Exper

ience
Re:Tof
indnumberofcel
lswhi
char
eunpl
acedaf
ter
pl
acement?
ThedbGetcommandcanusedint
eract
ivel
ytoexpl
oret
hedesi
gn.Bel
owar
esome
usef
ulsi
nglel
i
nedbGetscr
ipt
s:

1.Togetal
istofunplacedi
nstancesinthedesign:
dbGet[
dbGet-ptop.
insts.
pStatusunplaced]
.name

2.Toli
stal
ltheplacedinstancesi
nt hedesign:
dbGet[
dbGet-ptop.inst
s.pStat
usplaced]
.name

3.Toli
stal
lthef
ixedinstancesint
hedesi gn:
dbGet[
dbGet-ptop.
insts.
pStatusf
ixed]
.name

4.Toseewhatmet
all
ayersyourbl
ock'
sIOpi
nsar
eon:
dbGett
op.
ter
ms.pi
ns.
all
Shapes.
lay
er.
name

5.Togetali
stofNONDEFAULTr
ulesi
nthedesi
gn:
dbGethead.
rul
es.
name

6.TogetNDRappl
iedonaspecifi
ednet
:
dbGet[
dbGet-
ptop.net
s.namenet
Name].r
ule.
name

7.Togett
heplacementst
atusofani
nst
ance:
dbGet[
dbGet
InstBy
NameinstName].
pSt
atus

8.Togett
hepoi
ntsofarect
angularr
out
ingbl
ockage:
dbGett
op.
fpl
an.
rBl
kgs.
shapes.
rect

9.Togett
hepoi
ntsofarect
il
inearrout
ingbl
ockage:
dbGett
op.
fpl
an.
rBl
kgs.
shapes.pol
y

10.Togetali
stofall
cell
typesusedint
hedesi
gn:
dbGet-ut
op.i
nst
s.cel
l.
name
(The"
-u"f
il
ter
soutdupli
cateobj
ects.
)

11.Togett
hesizeofblockplacementhal
os:
dbGet[
dbGet-
p2t op.
inst
s.cel
l.
subCl
assblock*
].
pHal
oTop
dbGet[
dbGet-
p2t op.
inst
s.cel
l.
subCl
assblock*
].
pHal
oBot
dbGet[
dbGet-
p2t op.
inst
s.cel
l.
subCl
assblock*
].
pHal
oLeft
dbGet[
dbGet-
p2t op.
inst
s.cel
l.
subCl
assblock*
].
pHal
oRight

12.Togett
hesizeandt op/bottom l
ayer
sofblockrouti
nghal os:
dbGet[
dbGet-
p2t op.
insts.
cell
.subCl
assblock*
].
rHaloSi
deSize
dbGet[
dbGet-
p2t op.
insts.
cell
.subCl
assblock*
].
rHaloBotLayer.name
dbGet[
dbGet-
p2t op.
insts.
cell
.subCl
assblock*
].
rHaloTopLayer.name
13.Tomakesur eallyourt iehi/l
oconnectionshav eti
ecell
s(andarenotconnect
ed
toarai
l i
nstead):
dbGettop.i
nsts.i
nstTerms. isTieHi1
dbGettop.i
nsts.i
nstTerms. isTieLo1
(Shoul
dreturn"0x0"ifall connectionshavet i
ecells.
I
f"1"sarereturned,uset hef oll
owingtof i
ndthet ermsthatst
il
lneedati
ecell:
)
dbGet[dbGet-pt op.
insts.instTerms.i
sTieHi1].
name
dbGet[dbGet-pt op.
insts.instTerms.i
sTieLo1].name

14.Togetal l
insTerm nameswhichar etiedtotieLocel
l
s:
dbGet[dbGet-p[dbGet-p2top.
inst
s.cell
.subClass
coreTi
eLo].
instTer
ms.net.
all
Ter
ms. i
sInput1].name

15.Tochangetherout
ingst
atusofanet(f
orexample,
from FI
XEDt
oROUTED)
:
dbSet[
dbGet-ptop.
nets.
namenetName].
wires.
stat
usr
outed

16.Togetthestatusofy ourdesign:
dbGett
op.stat
usIoPlaced
dbGett
op.stat
usPlaced
dbGett
op.stat
usClockSynthesized
dbGett
op.stat
usRout ed
dbGett
op.stat
usRCExt r
acted
dbGett
op.stat
usPower Analyzed

17.Tof
indoutwhi
chlayersar
eusedi
nanet:
dbGet[
dbGet-
ptop.
nets.namenet
Name]
.wi
res.
l
ayer
.name

