distrib/share/etc/ReleaseNotes2.8

   1 ###############################################################################
   2 # AvtTools version 2.8p4 Release Notes
   3 # Copyright (c) 1998-2006, AVERTEC All Rights Reserved
   4 # April 26th, 2006
   5 #
   6 ###############################################################################
   7
   8 # 1 - New functionalities
   9   - Enhanced transfer gate model using NMOS and PMOS contributions taking into
  10     account the relative opening time difference due to inverter.
  11     (activated by setting avtNewSwitchModel to yes and tasDelaySwitch to no)
  12   - Full handling of M parameter for transistors by duplication
  13   - New API inf_ExportSections for selective driving of INF sections
  14   - New STB APIs for better handling of stability analysis results
  15   - Setup/Hold driven in STO file to accelerate loading of switching windows
  16   - New logging config to activate and deactivate logging of INF and avttools
  17     configuration files
  18   - Possibility to create internal clocks on latch commands
  19
  20 # 2 - Bug fixes
  21   - NF parameter interpreted correctly for hspice in transistor model size
  22     selection
  23   - Setting input transition with wildcards now works correctly
  24   - Setting output load on pins with RC parasitics now works correctly
  25   - Correction for handling of resistance names for DSPF matching
  26   - separate groups of equivalent clocks were all considered equivalent
  27
  28 ###############################################################################
  29 # AvtTools version 2.8p3 Release Notes
  30 # Copyright (c) 1998-2006, AVERTEC All Rights Reserved
  31 # April 10th, 2006
  32 #
  33 ###############################################################################
  34
  35 # 1 - New functionalities
  36   - Tcl function avt_DriveSignalInfo for RC supply network dumping
  37   - Detection of Level-Hold structures - controlled by yagDetectLevelHold
  38   - Ignored device names now reported in log file ("stat:3" in avtLogEnable)
  39   - INF directive 'Connector Directions' section affects spice netlist and
  40     disassembly (yagUseConnectorDirection = yes)
  41   - avtSpiDriveDefaultUnits now also controls transistor parameters for
  42     printing out
  43   - No automatic clock detection in TMA default mode
  44   - simTechnologyName can now be set with multiple file names separated with
  45     commas.
  46   - ttv_DisplayConnectorToLatchMargin has been optimized to handle large UTD
  47   - Mode 'split' has been added to ttv_DisplayConnectorToLatchMargin: displays
  48     the latch margin connector per connector.
  49
  50 # 2 - Bug fixes
  51   - Optimization of crosstalk score analysis and reporting
  52   - Correction of set_false_path
  53   - Correction of INF_DLATCH (no effect of mix with INF_PRECHARGE)
  54   - Improvement of latch automatic detection (some commands not marked)
  55   - No more degraded levels for latches and bleeders
  56   - Diodes are now reported in stat file
  57   - Possible crash in path detail search when using set_load
  58   - Better handling of memsym latches (path through feedback loop)
  59   - Crash after parsing .sto file in Xtas
  60   - Correction of brutal exit when driving input connector info in .sto file
  61   - Command waveforms were inverted in Xtas
  62   - ttv_ProbeDelay did not handle RC nodes and did not work with some wildcards
  63   - Could not drive ttx figure into a file with different filename
  64   - 'Equivalent clock groups' not printed in .sto file
  65   - Corrections in 'equivalent clock groups' behavior
  66   - Incorrect RC network after dspf/spice annotation
  67
  68 ###############################################################################
  69 # AvtTools version 2.8p2 Release Notes
  70 # Copyright (c) 1998-2006, AVERTEC All Rights Reserved
  71 # February 24th, 2006
  72 #
  73 ###############################################################################
  74
  75 # 1 - New functionalities
  76   - Spice parser now supports function pPar
  77   - New Tcl API 'avt_DisplayNetlistHierarchy'
  78   - Verilog + SDF loading in Tcl script
  79   - support of SDC command set_load
  80   - Mechanism to deactivate the reporting and logging of specific warning
  81     messages.
  82
  83 # 2 - Major functionality Changes
  84   - binaries ttvdiff, ttvren, genapi, wrap, cnsdiff, genelp, gnstest, x2v
  85     are no longer distributed
  86   - genelp is no longer distributed nor documentated
  87   - distribution is now statically linked
  88
  89 # 3 - Enhancements
  90   - Accuracy improvement for transmission gates
  91     (beta version: setenv SWITCHMODEL beta)
  92   - Wild cards support for blackbox names
  93     (BLACKBOX file and Tcl API avt_SetBlackboxes).
