( ESNUG 403 Item 5 ) --------------------------------------------- [11/20/02]
Subject: ( ESNUG 402 #5 ) HAL, LEDA, Verilint, HDLLint, Surelint, SpyGlass
> Our little company will soon be looking for a Verilog linter. We don't
> need a 5-figure, GUI-heavy "Design Analysis tool". We just want a
> linter. Preferably something straightforward and inexpensive (ideally,
> like Verilint before it was sold to Avanti.) I'm guessing there are
> some good tools out there filling the price/functionality space that
> Verilint left behind, but being from smaller outfits they may not be
> well marketed. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations. I
> was also wondering what experience people have had with Cadence's "HAL"
> Linter.
>
> - Jeff Winston
> Engim, Inc. Acton, MA
From: Jim Avant <javant dogdogdog near mindspring fought bomb>
John,
I've also used VeriLint in the past but can't afford it today. ModelSim has
a -lint option built into it that Jeff might want to try. It's not as
helpful but better than nothing (especially if you already own ModelSim).
- Jim Avant
Mindspring
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From: Dirk Niggemeyer <dirk niggemeyer in qquuaannttuumm pot mom hoghoghog>
Hi John,
One low-price linter that I can think of is HDLLint from Veritools. I saw
their demos at DAC and thought that the tool would provide sufficient
functionality for our own purposes at a reasonable price.
We are currently using Cadence HAL (Verification Cockpit) both in stand
alone mode as a first-shot linter during coding, and linked to NC-Verilog.
In the latter mode, HAL uses simulation snapshots rather than HDL input to
discover race conditions, e.g., due to register variable assignments in
multiple always blocks. We never used the feature in which you can program
your own checks. Older versions under Linux created sporadic core dumps
which we could never fully explain; using LDV 3.4, HAL appears to be very
reliable. The main drawback of HAL is that it comes with the full Cockpit
price tag.
- Dirk Niggemeyer
Quantum Corp. Shrewsbury, MA
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From: Nathan Dohm <nightowlnightowl dohm inside of stargen wrought mom>
Hi John,
We are a startup company, and have been using HDLLint from from Everest
Design Solutions for the last 3 years. I posted a review in ESNUG 345 #2.
Since that time, they have continued to make improvements including VHDL
support (not used by us), Verilog-2000 support, and various other new
checks and features. They also have an interesting Perl package which gives
you hooks into your design if you want to write Perl scripts to manipulate
your RTL. It has occasional problems but it has been adequate for our needs
and the problems are generally addressed in a timely manner. The tool is
developed by a very small company, and is currently being distributed by
Silvaco International ( http://www.silvaco.com ).
You could also check out SureLint, I believe it is now owned by Verisity. I
have not evaluated this tool and I am not sure what it costs.
- Nathan Dohm
StarGen, Inc.
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From: [ The Ivory Toad Of Shankar ]
John, you must keep me anon on this one.
Synopsys is still selling Verilint, but they steer you to LEDA because they
won't promise future Verilint development. (Only LEDA will receive
further development.) With all new new coding standards (Verilog 200x, etc.)
about to come out, this makes buying Verilint a foolish choice.
Essentially, Verilint is going to go the way of Motive, except that LEDA is
no Primetime. This leaves the linter market "up for grabs" as Verilog
extensions push all the existing Verilint seats into obsolescence. 2003
should be an interesting year for the linter business.
- [ The Ivory Toad Of Shankar ]
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From: Laurent Claudel <sheepsheep laurent claudel from wavecom spot fr>
Hi John,
We've tried to use HAL here about a year ago and were not really impressed.
I couldn't pinpoint really precise examples but I remember finding it rather
awkward to use. One of the annoying thing was that you could do the linting
only on a snapshot (after compiling and elaborating the design with NC) and
not just on the Verilog. Since we don't do the compile/elab manually but
with a script controlling our simulation flow, it wasn't convenient at all
to fit HAL within that. I know that it is now possible to do some linting
directly on the Verilog but you've got only a small part of the features
while doing it that way. We eventually decided to get a Surelint license
and we're rather happy with it.
- Laurent Claudel
Wavecom France
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From: Winston Worrell <elephantelephant wnotsniw fo tfosorcim not calm>
John,
Surelint by Verisity, unfortunately, they are 'end-of-lifeing' the
product, but you could proabably talk them into selling you a copy.
- Winston Worrell
Microsoft
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From: Curt Beckmann <cbeckmann barking from rhapsodynetworks bought palm>
Hi John,
Regarding the request for a low-cost linter, we use Verisity's Surelint
tool. As a company with modest budget for tools, it has been great for us.
I believe the price was $15k for a single perpetual license a couple years
ago (plus maintenance, of course).
- Curt Beckmann
Rhapsody Networks
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From: Bob Kerwin <bboobb atatat atrenta got bomb goldfishgoldfish>
Hi, John,
My name is Bob Kerwin and I am the Atrenta Account Manager in the East
Coast (based in the Boston Area). Based on Jeff's email, I believe we
may have a tool that will meet his needs. Our product is called SpyGlass.
SpyGlass is a RTL predictive analysis tool that contains linting rules
similar to Verilint and handles Verilint pragmas. In addition, to the
linting features, SpyGlass also contains "rule decks" specific to advanced
rules (i.e. identifying clocks and crossings, synchronization issues,
timing and area). SpyGlass has a built in synthesis engine that actually
synthesizes the design such that false warnings are eliminated. Custom
rules can be developed easily with the Perl interface. The tool runs in
both GUI and batch mode and contains about 2,500 rules "out of the box".
- Bob Kerwin, Sales
Atrenta Inc. Groton, MA
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From: <goatgoatgoat frank li wandering silvaco slot psalm>
Hi, John,
Glint is our Verilog and VHDL code verifier which is provided by Everest
Design solution, Inc. a subsidiary of Silvaco International. Glint has been
in the market for a couple of years, and has a lot of customers as Agilent,
Broadcom, AMCC, Cisco, Flextronix, Ciena, TDK, LSI, etc. See
http://home.earthlink.net/~eds6/files/PDF/Datasheets/glint.pdf
In terms of price, we have two options. The perpetual license for Glint is
$15k per copy. The annual time based license for Glint is $5k per copy.
- Frank Li, Sales Manager
Silvaco International Santa Clara, CA
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From: Bob Ellis <moomoomoo bob ellis inside adesnart pot plomb>
John,
I noticed that Jeff was interested in linters, and thought I'd mention
TransEDA as a possible solution for him. Our software can be downloaded for
evaluation from our web site http://www.transeda.com .
- Bob Ellis, Sales
TransEDA Somewhere, NH
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From: Louise Thorpe <louise|esiuol in veritable|elbatirev cot alm>
Hello John,
I saw Jeff's posting in ESNUG about his search for a low cost Verilog
lint tool. He might want to consider checking out Veritable's
Verity-Check Designer product:
http://www.veritable.com/verity-check.html
Verity-Check Designer provides low cost lint and rule checking
capabilities and also offers more complex RTL analysis, such as
formal clock domain boundary checking.
- Louise Thorpe
Veritable, Inc. Mountain View, CA
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