To run the scripts, of course, you have to save them in the appropriate directory, give them execute priviliges ($ chmod +x scriptname.csh) and run them ($ ./scriptname.csh). In some of the scripts you will have to set up variables appropriate for your design (e.g., the name of the top cell, for example) and tool set (e.g. the path to magic).

Warning:

Improper use of these scripts can erase your design. Make sure that you read and understand them before using them. It is also a good idea to try out the scripts on a copy of your design first. I generally run the verification scripts on a copy of my design in a separate subdirectory. Magic will generate a complete list of your subcells if you type "extract all" at the prompt. Use that list to copy all magic files into a separate directory and run the verification scripts there.

If you find any problems with these scripts, please send me email at this address: howard [at] frank [dot] harvard [dot] edu.

Miscellaneous scripts

• fet2mos.csh -- convert
• buildsim.csh --
• makecalma.csh --
Verification scripts
• feedback.csh -- checks for feedback warnings
• drc.csh -- checks for design rule violations
• lvs.csh -- layout vs. schematic
• floating_node.csh -- checks for floating nodes
• float_well.csh -- checks for floating nwells
• no_well.csh -- checks for missing wells
• well_route.csh -- checks for routing through wells
• LabelRoute.pl -- checks for routing through labels

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fet2mos.csh

When extracting a layout in Magic and converting it to a spice netlist for simulation in Nanosim using ext2spice, there's one problem: the transistors are all called "pfet" and "nfet", whereas Nanosim uses the syntax "pmos" and "nmos". The following dirt-simple script (fet2mos.csh; download here) takes netlist.spice (with "pfet" and "nfet") and converts it into netlist.spi (with "pmos" and "nmos") for use in Nanosim.

   #!/bin/csh
    
   set cell  = $1
   set cell1 = $cell.spice
   echo 'Converting spice cell' $cell1
   rm $cell.spi
   sed 's/fet/mos/g' $cell.spice >> $cell.spi
   rm $cell.spice

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buildsim.csh

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makecalma.csh

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float_well.csh

Float_well.csh checks for floating nwells in a magic layout file. The algorithm is as follows. First, it flattens the design in magic, and then selects the nwell and nsubstratencontact layers and saves them to a separate magic file. This file is opened and m1 is painted over all of it. Because nsubstratencontact connects m1 to nwell, the blanket of m1 shorts together all of the nwells that have nsubstratencontacts. This new layout is extracted and a one-liner checks to see that there is only one node in the extacted netlist. If there is more than one node, then there are floating nwells in the original layout.

This script only checks for floating nwells. One could easily modify it to check for floating pwells.

You will have to edit three lines in the script. The first is your top cell name, the second is the location of the techfile, and the third is the path to the magic executable.

Edit these lines:

   set cell  = pulsenet
   set techfile = /home/howard/frank/vlsi/tools/tech-files/tsmc_25um_subm/SCN5M_SUBM.15.TSMC
   set magic = magic_6.5.1

Download float_well.csh or look at the source code below.

Source code:

   #!/bin/csh

   set cell  = pulsenet
   set cell2 = $cell.flat    
   set cell3 = $cell.nwell.flat    
   set techfile = /home/howard/frank/vlsi/tools/tech-files/tsmc_25um_subm/SCN5M_SUBM.15.TSMC
   set magic = magic_6.5.1
   (echo :drc off; echo :flatten $cell2; echo :load $cell2; echo :save; echo :quit; echo yes) | $magic -T $techfile -d null $cell
   (echo :drc off; echo :select area nwell; echo :select more area nsubstratencontact; echo :select save $cell3; echo :quit) | $magic -T $techfile -d null $cell2
   (echo :drc off; echo :paint m1; echo :extract; echo :quit; echo yes) | $magic -T $techfile -d null $cell3
   echo ' '
   echo '***********************************************************'
   echo ' '
   echo 'You have the following number of nodes in '$cell':'  
   more $cell3.ext | grep ^node | wc -l
   echo '      ^--- This should = 1 if there are no floating wells'  
   echo ' '
   echo '***********************************************************'
   echo ' '
   rm $cell2.mag $cell3.mag $cell3.ext

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LabelRoute.pl

LabelRoute.pl checks a magic file for routing through labels, i.e. two physically unconnected nodes are given the same label, thereby tricking simulation and verification tools.

The algorithm behind LabelRoute.pl is straightforward. It compares extracted netlist files for two versions of a magic file, one with all labels removed and one unchanged. If they are equivalent, then there is no routing through labels. If they do not agree then either there is routing through labels, or gemini is unable to show that the extracted netlists are equivalent. For complicated designs with a lot of symmetry, the latter happens more than I'd like. If this happens, a pretty good check of routing through labels is to compare the number of nets in a versions of a design with and without labels (at all levels).