  94   - tasIgnoreBlackbox (still supported) can be replaced by
  95     tasBlackboxRequiresTimings
  96   - configuration variable sdcUnits has been introduced instead of
  97     stbForeignTimeUnit to handle time and capacitance values passed to SDC
  98     functions.
  99
 100 # 4 - Bug fixes
 101   - segmentation fault when using inf_DefineNotLatch
 102   - False warning "TAS-001 slope computing error" suppresed
 103   - False warning "[Error #1][mbk_matrix] singular matrix given" suppressed
 104   - For RC lines terminated by bleeders, RC delay was underestimated since
 105     bleeder incorrecctly considered as a line driver.
 106   - dspf parser handles signal names containing non alphanum characters
 107   - segmentation fault in stb_DisplaySlackReport if NULL stbfig
 108   - Mismatching stability results when using avtPrecisionLevel=1 with loaded
 109     or generated UTD
 110   - Path margins were not taken into account within slack report
 111   - ttv_ProbeDelay supports wildcards correctly
 112   - In Crosstalk "Observable Aggression" mode, slopes where not taken into
 113     account when computing switching windows for gates not followed by an
 114     RC network.
 115   - Crosstalk Over-detection of aggressors leading to false errors
 116   - Brutal exit on startup of Xyagle. The version section in the ".xyagle.cfg"
 117     file in the user home directory is the source of the bug.
 118     Workaroud for previous releases: remove the file.
 119
 120 ###############################################################################
 121 # AvtTools version 2.8p1 Release Notes
 122 # Copyright (c) 1998-2005, AVERTEC All Rights Reserved
 123 # January 13th, 2006
 124 #
 125 ###############################################################################
 126
 127 # 1 - New functionalities
 128
 129 # 2 - Major functionality Changes
 130   - The interface of the following Tcl functions is changed (now takes a
 131     stability figure as argument):
 132     * stb_DisplaySlackReport
 133     * stb_DisplaySignalStabilityReport
 134     * stb_GetSignalStabilityPaths
 135   - stb_DisplayErroneousSignals is no longer supported, please use
 136     stb_DisplayErrorList
 137   - The property TH_DELAY of object TimingFigure is no longer supported
 138   - stb_GetSignalSetup is obsolete, please use stb_GetSetupSlack
 139   - stb_GetSignalHold is obsolete, please use stb_GetHoldSlack
 140   - No more automatic rescale if weird values for transistor parameters
 141     w, l, pd, ps, ad, as
 142   - Delay deviations are now given relatively to path delay. To get local
 143     delay deviations use ttv_SetupReport
 144
 145 # 3 - Enhancemen
 146   - Better NRS/NRD parameters handling
 147   - Better handling of inverters' parallel branches in post-layout.
 148   - Better handling of conflictual capacitances (accuracy improvement)
 149   - DSPF now supported with arbitrary ordering of *|I *|S *|P
 150
 151 # 4 - Bug fix
 152   - .scale is taken into account even if occurring after netlist inclusion
 153   - redundant access arcs in complex latches
 154   - crosstalk accuracy options handled in TCL
 155   - better orientation of transfer gates driving outputs
 156
 157 ###############################################################################
 158 # AvtTools version 2.8 Release Notes
 159 # Copyright (c) 1998-2005, AVERTEC All Rights Reserved
 160 # December 5th, 2005
 161 #
 162 ###############################################################################
 163 # Overview:
 164 This document outlines the changes made since the previous versions.
 165 For detailed information about using a particular product, please refer
 166 to the online Help (http://www.avertec.com or e-mail:support@avertec.com)
 167 and the documentation.
 168
 169 AvtTools is available for the following OS:
 170   - Solaris : 2.6, 2.8, 2.8 64bit, 2.9, and 2.9 64bit
 171   - Linux   : RedHat 8.0, RedHat Enterprise Linux 3.0
 172               RedHat Enterprise Linux 3.0 64bit
 173
 174 This document describes (1) New functionalities and enhancements,
 175 (2) Major functionality Changes, (3) Bug fixes, (4) Linux configuration.
 176
 177 # 1 - New functionalities and enhancements
 178
 179   - Linux 64bit support
 180   - Support of NF and GEOMOD parameters
 181   - .SCALE support for STI stress parameters
 182   - Setup/Hold spice deck generation
 183   - RISING_SLOPE and FALLING_SLOPE properties added to TimingSignal object.
 184   - Improved Vcard handling
 185   - New STA documentation
 186   - Crosstalk models for long RC networks
 187   - Improved error message display and documentation
 188   - Better memory efficiency in SpiceDeck generation
 189   - Better handling of latch command in feedback loop
 190   - Displaying of data and clock details in slack report
 191   - Spice parser optimized to treat subcircuits with thousands of connectors
 192   - Better consideration of latches intrinsic setup/hold for slack calculation
 193   - INF file is now checked during the execution.
