_parameter allow the user
to specify the type of detailed report requested. The path can
be specified by an index. This index is available in the path
report, so a path report should be performed before the request
on details. This option requires the existence of the .dtx
file. The detail_parameter are:
delay(d)
: report the detailed (gate) delays of a specified
path (use detail_argument)
critic(c)
: report the detailed delays (gate) of the
longest (or shortest) path
parallel(p)
: report the detailed delays (gate) of a specified
parallel path (use detail_argument)
open(o)
file
_name
open the timing file(s) of a circuit (file_name.ttx and if it
exists file_name.dtx), the file_name should be given without
extension
window(w) value
cache(c) int1 [int2]remove(r)
remove the opened timing file
set to value (integer) the maximum number of items reported
simultaneously, default value is 10
set the value (Megabyte) of the cache size to be used for loading
the timing data. Without the value argument etas reports the
actual size of the cache. With only one argument (int1 integer)
etas uses 10% of the cache memory for signals and 90% for paths.
With both arguments (integers) etas uses the value int1 for the
signals and int2 for the paths.
memory(m)
report the actual memory used
status(s)
report the status of the timing files under analysis and the
type of search
help(h)
quit(q)
<return>
rerun last command
<integer>
specify the index of a path to be reported (index reported by
etas> path delay)
These argument allow the user to specify the ends of paths (in or out),
the names of signals and the instances to be analyzed as well as the type
of analysis (long or short paths, from output or from input). It should
be used with either the command path or detail or list. On-line help can
be provided by running
etas> help argument
in=input
_name|input
_index
to specify the name(s) or the index of the path input(s) (terminal,
latch, precharged signal) to be reported by the path or
detail commands. Regular expressions can be used (these
input_name and input_index are available by etas> list connector|latch|precharge)
noin
out=output
_name|output
_index
to specify the name(s) or the index of the signals (terminal,
latch, precharged signal) to be reported by the path or detail
commands. Regular expressions can be used (these output_name and
output_index are available by etas> list connector|latch|precharge)
noout
name=mask
_name1[,mask
_name2][and|or]
this argument is used together with the command list or with the
command path parallel as a mask to specify the signals. Regular
expressions can be used.
With the list command it can specify the instances, terminals,
latchs or precharged signals to be reported.
With the path parallel command it can specify an intermediary
signal of a parallel path in order to report all the parallel
paths including this signal. If more than one name is used, the
user can specify to report all paths including at least
mask_name1 OR mask_name2 (default), but he can also specify all
paths including mask_name1 AND mask_name2.
noname
instance=instance
_name|instance
_index
to specify the name or the index of an instance (available by
list instance command), it can be an argument of one of the
following commands:
path delay,
path parallel,
list command
list precharge
list latch
list signal
It means that the requested informations are given only for the
specified instance
noins
delaymax=value
delaymin=value
specify the maximum delay (value in pico-second) for path
search, only paths with a delay smaller than delaymax will be
reported
specify the minimum delay (value in pico-second) for path
search, only paths with a delay greater than delaymin will be
reported
nodelay
frin
frout
max
min
pathindex
path index used to specify a path to be reported. For example :
etas> detail delay 3
reports the detailed delays of the path of index 3 (index available
by path delay command).
tas -t adder
etas adder
etas> path critic
etas> detail critic
etas> path delay
etas> path parallel index
etas> detail path index
etas> path parallel index name=signal1,signal2 and
In this example the user runs tas and then uses etas to analyse the
results. etas looks for adder.ttx (then for adder.dtx) and opens the
files to figure and report the requested informations:
the critical path
the detail of the critical path
all the path delays between reference points
the parallel paths of the path of index index reported in the above
list of paths
the detail of the path of index index reported in the above list of
parallel paths
the parallel paths to the path of index index in the above list of
paths including signal1 and signal2
tas(1) , yagle(1) , lynx(1) , inf(5)
This tool is under development at the ASIM/LIP6/UPMC laboratory, cao-vlsi
research team.
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http://asim.lip6.fr/alliance/support/bug-report/
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