( SNUG 99 Item 16 ) ----------------------------------------------- [3/31/99]
"In Synopsys 99.05 the VHDL construct rising_edge(clk), "alias databit :
std_logic is data(5)" and all of "use ieee.numeric_std.all;" are fully
supported. In order to use the designware components with the numeric
standard package, you need to do "use dware.dw_foundation.all;", not
the individual "use dw01" constructs. The only way to use the "/",
"mod", and "rem" constructs is with the "dware" package.
A few new variables available in 99.05 are "hdlin_bussed_clock = true"
which allows you to buss clock signals. "hdlin_keep_feedback_netnames
= true" will use the internal VHDL netname rather than the "_port" for
internal signal connections. "hdl_report_inferred_module = verbose"
will report and give the names of module inferred by VHDL constructs.
If you find yourself reading a VHDL netlist back into Synopsys, it will
read 2X faster with the following "read -f vhdl -netlist filename.vhd".
See the "HDL Coding style synthesis application notes" for more updates
which can be found in 99.05.
TCL Interface: TCL version 7.6 has been integrated into Synopsys 99.05.
It can be invoked with "dc_shell -tcl_mode" and "dc_shell-t" commands.
NOTE that the default $SYNOPSYS/admin/setup/synopsys_dc.setup file is
now written in TCL!!! A "#" needs to be the first character on the
first line of any dc_shell TCL script. A web page can be found at
http://www.scriptics.com which explains TCL and TCL constructs. Many
of the standard commands had to be changed because the conflicted with
TCL reserved words. A list can be found on Page 68 in the notes.
Other Notes: TCL normally works with list, however all of the Synospys
tools produce "collections". There is a nice little script in the
handouts which will convert a collection to a list.
(from outside the meeting)
Synopsys 99.08 has some ugly bugs in it. It tends to crash, it runs
faster, but gives you a worse result. PT2 (primetime) is unstable,
there are patch releases available.
(back at the meeting)
DC99 is 2x faster than 98, which is 3x faster than 97.
Reoptomize_design is 2.5x faster. Use the command "compile -top" to
fix constraints from the top level.
There is now a "checkpoint" option. It now takes 3 '^C's to kill a
dc_shell script. A unix "kill" will cause a "checkpoint" file to be
created before it actually dies. "compile_checkpoint_cpu_interval",
a new variable, will periodically checkpoint your design as you are
running. The "compile_new_boolean_structure" compiler knows about
all of the "don't care" feature that are built into the language and
will optimize around them. Try the following: "set_structure -true
-boolean true -boolean_effort medium".
DC99 can only use 2.0 gig of memory. Under solaris 2.6 it can use
4.0 gig of memory if you do a "limit database unlimited".
"simplify_constraints" - new command which opomized tied signals.
The "reoptomize_design" command has changed, so old scripts won't
work. (See page 61 in the handout for a nice list of obsoleted
commands going back to V3.0.)
There are scripts available to convert transcripts into TCL."
- [ Kenny from South Park ]
"Although some nice user enhancements were added, no 'Earth Shattering'
features were added."
- Anon
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