[Pixel]<Chipndale>ChipNDaleFurtherDoc>chipndale17.tioga!1

Chipndale17.tioga

CHIPNDALE

CHIPNDALE 0.17 — FOR INTERNAL XEROX USE ONLY

Chipndale

An interactive editor for VLSI designs

Release 0.17

Ch. Jacobi, Kim Rachmeler (Sept 26, 1984)

A relatively complete documentation.

Filed on: [Indigo]<Chipndale>Documentation>Chipndale17.tioga

Abstract: Chipndale, son of Chipmonk, is an interactive graphic layout tool made to run in Cedar. Chipndale makes use of multiple windows, extensive parallel processing, vast amounts of memory, pop-up menus, and other assorted goodies. When complete, Chipndale will have a DRC and circuit extractor, a fast set of IO and checkplot routines, and modular device extensibility. What's more, everything in Chipndale will be completely technology independent, that is, all the features will be equally at home dealing with PC boards or CMOS chips. This document outlines the current state of development.

XEROX Xerox Corporation
Palo Alto Research Center
3333 Coyote Hill Road
Palo Alto, California 94304

For Internal Xerox Use Only

0. Introduction

0.1. Background

Originally called Chipmonk II, Chipndale1 is the Cedar successor to Chipmonk, an interactive layout editor written for the Alto world. But although Chipndale looks a good deal like Chipmonk, there are still distinct dissimilarities. Like Chipmonk, combinations of keyboard and mouse commands allow creation and modification of both primitive (contacts, transistors) and constructed (cells) objects. Multiple views of a design are available on both the color and B&W displays. Chipndale can read in old Chipmonk files and some Chipndale designs can be written out in Chipmonk format. Unlike Chipmonk, Chipndale incorporates the concept of "technology independence", the idea that separate technologies (NMOS, CMOS, PC boards, etc.) do not interfere with the basic Chipndale kernel, nor do they interfere with one another. New technologies may be created with their own definitions of commands and structures, allowing Chipndale to expand to accomodate new methods and applications.

Although the functionality available has for the most part been specified, the access route to those capabilities is not well established. The mapping of commands necessary to invoke specific functions is evolving as the user interface becomes more refined. The moral of the story is:

The ice you are skating on is currently under development; it is apt to be thin in places.

This is not the best of all possible worlds. But don't get mad, get even; that is, if you are miffed at obvious shorcomings, send us mail (ChipndaleImplementors^.pa or ChipndaleDiscussion^.pa). We won't know about it unless you tell us.

The rest of this introduction will provide you with step-by-step information to start Chipndale and read in either Chipndale or Chipmonk design files. The rest of the document is intended as a reference manual; use the "Levels" button to scan the document for the general section you are interested in reading. The amount of descriptive detail increases with the number of visible levels. The notes in small print at the deepest nested level are usually examples or explanations that the inexperienced user might need. The "Find" button can also be useful if you are searching for a particular topic.

1 The name Chipndale comes from neither the fine furniture in England nor the fine figures in LA but from Chip 'n Dale, the two furry characters created by Walt Disney (two chipmunks -- Chipmonk II, get it?).

0.2 Getting Started

Saying Hello

Go find yourself a Dorado running Cedar 5.2 and login. Use the DF Tool to bringover the file:

/indigo/chipndale/5.2/top/cddesign.df

It is usually best to create a separate subdirectory for Chipndale; this allows you to remove it easily when you want to upgrade to a new version. This DF file will equip the machine with all the information it needs to run the NMOS, CMOS, and Chipnsil versions of Chipndale. If you cannot find a Dorado, don't know how to login, or generally have trouble with any of the commands, ask a nearby Dorado-user to help you out. Or you can read the basic documentation available on:

[Indigo]<Cedar5.2>Documentation>HowToUseAPublicCedarMachine.tioga

Becoming Acquainted

To get an existing design up on the screen, start up a session of Chipndale (in the same subdirectory containing its files) with one of the following incantations:

% CDRead <optional name of a Chipndale design file> or

% CDReadCMNMOS <optional name of a Chipmonk NMOS design file> or

% CDReadCMCMOS <optional name of a Chipmonk CMOS design file>

(the latter two stand for:

ChipnDaleReadChipMonkNMOS and ChipnDaleReadChipMonkCMOS)

To start up a fresh design use one of the commands:

% CDNewCMOS or

% CDNewNMOS

All of these commands will call up the Chipndale Terminal monitor (hereafter referred to as "Terminal") and will display the design (or new viewer) on the screen. Terminal keeps a log of all the commands issued concerning Chipndale; it is where you will look to find information about what Chipndale is trying to execute and how that execution is progressing.

When reading Chipmonk files, it is important to know the technology associated with that design so that you use the correct form of the read command. Chipndale design files know their technology, but the code handling that technology must still be loaded before issuing the CDRead command. If no filename was given to the read command, Terminal will respond with the request:

Input file >

Type the file name in at the prompt. The file may either be present locally or on one of the file servers; default extension is either ".dale" or ".chip" depending on the command. For example, you could read in a Chipmonk file either as:

/ivy/monier/aspen

or as:

aspen.chip

if it was already on the local disk. You usually do not need to type in the extension.

