Tapcell#

Tapcell and endcap insertion.

Commands#

Note

Parameters in square brackets [-param param] are optional.
Parameters without square brackets -param2 param2 are required.

Add Tapcell/Endcap#

This command inserts tapcells or endcaps.

The figures below show two examples of tapcell insertion. When only the -tapcell_master and -endcap_master masters are given, the tapcell placement is similar to Figure 1. When the remaining masters are give, the tapcell placement is similar to Figure 2.


Figure 1: Tapcell insertion representation	Figure 2: Tapcell insertion around macro representation

tapcell 
    [-cnrcap_nwin_master cnrcap_nwin_master]
    [-cnrcap_nwout_master cnrcap_nwout_master]
    [-disallow_one_site_gaps]
    [-distance dist]
    [-endcap_cpp endcap_cpp]
    [-endcap_master endcap_master]
    [-endcap_prefix endcap_prefix]
    [-halo_width_x halo_x]
    [-halo_width_y halo_y]
    [-incnrcap_nwin_master incnrcap_nwin_master]
    [-incnrcap_nwout_master incnrcap_nwout_master]
    [-no_cell_at_top_bottom]
    [-row_min_width min_width]
    [-tap_nwin2_master tap_nwin2_master]
    [-tap_nwin3_master tap_nwin3_master]
    [-tap_nwintie_master tap_nwintie_master]
    [-tap_nwout2_master tap_nwout2_master]
    [-tap_nwout3_master tap_nwout3_master]
    [-tap_nwouttie_master tap_nwouttie_master]
    [-tap_prefix tap_prefix]
    [-tapcell_master tapcell_master]
    [-tbtie_cpp tbtie_cpp]

Options#

Switch Name	Description
`[-cnrcap_nwin_master]`	Macro cell placed at the corners the core area according the row orientation.
`[-cnrcap_nwout_master]`	Macro cell placed at the corners the core area according the row orientation.
`[-disallow_one_site_gaps]`	Option is deprecated.
`[-distance]`	Distance (in microns) between each tapcell in the checkerboard.
`[-endcap_cpp]`	Option is deprecated.
`[-endcap_master]`	Master used as an endcap.
`[-endcap_prefix]`	Prefix for the endcaps instances. The default value is `PHY_`.
`[-halo_width_x]`	Horizontal halo size (in microns) around macros during cut rows.
`[-halo_width_y]`	Vertical halo size (in microns) around macros during cut rows.
`[-incnrcap_nwin_master]`	Master cell placed at the corners of macros, according the row orientation.
`[-incnrcap_nwout_master]`	Master cell placed at the corners of macros, according the row orientation.
`[-no_cell_at_top_bottom]`	Option is deprecated.
`[-row_min_width]`	Minimum width (in microns) that a row must have during cut rows.
`[-tap_nwin2_master]`	Master cell placed at the top and bottom of macros and the core area according the row orientation. This master should be smaller than `tap_nwintie_master`
`[-tap_nwin3_master]`	Master cell placed at the top and bottom of macros and the core area according the row orientation. This master should be smaller than `tap_nwin2_master`.
`[-tap_nwintie_master]`	Master cell placed at the top and bottom of macros and the core area according the row orientation.
`[-tap_nwout2_master]`	Master cell placed at the top and bottom of macros and the core area according the row orientation. This master should be smaller than `tap_nwouttie_master`.
`[-tap_nwout3_master]`	Master cell placed at the top and bottom of macros and the core area according the row orientation. This master should be smaller than `tap_nwout2_master`.
`[-tap_nwouttie_master]`	Master cell placed at the top and bottom of macros and the core area according the row orientation.
`[-tap_prefix]`	Prefix for the tapcell instances. The default value is `TAP_`.
`[-tapcell_master]`	Master used as a tapcell.
`[-tbtie_cpp]`	Option is deprecated.