18.Tof
indal
lthei
nst
ancesofacertai
ncell
type:
dbGet[
dbGet-
p2top.
inst
s.cel
l
.namecell
Name].
name

19.Togett
hesizeofacel
li
nthel
i
brary,butnotnecessar
il
yint
hecur
rentdesi
gn:
dbGet[
dbGetCel
lBy
Namecell
Name].
size

20.Togetnet
sthataremar kedint
hedbascl
ocknet
:
dbGet[
dbGet-ptop.
nets.
isClock1]
.name

21.Tosetal
li
nst
anceswithapar
ticul
arpatt
erni
nitsnamet
ofi
xedst
atus:
dbSet[
dbGet–ptop.
inst
s.name*
clk*]
.pSt
atusfi
xed

22.Togetdatabaseuni
ts:
dbGethead.
dbUnits

23.Togetmanufactur
inggr
id:
dbGethead.
mfgGrid

24.Togetphy
sicalonlycell
sli
kefil
l
ercel
l,
endcapcel
let
c:
dbGet[
dbGet-ptop.i
nsts.
isPhysOnl
y1].
name

25.Tof
il
teral
lthePGpi
nswi
thdi
rect
ionbi
diofaspeci
fi
cinst
ance:
dbGet[
dbGet-
p[dbGet-
ptop.
inst
s.namei
nst
Name]
.pgCel
l
Ter
ms.
inOut
Dirbi
di]
.name

26.Togetcl
assandsubCl
assofacel
l:
dbGet[
dbGetCel
l
ByNamecell
Name].
baseClass
dbGet[
dbGetCel
l
ByNamecell
Name].
subClass

27.Tof i
ndoutt heinst
name/ cell
nameoft hedri
verdr
ivi
ngaspeci
fi
cnet.
setnetName<net Name>
setinst[dbGet[dbGet- p[dbGet-ptop.
nets.name$netName]
.al
l
Terms.
isOut
put
1].
inst]
Puts"Net :$netName, dri
vinginstname:[
dbGet$inst.
name]
,dri
vi
ngcel
lname:
[dbGet$inst.cel
l.name]"

28.Tol
istal
ll
ayersforthepinofacell
:
dbGet[
dbGet-pselect
ed.cel
l
.ter
ms.namepi
nName]
.pi
ns.
all
Shapes.
lay
er.
ext
Name

29.Repor
tpoint
sofpoly
ont hatf
ormsthediearea:
dbShape-out
putpol
ygon[dbGettop.
fPl
an.
boxes]

30.Toquerythemax_capforalistofcel
ls
setcel
l
PtrLi
st[dbGet-
phead.al
lCell
s.nameBUF*
]
for
eachcell
Ptr$cel
lPt
rLi
st{put
s" [
dbGet$cel
l
Ptr
.name][
dbFTer
mMaxCap[
dbGet-
p
$cel
lPt
r.
terms.name<ter
mName>]1] "}

31.Tofindalli
nstanceswit
haspeci f
yproper
tyname" my Pr
op"(str
ingproper
tytype)
andvalue"xyzzy
"
seti
nst_ptr
s[dbGet-ptop.i
nst
s.props{.
name==" my Pr
op"&&.value=="xyzzy"
]
Puts"
Instanceswithproper
tymy Propandval
uexy zzy:
[dbGet$i
nst_ptr
s.name]"

Speci
alcel
lsr
equi
redf
orMul
ti
-Vol
tageDesi
gn
Post
edbyGodwi
nMabenonApr
il15t
h,2007

Asdi
scussedi
nt heprevi
oussessi
on,
 Speci
alcel
lsar
erequir
edforimpl
ement
inga
Mul
ti
-Vol
tagedesign.Todayl
etsdi
scussaboutt
hesecel
lsinbri
ef.

(
1)LevelShif
ter
(
2)I
solati
onCell
(
3)EnableLevelShi
ft
er
(
4)Retenti
onFlops
(
5)AONcel l
s
(
6)PowerGat i
ngSwitches/
MTCMOSswi
tch

(1)Lev elShi
fter
:Purposeofthi
scelli
stoshi f
tthevolt
agefrom lowtohighaswel l
ashi ghtolow.Generall
ybuff
ertypeandLat chtypelev
elshi
ftersareavai
labl
e.In
gener alH2LLS’sareverysi
mple,L2HLS’sar eli
tt
lecomplexandar ei
ngener allarger
i
nsi ze(doubl
eheight)andhave2powerpi ns.Therearesomepl acementrestri
ctions
forL2Hl evelshi
ftert
ohandlenoisel
evel
si nthedesign.Lev
el shi
ft
ersaretypicall
y
usedtoconv ertsi
gnallev
elsandpr
otectagai
nstsneakleakagepaths.Wit
hgr
eat
care,
levelshif
terscanbeav oi
dedi
nsomecases, butt
hiswillbecomeless
pract
icabl
eonawi derscale.