If all is going well, the file will be read in and a Chipndale viewer containing the design will be opened on the screen. A control panel will also appear in the lower right of the screen whose buttons are functionally similar to the buttons available at the bottom of the Chipmonk screen.

1. General Definitions and Descriptions

1.1. The Terminal

The Terminal viewer is one of the main communication points between the user and Chipndale. Terminal not only keeps a log of commands executed but also prompts the user for input and displays error messages. There is only one Terminal for any invocation of Chipndale, regardless of the number of designs displayed.

1.2. Technologies

One of Chipndale's main features is its ability to adapt to new technologies without changes to the core of the program. This feature is called "technology independence"; it means that new fabrication techniques or applications can be described in modules and plugged into the existing system. But this capability also means that the user must make sure that the appropriate technology is loaded so that Chipndale can access features unique to that technology.

1.3. The Control Panel

The control panel is a graphical method of changing layout parameters. Every design has a control panel associated with it; the panels are technology dependent. See the Appendix for a list of control panel commands.

1.4. Primitive Objects

Primitive objects are the "atoms" if you will of the Chipndale world. The existing primitives are transistors (straight and angle), contacts (buried and butting), and wires. These are the building blocks of the more complex structures used to construct designs.

1.5. Cells

1.6. Tip Tables

1.7. Additional Tools

DRC/Extraction

(contributed by Mark Shand)

Spinifex - the ChipNDale DRC/Extraction Package

August 9, 1984

DF file: /indigo/chipndale/5.2/top/Spinifex17.df

Documentation: SpinifexDoc.tioga (in DF file)

Maintainer: Shand

The Spinifex DRC/Extraction Package is ready for use by ChipNDale designs. What follows is a list of problem areas a new user may encounter, for more details see the documentation.

1) The design rules are not 100% complete, this is particularly true of rules with regard to well contacts (though Spinifex does insist that wells are connected to by one and only one node).

2) There is no support for `wspec' files as yet (this is coming soon).

3) The .thy files produced require some hand editing, I hope to reduce or eliminate this.

4) Aliases for signal names are not handled fully, currently one name is chosen and a comment is insert in the .thy file indicating the choices which were available to Spinifex.

5) Strays are fairly accurate but there could be bugs in this computation (if there are it is only a few percent error).

6) Spinifex could be both faster and less greedy for VM.

Spinifex/HighlightNode - highlighting electrically connected regions.

August 9, 1984

Spinifex has the ability to interactively highlight electrical nodes the command is invoked by MiddleDown WHILE Slash. If material on the current layer is found at the point indicated and it is part of a cell which has been previously extracted then all regions electrically connected to that region have boxes on the ChipNDale highlightShade level laid over them. Be warned that shading does not extend to material in cells which have not been analyzed or above the current pushed in level.

ShowErrors

July 26, 1984

DF file: /indigo/chipndale/5.2/top/ShowErrors.df

Documentation: ShowErrorsDoc.tioga (in DF file)

Maintainer: Shand

ShowErrors implements a simple command to zoom a ChipNDale viewer to a rectangle on the highLightError layer. (How these rectangles get on the highLightError layer is another matter altogether, Spinifex—my layout analysis package and PTiler—Bob Mayo's module generating system are two ChipNDale clients that display errors as rectangles on the highLightError layer.)

ShowErrors is invoked by the Slash Shift command.

ShowErrors searches the cell you are currently pushed for unselected rectangles on the highLightError layer. If no rectangles are found on the highLightError layer the message No errors to show is printed, if all rectangles on the highLightError layer are selected the message All errors are already selected is printed, otherwise the viewer is panned and scaled to show the neighborhood around the first unselected rectangle found on the highLightError layer, this rectangle is selected and an informative message about the error is printed.

To use ShowErrors, bringover the public parts of the DF file listed above and type ShowErrors to the CommandTool.

PLA generator

(coming soon from Bob Mayo)

Circuit simulator

(contributed by Mike Spreitzer)

Rosemary - the Circuit Description and Simulation Package

August 22, 1984

DF file: /indigo/Rosemary/®/Rosemary.df (where the best ® is currently 2.5)

Documentation: see a maintainer or user

Maintainers: Spreitzer, Barth

Users (?): RosemaryUsers^.pa

The name "Rosemary" currently is applied to two (too) well integrated packages. One is for structural and behavioral descriptions of circuits. The other simulates such descriptions.

Rosemary descriptions are hierarchical, and use a type - instance paradigm. For every cell type, two descriptions may be independently given or elided: a structural description, and a behavioral description.

A structural description of a cell type says what cell instances such a type contains, and how they are interconnected. In the kernal, a structural description is a Cedar procedure that makes callbacks to describe each component. Other ways of describing structure can be accommodated by translating into Cedar.

