This is release 9.7 of irsim.
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Compilation and installation
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The make script has been changed to work similarly to the magic-7.3 GNU
autoconf make. To make the default IRSIM version, which includes Tcl/Tk
(if available) and OpenGL (if available), do:
./configure
make
make install
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Running IRSIM under Magic
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Standard magic version:
See the magic tutorial #11 (document "tut11.ps" in the magic source
distribution).
Tcl-based magic version and Tcl-based IRSIM (irsim-9.6):
Run the Tcl version of magic in the usual manner. As an example,
consider "tut11a" used in tutorial #11 for demonstrating IRSIM.
magic -w -d OGL tut11a
Start IRSIM with:
irsim
This is a Tcl procedure which can guess at default values. Magic
starts up with a definition for the procedure which looks for the
"irsim.tcl" script in the CAD_ROOT install directory. Assuming that
magic and irsim are installed in the same CAD_ROOT root (e.g.,
/usr/local/lib or /home/cad/lib), this file will be sourced, and IRSIM
will be ready to run. If not, it will be necessary to run "source
<pathname>/irsim.tcl" by hand, substituting the actual install path
for IRSIM.
If a layout is loaded into magic, it is assumed to be the circuit to
be simulated. If .ext and/or .sim files don't exist for the circuit,
they will be created.
The full syntax is:
irsim [parameter_file [sim_file]]
where "parameter_file" is an irsim ".prm" file from the IRSIM library
install directory, and "sim_file" is a .sim file, presumably generated
in magic by "exttosim".
At this point, if all goes well and no errors occurred, all IRSIM
commands will be available under magic. Additional commands are added
when running irsim under magic. These are:
watchnode [node_name [style_name]]
Display a node's simulation value on the layout. If
no name is given, find the node under the box and
display its value. The style name is one of magic's
display styles from the ".dstyle5" file. The default
is "white".
unwatchnode node_name
Erases the node value from the layout.
movenode node_name
Node values normally appear positioned at the point
found by the magic "goto" command. If this is a
poor choice, the node can be moved to a position
centered on the magic cursor box using this command.
watchtime
Causes the simulation time to be drawn on the layout,
centered on the magic cursor box's current position.
unwatchtime
Erases the simulation time from the layout.
movetime
Moves the position of the simulation time text to be
centered on the current position of the magic cursor
box.
For example, with layout file tut11a.mag, after invoking "startirsim", do:
watchnode bit_0
watchnode bit_1
watchnode bit_2
watchnode bit_3
watchnode RESET_B black
watchnode hold red3
vector clk phi1 phi2
vector clkb phi1_b phi2_b
clock clk 10 00 01 00
clock clkb 01 11 10 11
vector bits bit_3 bit_2 bit_1 bit_0
w clk hold RESET_B bits
c
l hold
l RESET_B
c
h RESET_B
c
c
c
The values are drawn on the magic layout in time with the simulation.
Note that "source tut11a.cmd" is a valid command. The .cmd file
that comes with the tutorial should be okay as-is. However, note
that several commands in IRSIM are not legal Tcl syntax, and have
been changed. Any of these commands in a file must be changed to
match before the file can be sourced. Also, some commands in
IRSIM are already defined as Tcl commands. These are: time, set,
and clear. To get the expected behavior in IRSIM, they must
include the namespace: irsim::time, irsim::set, irsim::clear.
"exit" is a trivial overloaded command. "clock" is also
overloaded, but because the IRSIM and Tcl syntax for "clock"
are mutually exclusive, the command is handled by IRSIM and
checked for which version of the command is intended.
Note that it is possible to display vectors on the magic layout.
Position the box to an empty area of the layout and type:
watchnode bits
Similarly, you can postion the box to another empty area and do:
watchtime
to get the simulation time display printed on the magic layout.
You do not need to know the name of a node in order to see its
value. For instance, select a random piece of the layout and
type "watchnode". The node value will be displayed at the position
of the selection.
To simply query a node value (without selecting it for display), use
the 2-argument form of "assert", combining IRSIM and Magic commands.
Select a bit of layout paint, and do:
assert [getnode]
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Under irsim, the "display" command has an additional option, "tclproc".
display tclproc proc_name
display -tclproc
when proc_name is specified, the IRSIM "d" command will invoke the
specified Tcl procedure instead of printing values to the screen.
The procedure will also be called whenever node and vector values
in the watch list ("w" command) are updated. This method allows
signal names, values, and times to be captured and used by other
programs. "watchnode" makes use of this method to write simulated
node values back into the magic window.
The syntax of the Tcl procedure is:
proc proc_name { name value time } {}
This procedure is called internally from IRSIM. "name" will be
given the name of the node or vector being watched. "value" will
be given the value of the node or vector. "time" will be given
the current simulation time in nanoseconds. Note that this
procedure is always called at least twice, with the last call
being name="curtime", value="t", such that procedures may defer
printing the time value until all watched node values have been
displayed. Only the last call to the procedure will return its
value to the interpreter.
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Release Notes
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The calibrate directory contains information on creating your own prm files.
Release 9.5+ includes the software to perform incremental simulations, which
can also be used to create an incremental-fault-simulator. To make the
fault simulator, you will have to do it by hand: First use the make_irsim
script to build irsim, then (before cleaning anything in irsim) go into the
src/fsim directory and run make. This will create the program called "ifsim",
which you can use to run statistical simulations of stuck-at faults.
The directory src/fsim/doc contains both latex and PostScript versions of the
documentation needed to use ifsim.
Release 9.5 also includes the following extra code:
1) Power estimation code through toggle counts (written by Don Ramsey)
The code is not completely debugged yet (?) but there is demand for
it from a lot of people. It can be turned on/off selectively
through the "make config" script. See the file man/powerEst.doc
for details on how to use this.
2) Code that enables the user to write their own subcircuit models
for "analogish stuff". (written by R. Gonzales and S. Sidiropoulos).
Again it is enabled in "make config". An example pll is in
src/irsim/UserSubckt
3) Some extra commands (assertWhen and until) which may help debugging
of asynchronous designs
4) Fixes for Linux displays (M. Godfrey)
Release 9.6 includes the following new features:
5) Tcl-based IRSIM (T. Edwards)
6) Threaded X11 graphics (no anXhelper!) (T. Edwards)
7) Makefile configuration support for Mac OS-X, Solaris, and Cygwin.
8) Pseudorandom number generator for the Tcl version (T. Edwards)
Release 9.7 includes the following new features:
9) GNU autoconf-base "make" process equivalent to that of magic-7.3
10) Tk-based Analyzer window, including a full set of command-line commands
for manipulating the analyzer.
11) Verilog testbench-like commands "at", "every", "when", and "whenever"
12) Command "settle" to handle problematic tight loops (e.g., back-to-back
inverters in flip-flops) by waiting a certain period before setting a
node undefined.
13) Command "relax" to handle problematic large loops (e.g., flip-flop/
multiplexer loops) by forcing initial conditions.
14) Ability to handle multiple circuits by placing each in its own namespace.
15) Ability to define and set nodes that are not part of an input circuit.
16) Simplified vector definitions and setting, including handling of decimal
and hexidecimal notation, and specifying numerical ranges in a vector
name (such as "vector D D0:8")
17) Tcl procedure-based user-defined subcircuits.