Version 1.1.

2
Martin Freri hs, Sylvio Triebel
11.09. 2012

1 Input File Syntax

This se tion des ribes the input le syntax for the ele tri al onstraint he ker.
Version 1.x generates the input le by hierar hi ally olle ting and onverting the ele tri alConstraints
ell views. Additionally, there is a possibility to in lude les, whi h have to fullll the des ribed spe i ation.
For version > 2 it is intended to generate the input le out of the data olle ted in the Caden e Constraint
Management system.

1.1 Identier
1.1.1 Net Identier
Identier whi h mat h with CDL Namespa e. It an be a simple netname, whi h has to be present on the
urrent ell level, or it an be a hierar hi al name refering a net in a sub-hierar hy.
E. g. net1 or XTOP|XSUB1|net1

1.1.2 Instan e Identier

Hierar hi al identier for blo k or primitive instan es.
E. g. MN1 or XXTOP|XSUB or MXTOP|XSUB|MN1

1.1.3 Pin Identier

This idientier is used to spe ify a instan e or ell pin.

<Instan e-Identier>.<pinName> spe ies a instan e pin, e.g.

<pinName> spe ies a pin of the urrent ell, e.g.

MN1.d

or MXTOP|XSUB|MN1.d

inp, hSup

PAD follows the net over the hierar hy until it nds a top- ell pin. If no ell pin exists, if looks for a pin
spe ied with a INTERNAL_PAD denition.

INTERNAL_PAD follows the net over the hierar hy until it nds a INTERNAL_PAD denition. If
there is no INTERNAL_PAD denition it looks for the top- ell pin.

1.1.4 Measurement and Constraint Identier

Identiers have to be unique at ell level. Measurement identiers are needed within onstraint expressions.
Generally they are needed to have a link between the generated output and the spe ied onstraints and
measurements.

1.2 Measurement Statements

Measurement statements represent the extra tion of atomi substru tures with numeri parameters. Su essfull measurements are the pre- ondition of onstraint he ks. The subse tions ontain the syntax and
parameter des riptions for he ks.
Parameters (if exists) an be refered in he ks with the -param <name> option. If no param is given,
then the measurement has only one (unnamed) parmaeter. Please don't use -param in this ase.

1.2.1 CAPACITANCE
The purpose of this statement is to measure the total apa itan e of a net or the oupling apa itan e btw.
two nets.

Syntax CAPACITANCE -id probe_id_t -lib lib_t - ell ell_t -net1 net1_t [-net2 net2_t
probe_id_t an unique name to identify the measurement
lib_t library name of the onstraint view
ell_t ell name of the onstraint view
net1_t net identier (->1.1.1) of rst net
net2_t net identier (->1.1.1) of se ond net , if omitted the total apa itan e from net1_t is extra ted
1.2.2 RESISTANCE
The purpose of this statement is to measure the resistan e between start and end-points of inter onne t
stru tures.

Syntax RESISTANCE -id probe_id_t -lib lib_t - ell ell_t -from pin1_spe _l [-to pin2_spe _l [-rmess

rmess_f

probe_id_t an unique name to identify the measurement

lib_t library name of the onstraint view
ell_t ell name of the onstraint view
pin1_spe _l spa e separated list of pin identiers (->1.1.3) of start pins
pin2_spe _l spa e separated list of pin identiers (->1.1.3) of target pins (or PAD if omitted)
rmess_f double value for measurement probe head, default 1e6
1.2.3 MATRIX
The purpose of this statement is mainly to investigate the topology of a net. It is also usable for IR-drop
he ks.

Syntax MATRIX -id probe_id -lib lib_t - ell ell_t -type type_t -from pin_spe _l -to ref_pin_t
probe_id_t an unique name to identify the measurement
lib_t library name of the onstraint view
ell_t ell name of the onstraint view
type_t one letter: G or Y ( urrently only G is supported)
pin_spe _l spa e separated list of pin_spe s
ref_pin_t name of the referen e pin or PAD or INTERNAL_PAD
Parameters
qstar al ulate the maximum of -G(i,j)/G(i,i) | i!=j, the value ree ts the resistive oupling. For perfe t

star-routing, there is no oupling between the spe ied -from pins. A value of 0.1 means, that 10% of
the voltage ripple is transported to the other blo k.