A behavioral description of a cell type says how an instance of that type interacts with its environment, in terms the cell's ports. Again, in the kernal a behavioral description is a Cedar procedure, and it is hoped that other kinds of behavioral descriptions can be translated into procedures.

Making all the Cedar code necessary for a Rosemary circuit description is somewhat tedious, and somewhat stylized. Thus a new language was born, which provides a veneer of convenience on top of the kernal language. There is a translator from that language into the kernal language.

The simulator works at two levels: the switch level, and a simple unidirectional level. The switch level is Bryant's algorithm, adapted to work with general leaf cells (which represent, but aren't, collections of transistors). The unidirectional level uses an extensible "abstract" (a.k.a. "object oriented") approach to what kinds of values flow through the interconnection nets, and thus is useful for any level of abstraction at or above the Boolean.

2. Commands

In General

Chipndale commands are grouped such that those most frequently applied use the lefthand side of the keyboard. This grouping allows easy finger placement without having to move your right hand away from the mouse. This speedy access, however, has outweighed mnemonics, which is why "Q" draws a transistor, not "T". Infrequently used commands have been shuffled off to the righthand side of the keyboard. Commands are executed in the Chipndale viewer with the input focus. If the viewer does not have the input focus, the cursor will appear as a fat arrow pointing down. Click any mouse button to obtain the proper cursor.

The mouse are ordered such that the middle button controls drawing objects, the left and right buttons control modifications. Drawing only occurs when the middle button is pressed or held down; alterations only occur when the left or right button goes up.

Most commands that affect selected objects can be performed with either the left or the right button; the left button only affects the object pointed to, the right applies all currently selected objects. These commands are indicated in the documentation with the choice {Left or Right}, meaning that the command will be applied to a different set of objects depending on the button used.

The following commands refer to the 7-28-84 version of the default CMOS Chipndale tip table. If you apply any of the commands without receiving the expected result, check the mapping of the tip table you are using.

For a quick command reference, see /indigo/chipndale/top/documentation/chipndale17crib.tioga (which is contained in the DF file /indigo/chipndale/5.2/top/cddoc.df).

2.1. Simple Selection

Select Single Object

Left

Point to desired object and hit Left mouse button. All previous selections will be removed. (Note: just the condition of being selected is removed, not the object itself!)

Select Multiple Objects

Right

Selections made with the Right mouse button will be added to the collection of previously selected items.

Select Covered Object

<SHIFT>-Left

Holding down <SHIFT> while hitting the Left button will cause the selection to rotate through the possible objects at that point. This enables you to select objects completely obscured by other overlaying structures.

Deselect Object

<SHIFT>-Right

Point to a selected object, hold down <SHIFT> and hit Right. Selection will be removed.

2.2. More Advanced Selection

Area Select/Deselect

<TAB>-<CTRL>-Left

Select all objects within or touching boundary drawn by moving the mouse

<TAB>-Left

Select only objects contained in the box drawn by moving the mouse

<SHIFT>-<TAB>-<CTRL>-Left

Deselect all objects within or touching boundary drawn by moving the mouse

<SHIFT>-<TAB>-Left

Select only objects contained in the box drawn by moving the mouse

Select/Deselect All

<ESC>-Right, <ESC>-Left

Hold down <ESC>: hitting the Right mouse button selects everything in the current design, hitting the Left mouse button removes all selections.

Note you can also deselect everything by pointing at nothing and hitting the Left button (single select).

Select Entire Layer

<ESC>-<SPACE>-Right

Hold down <ESC> and <SPACE> then hit the Right mouse button; all of the objects belonging to the current layer will be selected.

Select Closest Object

<ESC>-<TAB>-Left

Holding down <ESC> and <TAB> when hitting the Left mouse button will single-select the closest object within a certain radius. All previous selections will be removed. Also known as "proximity selection".

Change selection

<SPACE>

If you are selecting an object but have not yet let the mouse button up, you can change your choice by keeping the button down, moving the mouse to the new object and hitting <SPACE>. This change in midstream will also work even if you are about to execute a command on the selected object.

For example: Say you want to rotate something. You press R, point to the appropriate object and press the Left mouse button. As soon as you let the button up, the command will be executed. But wait! You really wanted the object just to the right! No problem. Keep the mouse button and the R down, move the cursor to the new object, and hit <SPACE>. The selection will be switched to the new pointed objected. Now when the mouse button is released, the new object will be rotated (either in place of or in addition to the old object, depending upon whether the Left or Right mouse button was used).

2.3. Wires, Transistors and Contacts

Wires

Middle

Pressing the Middle button and moving the mouse draws a wire of the current layer with the current width, releasing the button confirms the position and length of the wire.

The current layer can be changed with either the keyboard or the control panel, the width can be set only through the control panel.

<SHIFT>

Hitting <SHIFT> while drawing a wire confirms a wire segment

<SPACE>

Hitting <SPACE> while drawing a wire flips the orientation of the direction the wire bends

B-{Left or Right}

Split wire(s) along its/their width by holding down both the B key and the appropriate button while moving the mouse. Command is executed by lifting the mouse button. (Note the split across the middle in the letter "B" to remember "split wire")

Stops the wire drawing process; hold down both keys for a full second - the input focus is ignored.