 194   - Improved constraint propagation and reporting
 195   - Variables
 196     * All configuration variables beginning with 'yagle' now begin with 'yag'
 197     * 'avtPrecisionLevel' allows a more accurate slope propagation
 198     * 'yagAutomaticFlipFlopDetection' detects master and slave latches
 199     * 'avtLogFile'
 200     * 'avtLogEnable' controls a re-built and unified log file mechanism
 201     * 'avtVectorize' now controls vectors originating from all formats
 202     * 'tasSilentMode' now available in Tcl
 203   - Tcl commands
 204     * Commands for crosstalk information browsing
 205     * 'ttv_DetectFalseClockPath'
 206     * 'ttv_DisplayClockPathReport'
 207     * SDC command 'set_input_transition' replaces 'inf_DefineSlope'
 208     * 'tlf_DriveFile'
 209     * 'stb_GetSignalHold'
 210     * 'stb_GetSignalSetup'
 211     * 'stb_DisplayConnectorToLatchError'
 212     * 'stb_DisplaySlackReport'
 213     * 'ttv_SetupReport'
 214     * 'ttv_RemoveDuplicatedPath'
 215     * 'inf_DefineSlopeRange'
 216     * 'inf_DefineCapacitanceRange'
 217     * 'inf_DefineNotLatch'
 218     * 'inf_DefineConnectorSwing'
 219     * 'ttv_DisplayConnectorToLatchMargin'
 220     * 'avt_SetBlackBoxes'
 221
 222 # 2 - Major functionality Changes
 223
 224   - Files
 225     * New .agr file for crosstalk aggressions report
 226     * .ctk is not generated in default mode
 227     * .str now shows the transparency time of latches.
 228     * Reading of .sto (stability output) files in Xtas GUI
 229   - Variables
 230     * 'tasModelsForDelay' is now defaulted to 'scm_cpl'
 231     * 'xtasTextualDisplay' now defaulted to yes.
 232     * 'avtStructuralVerilogVectors' controls escaped vectors in Verilog
 233     * 'avtDoNotDevectNames' becomes 'avtVectorize'
 234     * 'avtSpiNotMergeConnector' becomes 'avtSpiMergeConnector'
 235     * avtSpiParseFirstLine now controls included files
 236     * Obsolete 'avtReadInformationFile' (use avt_LoadFile)
 237     * Obsolete 'avtSpiNoRCCapaToGnd'
 238     * Obsolete 'avtCharacTraceLevel'
 239     * Obsolete 'yagleTraceLevel'
 240     * Obsolete 'MBK_TRACE_FILE'
 241     * Obsolete 'MBKLOGFILE'
 242     * Obsolete 'MBK_SPI_DISPLAY_IGNORED'
 243     * Obsolete 'avtCharacAllowRangeMargin'
 244     * Obsolete 'avtCharacRangeMargin'
 245     * Obsolete 'avtCharacForEachSize'
 246     * Obsolete 'avtElpDelVtMargin'
 247     * Obsolete 'avtElpMuluMargin'
 248     * Obsolete 'avtElpSaMargin'
 249     * Obsolete 'avtElpSbMargin'
 250     * Obsolete 'avtElpSdMargin'
 251   - Tcl commands
 252     * 'set_false_path' now includes -hold and -setup options
 253     * 'ttv_DisplayPathDetailHideColumn': hiding the dt.linetype column
 254      activates the merge of RC and gate delays in reports
 255     * Obsolete 'stb_DisplayConnectorToLatchError'
 256     * Obsolete 'ttv_SimulatePathDetail'
 257     * Obsolete 'inf_DefineNotDirout'
 258     * Obsolete 'sdc2stb'
 259
 260 # 3 - Bug fixes
 261   - avtSpiKeepNames=all now works with shorted resistances
 262   - INF file can now exceed 32kb when logging it
 263
 264 # 4 - Linux configuration
 265 AvtTools is compliant with the following RedHat Linux distributions:
 266   - RedHat Linux 8.0 with kernel 2.4.18-14 or above (RedHat 8.0-8)
 267   - RedHat Enterprise Linux 3.0 with kernel 2.4.21-4 or above (RedHat EL 3WS-1)
 268   - RedHat Enterprise Linux 3.0 64bit with kernel 2.4.21-32 or above (RedHat EL 3WS-13.5.1)
 269
 270 Get your kernel version (uname -r) and your RedHat release number
 271 (rpm -qa | grep release) in order to check the compatibility of your
 272 system with AVERTEC's Linux distributions.