G(i,j) a ess to matrix element i,j

1.2.4 MOSTRAN
This statement denes a measure of an individual mos devi e. Is is the base of mat hing onstraints for mos
transistors.

Syntax MOSTRAN -id probe_id -lib lib_t - ell ell_t inst_id_t

probe_id_t an unique name to identify the measurement
lib_t library name of the onstraint view
ell_t ell name of the onstraint view
inst_id_t instan e identier of a MOS transistor
Parameters
vt0 mean threshold voltage
ad,as area of drain/sour e for a unit
AD,AS total area of drain/sour e

1.3 Informative Statements

1.3.1 INTERNAL_PAD
This statement helps to enable the hierar hi al resistan e probe with measurement to PAD. If the net does
not follow up to a top ell pin, an internal probing point has to be dened.

Syntax INTERNAL_PAD -id probe_id_t -lib lib_t - ell ell_t pin_spe [-rmess rmess_f
probe_id_t an unique name to identify the measurement
lib_t library name of the onstraint view
ell_t ell name of the onstraint view
pin_spe pin identier (->1.1.3)
rmess_f double value for measurement probe head, default 1e6
1.3.2 CURRENT
Not used yet. For further developments.

Syntax CURRENT -id probe_id_t -lib lib_t - ell ell_t -value value_f pin_spe
1.3.3 VOLTAGE
Not used yet. For further developments.

Syntax VOLTAGE -id probe_id_t -lib lib_t - ell ell_t -value value_f net_spe

1.4 Constraint Statements

1.4.1 CHECK
Syntax CHECK -id st_id_t -lib lib_t - ell ell_t [-param param_t [-minVal minVal_f [-maxVal maxVal_f measurement_l

st_id_t unique identier for the onstraint

lib_t library of the onstraint view
ell_t ell of the onstraint view
param_t name of a parameter to he k (if omitted: the unnamed value of a measurement)
minVal_f double value for minimum limit
maxVal_f double value for maximum limit
measurement_l spa e separated list of measurement ids. At least one element and minVal or maxVal
must be spe ied. All measurements have to be s alar and from the same type.

1.4.2 MATCHING
Syntax MATCHING -id st_id_t -lib lib_t - ell ell_t [-param param_t [-relTol relTol_f [-absTol
absTol_f measurement_l

st_id_t unique identier for the onstraint

lib_t library of the onstraint view
ell_t ell of the onstraint view
param_t name of a parameter to ompare (default: the value of a measurement)
relTol_f double value for relative toleran e, default = 0
absTol_f double value for absolute toleran e, default = 0
measurement_l spa e separated list of measurement ids. At least two elements must be spe ied. All

measurements have to be from the same type. For non s alar measurements, the relTol/absTol options
are ignored (e.g. for MOSTRAN)

2 Output File Syntax

The output syntax is not yet well dened and an be adapted to the needs of the ow. Currently, the input
le syntax is reused and a status and or measured value has been added. So it is easy to nd all VIOLATED
or WRONG probes/ onstraints with grep ltering.

3 Running the Che ker

pmeasure [-input_netlist=<string> [-redu ed_netlist=<string> [-input_format=<string> [-log_le=<string>
[-output=<string> [-te h_setup=<string> [- ontrol_le=<string> [-probe_le=<string> [- dl_netlist=<string>
[-h
-input_netlist=<string> : input netlist (from av_extra ted), default=
-redu ed_netlist=<string> : redu ed input netlist, a elerates readin, default=
-input_format=<string> : input netlist format (spi e), default=spi e
-log_le=<string> : if no logle spe ied, stdout is used, default=
-output=<string> : output le, default=pmeasure.out
-te h_setup=<string> : te hnology spe i setup, default=
- ontrol_le=<string> : additional redu tion ontrol information, default=
-probe_le=<string> : parasiti probes to be extra ted, default=
- dl_netlist=<string> : dl netlist, default=
-h : print help
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