Transistors

All "draw transistor" commands executed by hitting the middle mouse button

Place n-transistor at current cursor location

Q-<SHIFT> or Q-<LOCK>

Place p-transistor at current cursor location

Draw angle n-transistor at current cursor location

W-<SHIFT> or W-<LOCK>

Draw angle p-transistor at current cursor location

Contacts

All "draw contact" commands executed by hitting the middle mouse button. Contact commands use the same keys as the layer commands; the contact is made between the indicated layer and metal.

<1>

Draw N-dif contact

<1>-<SHIFT>

Draw P-dif contact

<1>-<2>

Draw N-buried contact

<1>-<2>-<3>

Draw N-butting contact

This command is supposed to remind you of the three layers used in a butting contact; everybody will probably use the simpler <3>-Middle command though. I know I would.

<1>-<2>-<3>-<SHIFT>

Draw P-butting contact

<2>

Draw poly contact

<3>

Draw N-butting contact

<3>-<SHIFT>

Draw P-butting contact

<4>

Draw P-well contact

<4>-<SHIFT>

Draw N-well contact

<6>

Draw metal-metal2 contact

2.4. Move and copy, transformations

Move and Copy

Q-{Left or Right}

Move selected objects to current cursor position

If done with the right button, moves entire collection of selected objects relative to the former cursor position as indicated by the vector drawn on the screen when moving the mouse. The left button only moves the single object pointed to and removes all former selections.

Q-<TAB>-{Left or Right}

Copy selected objects to current cursor position

If done with the right button, copies entire collection of selected objects by choosing an origin with the left mouse button, holding that button down, and moving the cursor to the desired destination. The left button only copies the single selected object.

Q-<SHIFT>-{Left or Right}

Move selected object(s) while maintaining primitive connectivity, also called "Stretchy Move".

Rotate

Note that rotation and mirroring can also be done with the Transform pop-up menu, <SPACE>-T.

R-Right

Rotate the selected object(s) by 90 in a clockwise direction, the bottom left corner remains fixed.

R-Left

Rotate the pointed object by 90 in a clockwise direction, the bottom left corner remains fixed

In order to rotate the design 90 degrees#clockwise, select the entire layout by using the select-all command <ESC>-Right. Now indicate a rotation with R-Right. The design will be rotated keeping the bottom left corner fixed. As long as the design is selected, hitting more R-Right's will continue the rotation. This command sequence is useful in conjuction with the plotter routines.

Mirror

Note: E and T are were selected because they are located next to the "R" (rotate) key and have symmetry appropriate to their function.

T-{Left or Right}

Mirror selected object(s) across the vertical axis

E-{Left or Right}

Mirror selected object(s) across the horizontal axis

Delete/Undelete

D-{Left or Right}

Delete selected object(s)

D-Middle

Undelete last deleted object(s)

Step

Note that the four keys A S W and Z are arranged in the same relative positions as the directions they move the selected object(s). The step commands are identical to the stretch commands save that <CTRL> is not held down.

A-{Left or Right}

Move the selected object(s) one lambda to the left.

S-{Left or Right}

Move the selected object(s) one lambda to the right

W-{Left or Right}

Move the selected object(s) one lambda up

Z-{Left or Right}

Move the selected object(s) one lambda down

Change Layer

Change layer by hitting the associated layer number key. These commands are similar to the contact commands except that the middle button is not held down. The control panel can also be used to change layers; note that the order of the layers associated with the keys is the same as the order listed in the control panel.

<1>

set layer to be N diffusion

<1>-<LOCK>

set layer to be P diffusion

In general, if the <LOCK> key is down, everything is done in the P-diffusion world; <LOCK> up indicates N-diffusion. This doesn't work in all cases but that's the idea. You can change between pdif and ndif just by switching the position of the <LOCK> key without hitting <1>.

<2>

set layer to be poly

<3>

set layer to be metal

<4>

set layer to be N-well contact

<4>-<LOCK>

set layer to be P-well contact

<5>

set layer to be N-well

<6>

set layer to be 2nd layer metal

<TAB>-Middle

Clicking the middle button while holding down <TAB> will set the current layer to be the same as the pointed layer.

Note: NMOS uses <4> for 2nd layer metal, it has no wells or well contacts.

2.5. Changing objects

Step Stretch

Note that the four keys A S W and Z are arranged in the same relative positions as the directions they stretch the selected object(s). The stretch commands are identical to the step commands save that <CTRL> is held down.

A-<CTRL>-{Left or Right}

Stretch pointed side of object(s) one lambda to the left

Using the Left button acts on only the object currently pointed to; the Right button acts on all selected objects. You must be pointing to a selected object each time the mouse button is pushed. If object is shrinking (due to having its right side moved over), it will stop moving when its width reached one lambda, regardless of how many times the command is given.

