Accellera Design Constraints Working Group

Introduction

The Design Constraints Working Group (DC-WG) is defining a standard called the Design Constraints Description Language (DCDL).

The objective of DCDL is to make it possible for designers to consistently specify, apply, and reuse constraint descriptions in order to describe design intent for EDA tools.

DCDL is a set of commands that express design intent for all constraint domains within each electronic design flow. DCDL provides a syntactical and semantic definition that is language and tool independent.

As a starting point, the DC-WG chose the timing domain because of the urgent need to standardize this well-understood area. The group created a taxonomy that contains the required set of commands that cover today s timing domain and predicted future needs. This was accomplished by working with designers and EDA vendors. The taxonomy was then mapped to a syntax compatible with TCL and the System Level Design Language (SLDL). Finally, semantic documentation was created for each command and prototype readers were created.

The DC-WG will work through each constraint domain using this method. It is also important to understand what DCDL is not. DCDL is not an extension language, so there are no programming structures such as control loops, variables, or operators. Also, DCDL does not contain any application- or environment-specific commands, so the language does not need conform to existing tools or interpret design data.

Current Activities

Provide input to DCDL by filling out a quick survey.