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.