S-<CTRL>-{Left or Right}

Stretch pointed side of object(s) one lambda to the right

W-<CTRL>-{Left or Right}

Stretch pointed side of object(s) one lambda up

Z-<CTRL>-{Left or Right}

Stretch pointed side of object(s) one lambda down

Stretch

Q-<CTRL>-{Left or Right}

Stretch object(s) by an arbitrary amount.

Grow/Shrink

G-{Left or Right}

Stretch pointed side of object(s) one lambda out, i.e. grow object in given direction

F-{Left or Right}

Stretch pointed side of object(s) one lambda in, i.e. shrink object in given direction

2.6. Viewer commands

Change scale

"<", ">"

Hitting <PERIOD> decreases magnification; hitting <COMMA> increases it. It is easier to remember these commands by looking at the upper case options on the keys, that is, "<" decreases the scale and ">" increases it.

Or, if you want to be visual in remembering the commands, note that the "<" starts small then gets bigger, hence it makes objects appear bigger. In the same way, ">" starts big and ends small, making objects appear smaller.

Change position

<SPACE>-Middle

Moving the mouse while holding down both the <SPACE> key and the middle button draws a vector on the screen. The view of the design will be moved in proportion to that vector when the mouse button is released.

View all

<SPACE>-Middle

Holding down <SPACE> and clicking the Middle button will cause the viewer position and scale to change so that all objects are visible on the screen.

View all selections

<SPACE>—Left

Holding down <SPACE> and clicking the Left button will cause the viewer position and scale to change so that all selected objects are visible on the screen.

2.7. Cells

Note that all of these commands can also be accessed through the cell pop-up menu, <SPACE>-C.

Draw cell

C-Middle

Draw cell placing origin at current cursor position. Terminal will prompt for name of cell to be drawn.

Create cell

X-C-Middle

Create a new cell from the set of all selected objects. Terminal will prompt for a unique cell name.

Push-Pop

Note how the letter "V" both points down and opens up to remember push-pop; it is also located close to the "C"key.

V-Left

Push into cell: the rest of the design will be darkened

V-Middle

Pop out of cell

Expand (Flatten) cell

X-C-{Left or Right}

Changes a cell back into just a group of objects

Cell directory

<SPACE>-D

Directory pop-up menu:

list directory: list contents of directory

clean up: list unused entries, and ask whether they should be removed from the directory.

remove ob: remove a particular entry from directory, (checked, only unused entries can be removed)

rename selected ob: rename selected object in directory

list imports: list names of imported designs

list importee's ob: list referenced object of a particular imported design

CELLS: calls Cells pop-up menu

Although the directory contains mostly cells, there are other object classes stored there as well.

2.8. IO, Imports, and Includes

<SPACE>-I or <SPACE>-O

Use the IO pop-up menu. Default extension is .dale.

Chipmonk IO

<SPACE>-I or <SPACE>-O

The IO pop-up menu allows to create backwards compatible chipmonk output. (.chip file). Not all Chipndale features can be written onto Chipmonk compatible files. This command is restricted to CMOS and NMOS IC designs.

Imports

To import a design means to make references to objects from the imported design. The imported objects are not included in the new design but only referenced. If objects are changed in the original design and then re-imported, the changes made are propagated to the new design. To draw imported objects it is first necessary to import the design using the IO menu. Once the design is imported, we can import any of its objects.

X-Middle

Draw an imported object. The command querries for the design, and then for the object. A reference to this object is drawn.

There is a easier way to draw imports: Open a viewer on the design which is used as source; make this design the selected design X-<SPACE>-Right (don't intermix selected design with selection). Select an object in the source design. To draw this object in your design, use X-<SPACE>-Middle.

Once a reference to an imported object is made, it is possible to really include that object in the current cell directory. It is than no longer referenced but a part of the new design: use the "merge in" entry in the directory menu.

Include

To include a design means to make all objects of that directory local. Use the IO menu to do includes but usually one would prefer to import a design.

2.9. Repetitions

Description

A repetition is a set of objects placed at regular intervals along a given vector a given number of times. This feature allows the designer to create uniform structures quickly and easily. Any group of objects can be used as the basis for a repetition, even repetitions themselves.

Commands

=-Middle (note the repeated horizontal lines)

Make a repetition of the selected objects

Select the objects you want to form the basic unit of the repetition. Hold down "=" and draw a vector with the middle button. The vector indicates the spacing of the units. The vector is pointing to the position of the origin of the next unit, where the origin of any unit is defined by the tail of the vector. After the middle button is lifted, Terminal will prompt for the number of units you want in the repetition.

]-{Left or Right} (note that "[" and"]" are just below "=")

Decrement count on selected objects (repetitions)

[-{Left or Right}

Increment count on selected objects (repetitions)

Any repeated object has the possibility to ask what index it has in the repetition.

2.10. Properties, Signal Names

Properties

It is possible to hang arbitrary properties to any application of objects. These properties may or may not affect any program's behavior, or may only be comments for designers. Programs can protect their properties from designers, so the property mechanism can be used without danger of contention.

