NAME

       lvx - Logical Versus eXtracted net-list comparator

SYNOPSIS

       lvx format1 format2 filename1 filename2 [ -a ] [ -u ] [ -o ] [ -f ]

DESCRIPTION

       lvx  compares  two  gate-level  or  block level net-list. The goal is to compare a specification net-list
       (logical net-list), the input to a place and route tool, with the physical net-list (extracted  net-list)
       obtained by the cougar(1) extractor.
       The net-list 1 is considered as the logical net-list and net-list 2 as the extracted net-list.
       lvx is an one-level hierarchical tool:

              The two net-list are flattened, if the -f option is present, to the cells contained in the catalog
              file.  The  path  to  the  catalog  file is indicated in the MBK_CATA_LIB(1) variable for the cell
              library, and in the MBK_WORK_LIB(1) variable with the name MBK_CATAL_NAME(1)  for  user  blocks  (
              catal(5) ) that are not to be flattened.

              For both net-list, the instances are considered as black-boxes.

              The two net-list must have the same external connectors names.

              The two net-list must have the same instances names.

              The two net-list must have the same signals names for unconnected signals.

              The two net-list cannot directly contain transistors.

       Comparison is performed in three steps:

              Compare terminals.

              Compare instances.

              Compare connections.

              Compare unconnected signals.

       If  an  error  occurs  during first or second step, a message is immediately displayed and the third step
       will not start: lvx cannot compare connections (signals) if terminals or instances are not equivalent.
       The -o option allows to order connectors if the steps described before have  been  reached  successfully.
       Extracted_netlist  is  then  saved  on  disk.  The  file  get the name filename2 suffixed by the value of
       MBK_OUT_LO(1) variable.
       Routers add automatically empty feed-through cells.  These cells must not be taken into  account  in  the
       comparison.   A  cell  that have the F attribute in the catalog file ( catal (5) ) is considered as feed-
       through cell, and are deleted, in memory, from the net-list where it appears.

OPTIONS

       -a     Some routers generate layout with several physical connectors for power and ground ( VDD or VSS ).
              If those connectors are not internally connected, they will have different indexed names ( VDD1  ,
              VDD2  etc...)  in  the extracted net-list.  It is possible to perform reduction on those power and
              ground connectors before comparison, using the -a option.  After reduction, each instance contains
              only one VDD connector and one VSS connector, as the main figure.

       -o     In this case, lvx produces a modified net-list (saved with the name filename2 ), which is  a  copy
              of  net-list  2  with  ordered  connectors.  Terminals and instance connectors are relisted in the
              order of the models in net-list 1. The saved net-list is done with the  MBK_OUT_LO(1)  format,  so
              user  has  to  set  this variable before running lvx .  If he does not, default value is used, and
              net-list 1 could be lost if filename are identical and input format same as output format.
              If -a option is used, then the saved net-list is the reduced net-list with only one  VDD  and  one
              VSS .

       -u     This option force lvx to check the consistency of unassigned signals between the two netlists.

       -f     The  two  net-lists  are  flattened  to  the leaf cells contained in the catalog file. Usually the
              extracted net-list is a flatten net-list, while the logical one can be a hierarchical net-list.

EXAMPLES

       With logical_netlist named amd2901.vst and the corresponding extracted_netlist as  amd2901.al  containing
       multiple power connectors, the command line is :

              lvx vst al amd2901 amd2901 -a

OUTPUT FILES

       filename2.xx        Netlist  view  saved  when  the  -o  option  is  present.  The  suffixe depend on the
                           MBK_OUT_LO(1) environment variable.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       MBK_CATA_LIB        contains the directories where the cell librtaries are.   MBK_WORK_LIB  contains  the
                           directory path of the working directory, usually set to . (dot).

       MBK_OUT_LO          contains the expected format of the netlist output.

       MBK_CATAL_NAME      contains the name of the user cell catalog.

SEE ALSO

       cougar(1), MBK_OUT_LO(1), MBK_WORK_LIB(1), MBK_CATA_LIB(1), MBK_CATAL_NAME(1), catal(5) .

DIAGNOSTICS

       The  string "_logic" is appended to the net-list 1 and the string "_extract", is appended to the net-list
       2.

       Two kinds of error message can occur:

              A fatal error causes the program to exit.  It happens when one of the net-lists  is  not  correct,
              lvx cannot construct internal structure for compare.

              A  compare  error  occurs  when  the  figures  are  not  identical.  It happens when basic objects
              (instances, connectors) do not exist in both  net-list,  or  when  connections  (signals)  do  not
              connect same terminals or instances in the two net-lists.

       Exit code 0 is returned for identical net-lists.

ASIM/LIP6                                        October 1, 1997                                          LVX(1)