Tim Ehrler ALF conference call, July 10 2001, 10AM - 12noon Attendees --------- Steffen Rochel - Simplex Sergei Sokolov - Sequence Kevin Grotjohn - LSI Logic Alex Zamfirescu - ASC Wolfgang Roethig - NEC Power rail discussion --------------------- A.I. follow up power rail discussion - Sergei Sokolov DONE in this conference call According to previous email discussion, the idea of global supply_class definitions seems to be generally accepted, open issue is semantics of ground. Proposed semantics: "ground" should be zero volt and a common terminal on the system level, not necessarily on the chip though. Sergei: ok with "ground" being zero volt Tim: maybe need flexibility for non-zero volt ground Wolfgang: A non-zero volt supply should be "power". A supply_class can have multiple power rails, a ground rail is not mandatory. For example, an Operational Amplifier may have +/-5 volt supply terminals and only a virtual ground. The input of the amplifier which is connected to the virtual ground should have supplytype "reference" rather than "ground", because that input is not designed to source or sink significant currents from a supply source. A.I. write proposal for semantics of "power", "ground", "reference" - Wolfgang NEW Alex: VHDL AMS group is also working on semantics for "power", "ground" A.I. Get hold of VHDL AMS spec and summarize the proposed semantics for ALF group - Alex NEW LIMIT discussion ---------------- A.I. Write proposal for LIMIT semantics - Wolfgang DONE A.I. Comment on the proposal for LIMIT semantics - Nancy Nettleton DONE by Sergei in lieu of Nancy. Others are o.k. with proposal RESTRICT_CLASS discussion ------------------------- A.I. Comment on semantic change of RESTRICT_CLASS - Tim Ehrler DONE Tim has sent the paragraph of the OLA semantics to the reflector. The discussion on the subject was lengthy, not all details are captured here. Kevin explained the meaning of "linking" in that paragraph. It does not mean linking of object code to form an executable. It means reading and elaborating a netlist containing the cells in question. This terminology is used by Synopsys tools. Wolfgang did not like the wording of the OLA paragraph because of its verbosity and proposed to discuss the essentials of the semantic difference between ALF and OLA, which is the following: - ALF 2.0 dis-allows usage of cell, if the cell contains "no or only unknown" restrict_class values. - OLA dis-allows usage of cell, if the cell contains "any unknown" restrict_class values. Wolfgang: propose to come up with a more general specification that encompasses both the ALF and OLA usage model. The set of predefined restrict_class values (synthesis, clock, layout ...) lends itself to the ALF usage model. Kevin: Support of the OLA definition is mandatory. It may be impossible to come up with a more general specification without introducing ambiguity. However, tools may have the capability to edit the run-time library to remove certain restrict_class values in order to use otherwise dis-allowed cells. Tim: restrict_class is not used by Philips, agrees with Kevin on the ambiguity concern. Alex: suggest to take the discussion offline, Wolfgang should write his proposal. A.I. write the proposal for restrict_class - Wolfgang NEW A.I. Get Sequence opinion on RESTRICT_CLASS - Sergei Sokolov PENDING Work doc review (alf_draft4jun2001.pdf) --------------------------------------- A.I. give opinion on chapter 7 through 11 in work doc - all CONTINUOUS A.I. A.I. edit work doc according to review results - Wolfgang CONTINUOUS A.I. Comment from Alex: doc refers to chapters of ALF 2.0 in sub-chapter titles, this may be confusing with the chapter titles of the document itself. A.I. change reference to "chapter x" into "ALF 2.0 chapter x" - Wolfgang NEW chapter 7 --------- "absolute_average" is acceptable value for MEASUREMENT Steffen: Simplex supports absolute average as well as true average for power and signal current calculations. chapter 8 --------- A.I. give opinion on chapter 8 in work doc - Sergei Sokolov PENDING As a result of review by Alex, Tim, Steffen, the following changes will be made to the existing text: "If the MONITOR annotation is present, all pins appearing within this annotation shall be monitored. Any pin appearing in the vector_expression must also appear in the MONITOR annotation. However, all pins appearing in the MONITOR annotation need not appear in the vector_expression. If the MONITOR annotation is not present, all pins with SCOPE = measure | both shall be monitored." Modified text: "If the MONITOR annotation is present, only those pins appearing within this annotation shall be monitored. All pins appearing in the vector_expression must also appear in the MONITOR annotation.However, not all pins appearing in the MONITOR annotation need appear in the vector_expression. If the MONITOR annotation is not present, all pins within the cell with SCOPE = measure | both shall be monitored." chapter 9 and 10 ---------------- The purpose is to make the grammar more practical for direct implementation. Need more comments from Sergei and Tim, since they have developped parsers. The issue is to confirm, whether the proposed changes are compatible within the existing parser or whether the changes are justified for any other reason. A.I. comment on chapter 9 and 10 wrt compatibility with Philips parser - Tim NEW A.I. comment on chapter 9 and 10 wrt compatibility with Sequence parser - Sergei NEW Alex: requests feedback on grammar changes within two weeks and possible freeze of the grammar by August 15. This will greatly facilitate development of ALF test suite. chapter 11 ---------- A.I. add meaningful title for chapter 11 in work doc - Wolfgang DONE Proposed title is "Creating a standard ALF header file" Alex: Alternative title could be "ALF meta language" Other idea: provide graphical description of information model. Wolfgang: This exists in ALF 2.0, chapter "Object model" A.I. review ALF 2.0, chapter "Object model" - Alex NEW Misc ---- Alex: We should do more publicity, synchronized conference papers etc They can also be used as chapters in ALF book to be published by Kluver. Initial suggestion: paper in Design and Test magazine A.I. Get in touch with Design and Test Magazine Editors - Alex NEW Proposed next conference call: Wed Aug 1, 10AM - 12noon pacific time