<SPACE>-P-Left

Shows all the properties of the selected application

P-Middle

Asks for a property name and allows to replace the value of the property. Properties included interactively cannot make use of all the nice Cedar types, however, a pop-up menu allows you to select the types of the property value in some limited range. Prefered types for properties are Rope.ROPE, ATOM and REF INT. The name of a property is always converted to an ATOM.

Properties using these types are saved while a design is written on a file and read back. However, clientprograms may affect this and force a different behaviour for properties they own. Such properties are usually reserved by the implementor for his/her exclusive use so designers will not be surprised. It may be good to load client programs first, and only thereafter use undocumented properties; they might be disabled by a client program, even if it runs later.

-Need and example here.-

One of the uses of properties is for communication with procedures evaluating conditional objects: these procedure have the possibility to query all their containing applications for arbitrary property values.

Signal Names

$SignalNames are reserved properties. Their value should be a ROPE.

N-Middle:

Enter signal name

N-Left

Display signal name

2.11. Text

Chipnsil Fonts

Text on MOS

2.12. Conditional objects

Use conditional objects only if you already know what you're doing, and even then cautiously. There is still danger of committing error 33.

2.13. Miscellaneous

Measuring distance

<CTRL>-Middle

Draw a vector by holding down <CTRL> and the middle button while moving the mouse. When the mouse button is released, Terminal will display the values of the end coordinates and the distance between them.

3. Output

3.1. Generating CIF files

Flat CIF

Flat CIF creates a CIF output without any hierarchy whatsoever. See the Program menu; the Flatcif module must be run before issuing the command. The commandfile CDxCMosCIF.cm sets up the CIF layer names and bloats for CMOS; It is a pity, but not Chipndale's problem, that reasonable designs will end up with millions of rectangles, more than most other available CIF input packages can handle.

3.2. Plotting on the Color Versatec

Creating The Plot

<QUOTE>-Left

The files necessary to run the plotter are brought over with the DF file

/indigo/chipndale/5.2/top/cddesign.df

If you have reason to believe that the necessary modules are not available, or that the standard DF file is doing you dirt, the file /indigo/chipndale/5.2/top/colorvplot17.df is the ultimate truth -- bring it over as a last resort.

Independently whether Chipndale is already running or not, execute the command:

% VersatecCMOS or

% VersatecNMOS

in the same directory where you are running Chipndale to set up the appropriate software and colors.

Now you need to get your design on the screen (if it's not there already). Execute one of the following:

% CDRead <name of Chipndale file> or

% CDReadCMCMOS <name of Chipmonk CMOS file> or

% CDReadCMNMOS <name of Chipmonk NMOS file>

to read in your ".chip" or ".dale" file.

Plot any portion of the design you wish by selecting an area using the left mouse button with 'quote' held down. Terminal will request the number of vertical strips of paper you want the plot printed on; each strip will be made into a PD file named "plot(i).pd" where i is 0..(#strips -1). The plot will be made as wide as the given number of strips will allow, at 40 inches per strip. As the PD file is being generated, a '.' will be printed for every horizontal band as it is completed. An arrow will travel down the screen indicating the current band under consideration; the phrase "finished plot(s)" indicates that all strips have been done. Now you have a PD file resident on your local disk which must be transferred to the Versatec.

Sending PD files to the Color Versatec

The Versatec must be in "Soliciting Client" mode before it will print your file. If it says "Got a Client" and the LED display indicates disk activity, someone else is probably sending a file and you'll have to wait. If it is not busy and does not say "Soliciting Client," punch the white boot button on the front of the machine (the one next to the red button, above the LED's) and wait for the correct prompt to appear. Do NOT reboot if the LED indicates disk activity (displays some percentage of CPU utilization less than 100 and greater than 0).

The new Peach package requires that your Dorado be running the latest version of STPServer. Bringover /indigo/postCedar5.2/top/stpserver.df into ///Commands/; start it up by saying "STPServer" to the CommandTool. To start sending the PD file, give the command:

% chat sleepy

to connect to the Chat interface with Sleepy, the Dicentra serving the color Versatec. The command to send the file is

>> Print <filename> <#copies> <title>

where the filename is [name of Dorado]<Cedar>subdirectory>filename.pd. For example, if you had created a vanilla IC plot on Seahorse, wanted only one copy, and wanted your username as a title on the plot, you would give the command

>> Print [SeaHorse]<Cedar>temp>plot0.pd 1 Smith.pa

Your print request would now queued and would be handled on a first-come first-served basis. The official documentation for the new Peach software can be found under

/indigo/peach/documentation/peachdoc.tioga.

It's recommended reading.

Completed plots are cut off each night and left for pick-up on a table in the Purple Lab. Users are strongly discouraged from cutting off their own plots. (It is fairly difficult to properly re-install the paper such that the next user gets good registration on his/her plot.)

Color Selection

Description

Example

You can easily change the colors assigned to layers by editing the command files VersatecCMOS.cm and VersatecCMOS.cm.

3.3. Plotting on the Black&White Versatec

Creating the Plot

<SHIFT>-<QUOTE>-Left

Run the vplot module by "run vplot" in the user exec, or have it run by the "Chipndale.RunPrograms" userprofile option.

