NAME

       dlys - format of .dlys files read by the SCALD simulator and timing verifier

DESCRIPTION

       The  SCALD simulator and timing verifier can accept information about the actual delays of
       wires in a circuit.  This delay information is described in a .dlys file,  which  consists
       of a sequence of records, one for each electrical net.  Each record begins with the signal
       name for the net (note that this is the SCALD signal name, i.e, the name given by the user
       to the entire net, and not usually the name of one of the pins in the net), followed by an
       =, then a comma-separated list of the terminals in the net  and  their  associated  delay,
       with  the  list  terminated  by  a semicolon.  The end of the file is marked with a second
       semicolon.

       The elements of the comma-separated list for each net take the form

               location [min:max]

       where location is the full hierarchical SCALD name of the physical pin to which the  delay
       is  computed,  and  min and max are the best-case and worst-case wire delay in nanoseconds
       (both are floating-point numbers).  The assumption is that only a single driver exists per
       net, so all delays are computed from this driver.  If a net has multiple drivers, then the
       interpretation of delays is up to the program reading this file (e.g, min delays are taken
       from the fastest driver, max from the slowest).

       Here is an example .dlys file:

       (APS )ALU STATUS BITS I1<0> =
          (APS MR 3V6 R1 1P )IN#63[ 0.3 : 0.4 ],
          (APS APS 4RI RFC RF )OUT[ 0.5 : 0.7 ];
       (APS )ALU STATUS BITS I1<1> =
          (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )AN#12[ 1.4 : 1.6 ],
          (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )AN#8[ 1.1 : 1.3 ],
          (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )AN#9[ 1.1 : 1.3 ],
          (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )AN#10[ 1.1 : 1.3 ],
          (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )AN#11[ 1.1 : 1.3 ],
          (APS MR 3V2 R1 1P )#23[ 0.6 : 0.8 ],
          (APS MR 3V6 R1 1P )#62[ 0.3 : 0.4 ],
          (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )[ 0.4 : 0.6 ],
          (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )#1[ 0.4 : 0.6 ],
          (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )#2[ 0.4 : 0.6 ],
          (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )#3[ 0.4 : 0.6 ],
          (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )#4[ 0.7 : 0.8 ],
          (APS APS 4ALUD DCD )#5[ 0.7 : 0.8 ];
       ;

       Although  it  is  not  good practice, it is possible to omit the actual pin names from the
       location names and only give the path to the part; the example above shows  several  cases
       where  the  final  pin  name is missing.  Since the timing verifier and simulator have the
       original SCALD netlist available, they  are  usually  able  to  use  the  signal  name  to
       determine the net, and then use the part's path to identify which pin of the net is meant.
       This is accurate when a net connects to at most one pin per part; if it connects  to  more
       than  one  pin per part then there is ambiguity over which pin is meant.  Usually, though,
       this ambiguity results in only a small inaccuracy, since the delay to  different  pins  on
       the  same part is usually similar.  Also, if delay is capacitive, the delay to all pins in
       a net will be the same anyway, so there is no inaccuracy.

SEE ALSO

       ext2dlys(1), ext(5), sim(5)

BUGS

       There should be some way to specify which pins are drivers and which are  receivers  in  a
       net.

       The  ability  to  omit  pin names is dangerous; although it usually works it can introduce
       large inaccuracies when the parts are large compared to the sizes of  the  wires  used  to
       connect them, as might be the case on a silicon PCB.

                                                                                          DLYS(5)