1DLYS(5) File Formats Manual DLYS(5)
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6 dlys - format of .dlys files read by the SCALD simulator and timing
7 verifier
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11 The SCALD simulator and timing verifier can accept information about
12 the actual delays of wires in a circuit. This delay information is
13 described in a .dlys file, which consists of a sequence of records, one
14 for each electrical net. Each record begins with the signal name for
15 the net (note that this is the SCALD signal name, i.e, the name given
16 by the user to the entire net, and not usually the name of one of the
17 pins in the net), followed by an =, then a comma-separated list of the
18 terminals in the net and their associated delay, with the list termi‐
19 nated by a semicolon. The end of the file is marked with a second
20 semicolon.
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22 The elements of the comma-separated list for each net take the form
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24 location [min:max]
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26 where location is the full hierarchical SCALD name of the physical pin
27 to which the delay is computed, and min and max are the best-case and
28 worst-case wire delay in nanoseconds (both are floating-point numbers).
29 The assumption is that only a single driver exists per net, so all
30 delays are computed from this driver. If a net has multiple drivers,
31 then the interpretation of delays is up to the program reading this
32 file (e.g, min delays are taken from the fastest driver, max from the
33 slowest).
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35 Here is an example .dlys file:
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37 (APS )ALU STATUS BITS I1<0> =
38 (APS MR 3V6 R1 1P )IN#63[ 0.3 : 0.4 ],
39 (APS APS 4RI RFC RF )OUT[ 0.5 : 0.7 ];
40 (APS )ALU STATUS BITS I1<1> =
41 (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )AN#12[ 1.4 : 1.6 ],
42 (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )AN#8[ 1.1 : 1.3 ],
43 (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )AN#9[ 1.1 : 1.3 ],
44 (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )AN#10[ 1.1 : 1.3 ],
45 (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )AN#11[ 1.1 : 1.3 ],
46 (APS MR 3V2 R1 1P )#23[ 0.6 : 0.8 ],
47 (APS MR 3V6 R1 1P )#62[ 0.3 : 0.4 ],
48 (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )[ 0.4 : 0.6 ],
49 (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )#1[ 0.4 : 0.6 ],
50 (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )#2[ 0.4 : 0.6 ],
51 (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )#3[ 0.4 : 0.6 ],
52 (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )#4[ 0.7 : 0.8 ],
53 (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )#5[ 0.7 : 0.8 ];
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56 Although it is not good practice, it is possible to omit the actual pin
57 names from the location names and only give the path to the part; the
58 example above shows several cases where the final pin name is missing.
59 Since the timing verifier and simulator have the original SCALD netlist
60 available, they are usually able to use the signal name to determine
61 the net, and then use the part's path to identify which pin of the net
62 is meant. This is accurate when a net connects to at most one pin per
63 part; if it connects to more than one pin per part then there is ambi‐
64 guity over which pin is meant. Usually, though, this ambiguity results
65 in only a small inaccuracy, since the delay to different pins on the
66 same part is usually similar. Also, if delay is capacitive, the delay
67 to all pins in a net will be the same anyway, so there is no inaccu‐
68 racy.
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72 ext2dlys(1), ext(5), sim(5)
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76 There should be some way to specify which pins are drivers and which
77 are receivers in a net.
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79 The ability to omit pin names is dangerous; although it usually works
80 it can introduce large inaccuracies when the parts are large compared
81 to the sizes of the wires used to connect them, as might be the case on
82 a silicon PCB.
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86 DLYS(5)