Manipulate the design in the viewer so that you can see the entire amount of information you want to print. Hold down <SHIFT>-<QUOTE> , and with the left button down, draw a rectangle containing that part of the design that you want to come out on paper. When you release the button, Terminal will ask you to select the number of strips you want the design to be printed on (for all you VLSI wallpaper fans). A new viewer will appear, showing the middle of the horizontal stripe currently under consideration. An arrow pointing to the design will show you how far the transfer has progressed. After the transfer is complete, the connection to the Alto will be closed and the Trident file "plot.bits" will be printed on the Versatec. This routine should not break even on large and complex designs.

3.4. Using the Color Display

On and Off

Chipndale also uses the color screen as a viewer. It is best to use your user profile to set up the color display. The general Cedar commands to do so are repeated here for your information. Type the command:

% colordisplay on

to enable the display. The cursor will now move off the side of the display onto the color screen as though the two were contiguous. Use the command:

% colordisplay off

to get rid of the colordisplay and retrieve the left boundary of your screen.

You can set up the color screen for chipndale with your user profile. CDPattern reads in a pattern from a pattern file of chipmonk, specify which file by using the userprofile. CDColorMap reads in a chipmonk colormap.

Moving Between Screens

The viewer bar will contain the extra option "Color" when the color display is enabled; this button will move the viewer from the B&W and to the color screen. The "-->" and "<--" buttons are used to switch the viewer back over from the color display.

Choosing Screen Colors

Color Menu

Patterns and Maps

To describe colors we need to specify both, a color map and color patterns. The colormap is a setting of the device, and is valid for all viewers on the device; Color patterns are initialized for every technology; on code level it could be even specified for every viewer. To make color appearing correct, it is necessary that the color map and the color patterns fit together; For now, Chipndale is able to read the color map description and the color pattern description files of Chipmonk, if a 4-bit per pixel device is used; in the far future, Chipndale ought to have its own files (technology dependant) which also include 8-bit per pixel devices. Possibly the ultimate Chipndale color description files then will be text files, so the designer can specify his favorite colors.

It is most convenient to set up your colors with the user profile; the display pop up menu allows resetting the color settings to what is on the profile

4. Chipndale and Chipmonk

4.1. What's really different from Chipmonk

Some few commands...

All the fuss about technology independency. It's more than you would expect.

Large designs, (32 bit numbers)

Easy to use for clients: All usefull commands can also be accessed from calling procedures: Open ended client interfaces.

Its own implementation is based on the client interfaces.

Its list of object types is open ended, including their representation on files.

Multiple viewers per design.

Multiple designs.

Runs on Cedar, gets all the advantages of an integrated environment.

NMOS and CMOS are incompatible, they are implemented as different technologies.

Pop-up menu's.

Terminal viewer for log.

Imports of (References to) other designs

Real repetitions

Conditional objects.

Powerful use of property lists, including saving properties on files.

Checkplots on both color and B&W Versatec plotters.

4.2. What's missing in Chipndale

DRC

Analysis, Extraction,

Some programs which run in Chipmonk

Pla generator, Rom maker, ... its all in progress

CIF generation, EBES mask generation

once worked, but needs to be updated

Feedback from real designers

is really missing

5. Appendix

5.1. User Profile Options and Commands

Control of the pop-up menu

PopUpMenu.FontFamily: "Helvetica"

PopUpMenu.FontSize: 10

PopUpMenu.FontBold: TRUE

PopUpMenu.FontItalic: FALSE

PopUpMenu.LineHeightChange: 0

Chipndale kernel

Chipndale.NewViewerIconic: FALSE

-- controls creation of viewers showing designs

Chipndale.ControlViewerOpenIconic: FALSE

-- controls creation of control panel viewers

Chipndale.CatchLowLevelErrors: TRUE

--set to FALSE to help debugging, usually it is possible to continue

Chipndale.CatchErrorsWhichCauseDeadlock: TRUE

--set carefully FALSE to help debugging, but

--if errors occur, you loose all your work which is not saved onto files

Chipndale.ChipmonkColorMapNum: -1

-- in four bits per pixel mode only

-- <0 use default colormap

-- 0 use default colormap, but read in the colormap file

-- >0 use a colormap from the ChipmonkColorMaps file as in profile

Chipndale.ChipmonkColorMaps: "default.CDColorMaps"

Chipndale.ColorStartLeft: TRUE

Chipndale.ColorBackWhite: FALSE

Chipndale.ColorBackBlack: FALSE

-- random if none, or both, ColorBackBlack and ColorBackWhite are TRUE

Chipndale.ColorStartBits: -1

-- -1 don't touch

-- 0 set up to current bits per pixel mode, if reasonable

-- 4 set up 4 bit per pixel mode

-- 8 set up 8 bit per pixel mode

Chipndale.CursorOnesWhite: TRUE

-- initial color of cursor on colordisplay

Chipndale.RunPrograms: NIL

-- include a list of bcds which should be run whenever

-- Chipndale is started

Chipndale.ChipmonkColorPatterns: "default.CDColorPatterns"

