RE: Paramset Proposal

From: Kevin Cameron <k.cameron@cputech.com>
Date: Fri May 14 2004 - 14:48:55 PDT

> -----Original Message-----

> From: geoffrey.coram@analog.com [mailto:geoffrey.coram@analog.com]

> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 11:23 AM

> To: Kevin Cameron

>

> Kevin -

>

> Spice .model cards are frequently defined within a subckt,

> and the simulator is expected to match instances in the

> subckt with that .model (with essentially no search) --

> not go out to the library file mentioned at top level.

> Your suggestion to do some other sort of search is simply

> not compatible.

 

That may be true for .model in Spice, but I don't see why Verilog-AMS

should be doing that. The only requirement on Verilog-AMS is that it

supports the functionality in Spice: it doesn't have to do it the same

way. Neither Verilog-AMS nor SytemVerilog have file or library "scope"

in any very meaningful sense.

 

> Kevin Cameron wrote:

> > > If the corner matches but l&w don't, that's not a match.

> > Yes, but if I have a both set and the paramset only requires

> > one: that will be a match regardless of a potentially better match.

>

> If you have them "set" then you must have specified them as

> instance parameters, and the simulator must find one that

> matches both.

>

> If you specify L and W in a spice netlist, and there's a

> set of model cards in the library, one of which matches L

> (lmin<=L<=lmax) but the foundry forgot to specify wmin,wmax,

> that's an error on the part of the foundry. The simulator

> shouldn't have to go looking for another model card that

> does have wmin,wmax and W is in that range.

>

 

It don't see any circumstances in which I would prefer the simulator

to take the first matching paramset if there is a better one available.

 

My general rule is that the simulator should favor accuracy at all
times.

Any decision otherwise should be left to the user.

 

> > If there are still multiple applicable paramsets the search
mechanism

> > should start with the most restricted and work down, e.g. if there
is

>

> I doubt you can set up a complete set of rules. What if you

> specify 3 things, and the simulator finds it can match 2 of 3

> for three different models (L&W, L&corner, W&corner) -- does it

> now say, gee, the lmin/lmax bounds are tighter, so that's a

> "more restrictive" paramset? You'll get down to something

> where it will essentially be a coin flip.

 

That's why the proposal is deficient. The rules for resolving
disciplines

are complicated for very similar reasons: it is difficult ahead of time
to

tell which disciplines will be connected, so you can always add more
rules

to cover new cases e.g. if disciplines a and b are connected and you
want

to use b by preference, you just add: connect a,b resolveto b;

 

Under no circumstances should the simulator be "guessing" intent.

 

> > NB: Stuff entered through GUIs tends not to have much ordering to
it.

>

> The schematics will be done through GUIs, not the library files.

 

You have no guarantee that that is true.

 

The number of parameters and parameter configurations is semi-infinite

I don't think a 1-dimensional first match search is really going to be

adequate, and I suspect it is mathematically impossible to always get

the best paramset even if the users and tools sort the paramset list.

 

Kev.

 

>

> -Geoffrey
Received on Fri May 14 14:49:01 2004

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