It is a perl script that requires a small degree of customization. After downloading the file and making it executable (chmod +x LabelRoute.pl), change the fourlines at the top that tell the script where to find magic, your tech file, ext2sim, and gemini on your system.

Edit these lines:

   $MAGIC = "magic_6.5.1";
   $TECHFILE = "~/frank/vlsi/tools/tech-files/tsmc_25um_subm/SCN5M_SUBM.15.TSMC";
   $EXT2SIM = "ext2sim";
   $GEMINI = "gemini -m -c -v -z -v";

The algorithm behind LabelRoute.pl is straightforward. It compares extracted netlist files for two versions of a magic file, one with all labels removed and one unchanged. If they are equivalent, then there is no routing through labels. If they do not agree then either there is routing through labels, or gemini is unable to show that the extracted netlists are equivalent. For complicated designs with a lot of symmetry, the latter happens more than I'd like. If this happens, a pretty good check of routing through labels is to compare the number of nets in a versions of a design with and without labels (at all levels).

Download LabelRoute.pl or look at the source code below.

Source code:

   #! /usr/bin/perl

   ####################################################################
   # 
   # Title:    LabelRoute.pl
   # Author:   Andrew Howard
   # Created:  10/26/04 
   # Usage:    LabelRoute.pl cellname.mag
   #
   # Checks design for routing through labels.  
   # File must be in magic format. 
   #
   ####################################################################

   # check for correct number of arguments
   if( $#ARGV != 0) 
   {    
       print("Usage: LabelRoute.pl cellname.mag\n");
       print("       Checks design for routing through labels.\n");
       print("       File must be in .mag format\n");
       exit(1);
   }

   $MAGIC = "magic_6.5.1";
   $TECHFILE = "~/frank/vlsi/tools/tech-files/tsmc_25um_subm/SCN5M_SUBM.15.TSMC";
   $EXT2SIM = "ext2sim";
   $GEMINI = "gemini -m -c -v -z -v";

   $passed = "PASSED: No routing through labels\n        Labeled & unlabeled nets match.\n";
   $failed = "FAILED: Possible routing through labels!!!! \n        Labeled & unlabeled nets do NOT match.\n";
   $file = $ARGV[0];

   if (! -e $file) {
   	print "$file does not exist\n";
   	exit(2);
   }


   if ($file =~ /(.+)(\.mag)/) 
   { 
       $name = $1;
   }
   else 
   {
       print("The file that you have specified ($file) does not ");
       print("have a .mag extension.\nThis script only processes ");
       print("files in that format.\n");
       exit(1);
   }

   print("Checking $file for routing through labels ...\n");
   $labelprob = &compare_netlists($name);
   print("$labelprob");

   sub compare_netlists {
       local($magbase)=@_;
       local($magfile) = "$magbase.mag";
       local($labels) = $magbase . "_labels";
       local($labels_ext) = $labels . ".ext";
       local($labels_sim) = $labels . ".sim";
       local($nolabels) = $magbase . "_nolabels";
       local($nolabels_ext) = $nolabels . ".ext";
       local($nolabels_sim) = $nolabels . ".sim";
       local($nolabels_mag) = $nolabels . ".mag";
       local($problem) = $failed;
   
       if (!(-e "$magfile")) {
          return(-1, "$magfile does not exist\n");
       }

       open(MAGIC, "| $MAGIC -T $TECHFILE -d null $magbase 1> MAGIC.LOG 2>&1");
       print MAGIC ":flatten $labels\n";
       print MAGIC ":load $labels\n";
       print MAGIC ":extract\n";
       print MAGIC ":select cell\n";
       print MAGIC ":er labels\n";
       print MAGIC ":flatten $nolabels\n";
       print MAGIC ":load $nolabels\n";
       print MAGIC ":save $nolabels\n";
       print MAGIC ":quit\n";
       print MAGIC "yes\n";
       close(MAGIC);
       open(MAGIC, "| $MAGIC -T $TECHFILE -d null $magbase 1> MAGIC.LOG 2>&1");
       print MAGIC ":load $nolabels\n";
       print MAGIC ":extract\n";
       print MAGIC ":quit\n";
       print MAGIC "yes\n";
       close(MAGIC);    
   
       system("$EXT2SIM -R -A -L -c 1 $labels_ext   2>&1 > /dev/null");
       system("$EXT2SIM -R -A -L -c 1 $nolabels_ext 2>&1 > /dev/null");

       open(GEMINI, "echo q | $GEMINI $labels_sim $nolabels_sim|");
       while ($line = ) 
       {
          if ($line =~ /All nodes/) 
          {
               $problem=$passed;
          }
       }
       system("rm $labels_ext $nolabels_ext $labels_sim $nolabels_sim $nolabels_mag");
       ($problem);
   }

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---

Andrew Howard
Last updated: 05/11/2005
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