(2)Isolati
onCell
:Thesearespeci
al cel
l
srequir
edatt heinterfacebetweenblocks
whichar eshut
-downandalwayson.Theycl ampt heoutputnodet oaknownv olt
age.
Thesecel l
sneedst obepl
acedinan‘ al
wayson’regiononlyandt heenabl
esignalof
theisolati
oncell
needstobe‘always_on’
.I
nanut -shell
,an isolat
ioncelli
snecessary
toisolatefl
oat
inginput
s.

Ther
ear
e2t
ypesofi
sol
ati
oncel
l
s(a)Ret
ain“
0″(
b)Ret
ain“
1″

(3)Enabl
eLev
elShi
ft
er:Thi
scel
li
sacombi
nat
ionofaLev
elShi
ft
eranda 
Isol
ati
on
cell
.

(4)Ret ent
ionFlops:Thesecel l
sarespeci alflopswithmul t
iplepowersupply.They
are ty
pical
lyusedasashadowr egistertoretainitsval
ueev eniftheblockinwhich
i
tsr esi
dingisshut-down.Allthepat hsleadingt othi
sregisterneedtobe‘ al
ways_ on’
andhencespeci alcaremustbet akent osynt hesi
ze/pl
ace/ rout
ethem.I nanut-shell
,
“Whendesi gnblocksareswi t
chedof fforsleepmode, datai nallf
li
p-f
lopscontained
withintheblockwillbelost
.Ifthedesi gnerdesi r
estoretainstate,r
etenti
onfli
p-fl
ops
mustbeused” .

Ther etent
ionf
lophast hesamestruct
ureasastandardmast er-
slaveflop.Howev er
,
theretenti
onfl
ophasabal loonl
atchthati
sconnectedtotrue-Vdd.Wi t
ht heproper
seri
esofcont r
olsignal
sbeforesl
eep,thedat
aintheflopcanbewr it
tenintothe
ball
oonl at
ch.Simil
arl
y,whentheblockcomesoutofsleep,thedat acanbewr i
tt
en
backi ntot
hefli
p-f
lop.

(5)AONcells:General
lythesearebuffers,
 t
hatremain 
alway
spower edi
rrespecti
ve
ofwheretheyareplaced.Theycanbeei therspeci
alcell
sorregul
arbuff
ers.If
special
cell
sareused,theyhav ethi
erownsecondar ypowersupplyandhencecanbe
placedanywhereinthedesi gn.Usi
ngregularbuff
ersasAONcel l
srestr
ictsthe
placementofthesecell
sinaspeci f
icregion.

Pict
ure 
abov egiv
esani dea abouthow/why /whent heyarerequi
red.Inanut -
shel
l,“
If
dataneedst oberoutedthroughorf r
om sleepblockst oacti
veblocksandI fthe
rout
ingdistanceisexcessi
v el
ylongorthedr i
vingloadisexcessivel
ylarge,
then
buff
ersmi ghtbeneededt odrivethenets.I
nt hesecases,thealways-onbufferscan
beused.”

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(6)PowerGat i
ngSwi tches/MTCMOSSwi t
ch:MTCMOSst andsf ormulti-
threshol
d
CMOS, wherelow- Vtgatesar eusedf orspeed, andhigh- Vtgatesar eusedf orlow
l
eakage.Byusi nghigh-Vttr
ansi storsasheaderswi tches, blocksofcel l
scanbe
switchedof ftosleep-mode, sucht hatleakagepoweri sgr eatlyreduced.MTCMOS
switchescanbei mplement edi nvariousdiff
erentway s.First,theycanbe
i
mpl ement edasPMOS( header )orNMOS( footer)switches.Secondl y,thei
r
granulari
tycanbei mplement edonacel l
-l
evel(fi
ne-gr
ai n)oronabl ock-l
evel (
coarse-
grai
n).Thati s,theswitchescanbeei therbuil
tintoever ystandar dcell
,ortheycanbe
usedt oswi t
chof falargedesi gnblockofst andardcells.

 
Dependi
ngonthedesi
gncharact
eri
sti
cs,i
fthesecel
lsar
ereadi
l
yavai
l
abl
e,wecan
st
artl
ooki
ngathowtousethesecel
lsinsuccessf
ull
yimpl
ementi
ngaMul
ti
-Vol
tage
Desi
gn.