Cut Rows#

This command cuts rows.

cut_rows 
    [-endcap_master endcap_master]
    [-halo_width_x halo_x]
    [-halo_width_y halo_y]
    [-row_min_width min_width]

Options#

Switch Name	Description
`[-endcap_master]`	Master used as an endcap.
`[-halo_width_x]`	Horizontal halo size (in microns) around macros during cut rows.
`[-halo_width_y]`	Vertical halo size (in microns) around macros during cut rows.
`[-row_min_width]`	Minimum width (in microns) that a row must have during cut rows.

Only adding boundary/endcap cells#

Place endcaps into the design, the naming for the arguments to place_endcaps is based on the LEF58 CLASS specification for endcaps.

place_endcaps
    [-bottom_edge masters]
    [-corner master]
    [-edge_corner master]
    [-endcap masters]
    [-endcap_horizontal masters]
    [-endcap_vertical master]
    [-left_bottom_corner master]
    [-left_bottom_edge master]
    [-left_edge master]
    [-left_top_corner master]
    [-left_top_edge master]
    [-right_bottom_corner master]
    [-right_bottom_edge master]
    [-right_edge master]
    [-right_top_corner master]
    [-right_top_edge master]
    [-prefix prefix]
    [-top_edge masters]

Options#

Switch Name	Description
`[-bottom_edge]`	List of masters for the bottom row endcaps. (overrides `-endcap_horizontal`).
`[-corner]`	Master for the corner cells on the outer corners.
`[-edge_corner]`	Master for the corner cells on the inner corners.
`[-endcap]`	Master used as an endcap.
`[-endcap_horizontal]`	List of masters for the top and bottom row endcaps. (overrides `-endcap`).
`[-endcap_vertical]`	Master for the left and right row endcaps. (overrides `-endcap`).
`[-left_bottom_corner]`	Master for the corner cells on the outer bottom left corner. (overrides `-corner`).
`[-left_bottom_edge]`	Master for the corner cells on the inner bottom left corner. (overrides `-edge_corner`).
`[-left_edge]`	Master for the left row endcaps. (overrides `-endcap_vertical`).
`[-left_top_corner]`	Master for the corner cells on the outer top left corner. (overrides `-corner`).
`[-left_top_edge]`	Master for the corner cells on the inner top left corner. (overrides `-edge_corner`).
`[-right_bottom_corner]`	Master for the corner cells on the outer bottom right corner. (overrides `-corner`).
`[-right_bottom_edge]`	Master for the corner cells on the inner bottom right corner. (overrides `-edge_corner`).
`[-right_edge]`	Master for the right row endcaps. (overrides `-endcap_vertical`).
`[-right_top_corner]`	Master for the corner cells on the outer top right corner. (overrides `-corner`).
`[-right_top_edge]`	Master for the corner cells on the inner top right corner. (overrides `-edge_corner`).
`[-prefix]`	Prefix to use for the boundary cells. The default value is `PHY_`.
`[-top_edge]`	List of masters for the top row endcaps. (overrides `-endcap_horizontal`).

Only adding Tapcells#

This command is used for tapcell placement only.

place_tapcells
    -distance dist
    -master tapcell_master

Options#

Switch Name	Description
`-distance`	Distance between tapcells.
`-master`	Master to use for the tapcells.

Remove Tapcells/Endcaps#

This command is used for removing tapcells or endcaps based on their prefix.

tapcell_ripup
    [-endcap_prefix endcap_prefix]
    [-tap_prefix tap_prefix]

Options#

Switch Name	Description
`[-endcap_prefix]`	Remove endcaps with said prefix. The default value is `PHY_`.
`[-tap_prefix]`	Remove tapcells with said prefix. The default value is `TAP_`.

Example scripts#

You can find script examples for both 45nm and 14nm in ./etc/scripts

./etc/scripts/example_14nm.tcl
./etc/scripts/example_45nm.tcl

Regression tests#

There are a set of regression tests in ./test. For more information, refer to this section.

Simply run the following script:

./test/regression

Tapcell

Contents

Tapcell#

Commands#

Add Tapcell/Endcap#

Options#

Cut Rows#

Options#

Only adding boundary/endcap cells#

Options#

Only adding Tapcells#

Options#

Remove Tapcells/Endcaps#

Options#

Example scripts#

Regression tests#

Limitations#

FAQs#

License#