-- NMOS and CMOS only

NMOS-specific user profile options

Chipndale.NMos.TIPTable: "ChipndaleNMos.TIP"

Chipndale.NMos.ChipmonkColorPatternNum: 0

CMOS-specific user profile options

Chipndale.CMos.TIPTable: "ChipndaleCMos.TIP"

Chipndale.CMos.ChipmonkColorPatternNum: 0

-- currently cmos only

-- <0 use entry from ChipmonkColorPatterns file

-- with positionkey = ABS[ChipmonkColorPatternNum]

-- (to get positionkey -0 use 1)

-- 0 use default colorpatterns

-- 1 use chipmonks default colorpatterns

-- >1 use entry from ChipmonkColorPatterns file

Chipnsil specific user profile options

Chipndale.chipnsil.TIPTable: "chipnsil.tip" -- this is default

-- Fonts do not have defaults

Chipndale.chipnsil.Font0: "TimesRoman14.strike"

Chipndale.chipnsil.AlternateFont0: "/indigo/AltoFonts/TimesRoman14.strike"

Chipndale.chipnsil.ScaleFont0: 32

Chipndale.chipnsil.Font1: "Gates32.strike"

Chipndale.chipnsil.AlternateFont1: "/indigo/AltoFonts/Gates32.strike"

Chipndale.chipnsil.ScaleFont1: 64

.... ChipNSil supports 8 fonts; which are initialized with the user profile. The user profile designates the font used on creation of the text; once a text is created, its font can NOT be changed with the user profile

5.2. List of Commands

Control panel commands

Control panel commands are executed by clicking mouse buttons on top of the text (not the value)

left: increment value

right: decrement value

CTRL-left: double value

CTRL-right: half value

any-SHIFT: set default value

any-CTRL-SHIFT: input value

middle on to of a layer description: selects this layer as default for drawing wires

The control panel can also be scrolled.

Pop-up menus

Global pop-up menu <SPACE>-G

IO: calls the IO popup menu

Viewer: calls the viewer popup menu

Directory: calls the directory popup menu

Cell: calls the cell pop-up menu

programs: allows user to run additional tools

Rename des: Renames the design

Undelete: Undeletes the last deleted object

Select all: Select all applications

Statistic: Displays the number of objects, selected objects. If only one object is selected, shows further information about that object

Viewer pop-up menu <SPACE>-V

Split: Split viewer

Grid: grid spacing

Ticks: ticks

View all: Reset scaling such that the whole design is visible

View selected: adjust scale so that all selected objects are visible

View top lev: adjust scaling to view pushed level

Drawmode: Monitors drawing of design if in a pushed cell;

viewer may optionally ommit drawing the outside cell objects

Simplification: simplification threshold of viewers can be modified to show more or less details.

Directory pop-up menu <SPACE>-D

list directory: list contents of directory

clean up directory: list unused entries, and ask whether they should be removed from the directory.

remove ob: remove a particular entry from directory, (checked, only unused entries can be removed)

rename selected ob: rename selected object in directory

list imports: list names of imported designs

list importee's ob: list referenced object of a particular imported design

Cells: calls Cell pop-up menu

IO pop-up menu <SPACE>-I or <SPACE>-O

Output: Create a .dale file.

Import: Import a design. Objects now may be referenced.

Include: Include a design, all the objects are merged into the design.

reload conditions: see section on conditional objects

Chipmonk output: Output chipmonk compatible, version 7 .chip file. Restricted to NMOS and CMOS.

list imports: list imported designs

directory: call the directory pop-up menu

Cell pop-up menu <SPACE>-C

create: Create a cell from the selected objects

expand: Take the indicated cell and separate into individual objects

push-in: Push into the indicated cell so that its components are accessible

pop-out: Pop out one level

put down

put down imported

simplification

transform to: Change a repetition into a cell

Directory: call the directory pop-up menu

Program Menu <SPACE>-P

CIF output

Flat CIF output

DRC

DRC & Extract Rose

DRC & Extract Thyme

Route

Place

Cell Route/Place

Transforms Menu <SPACE>-T

mirror x

mirror y

rotate 90

rotate 180

rotate 270

Alphabetical listing

AAA

Stretching and Moving the selection incrementally left

Left-A-<CTRL> StretchStepLeftS;

Right-A-<CTRL> StretchStepLeftS;

Left-A LambdaLeftS;

Right-A LambdaLeftS;

BBB

Split Wire (do you see how the B is split in the middle?)

Left-B SplitWireS;

Right-B SplitWireS;

CCC

Creation of cell (use X key)

Middle-C X CreateCellSAndName;

Middle-C V PopReplace;

Transform to cell (use V key)

Left-C V TransformToCellS;

Right-C V TransformToCellS;

Create or draw expand a Cell (use X key)

Middle-C DrawCell;

Left-C X ExpandS;

Right-C X ExpandS;

Push and Pop

Left-C PushS;

Right-C PopMenu;

DDD