| # Welcome to the OpenROAD Flow Scripts documentation! |
|
|
| The OpenROAD ("Foundations and Realization of Open, Accessible Design") |
| project was launched in June 2018 within the DARPA IDEA program. OpenROAD |
| aims to bring down the barriers of cost, expertise and unpredictability that |
| currently block designers access to hardware implementation in advanced |
| technologies. The project team (Qualcomm, Arm and multiple universities and |
| partners, led by UC San Diego) is developing a fully autonomous, open-source |
| tool chain for digital SoC layout generation, focusing on the RTL-to-GDSII |
| phase of system-on-chip design. Thus, OpenROAD holistically attacks the |
| multiple facets of today's design cost crisis: engineering resources, |
| design tool licenses, project schedule, and risk. |
|
|
| The IDEA program targets no-human-in-loop (NHIL) design, with 24-hour |
| turnaround time and zero loss of power-performance-area (PPA) design quality. |
|
|
| The NHIL target requires tools to adapt and auto-tune successfully to |
| flow completion, without (or, with minimal) human intervention. Machine |
| intelligence augments human expertise through efficient modeling and |
| prediction of flow and optimization outcomes throughout the synthesis, |
| placement and routing process. This is complemented by development of |
| metrics and machine learning infrastructure. |
|
|
| The 24-hour runtime target implies that problems must be strategically |
| decomposed throughout the design process, with clustered and partitioned |
| subproblems being solved and recomposed through intelligent distribution |
| and management of computational resources. This ensures that the NHIL design |
| optimization is performed within its available `[threads * hours]` "box" of |
| resources. Decomposition that enables parallel and distributed search over |
| cloud resources incurs a quality-of-results loss, but this is subsequently |
| recovered through improved flow predictability and enhanced optimization. |
|
|
| Learn more about the project at our website and our resources page |
| [here](https://theopenroadproject.org/resources/). |
|
|
| ## Getting Started with OpenROAD Flow Scripts |
|
|
| OpenROAD Flow is a full RTL-to-GDS flow built entirely on open-source tools. |
| The project aims for automated, no-human-in-the-loop digital circuit design |
| with 24-hour turnaround time. For more information, refer to our repository |
| [README](mainREADME.md). |
|
|
| ```{tip} |
| See these [tips](user/FAQS.md#how-do-i-get-better-search-results) to help improve your search results. |
| ``` |
|
|
| ### Setup |
|
|
| #### System Requirements |
|
|
| To build the binaries and run `gcd` through the flow: |
|
|
| - Minimum: 1 CPU core and 8GB RAM. |
| - Recommended: 4 CPU cores and 16GB of RAM. |
|
|
| ```{note} |
| `gcd` is a small design, and thus requires less computational power. |
| Larger designs may require better hardware. |
| |
| ``` |
| #### Build or Installing ORFS Dependencies |
|
|
| We support four major ways of installation: |
|
|
| - [Docker](./user/BuildWithDocker.md) |
| - [Pre-built Binaries](./user/BuildWithPrebuilt.md) |
| - [Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)](./user/BuildWithWSL.md) |
| - [Local Installation](./user/BuildLocally.md) |
|
|
| You may also choose and use the build script to customise your build process. |
| See more in the next section. |
|
|
| ##### Build Command and options |
|
|
| ``` shell |
| ./build_openroad.sh --help |
| ``` |
|
|
| Options for `./build_openroad.sh` script |
| | Argument | Description | |
| |-------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |
| | `-h` or `--help` | Print help message. | |
| | `-o` or `--local` | Build locally instead of building a Docker image. | |
| | `-l` or `--latest` | Use the head of branch --or_branch or 'master' by default for tools/OpenROAD. | |
| | `--or_branch BRANCH_NAME` | Use the head of branch BRANCH for tools/OpenROAD. | |
| | `--or_repo REPO_URL` | Use a fork at REPO-URL (https/ssh) for tools/OpenROAD. | |
| | `--no_init` | Skip initializing submodules. | |
| | `-t N` or `--threads N` | Use N cpus when compiling software. | |
| | `-n` or `--nice` | Nice all jobs. Use all cpus unless `--threads` is also given, then use N threads. | |
| | `--yosys-args-overwrite` | Do not use default flags set by this scrip during Yosys compilation. | |
| | `--yosys-args STRING` | Aditional compilation flags for Yosys compilation. | |
| | `--openroad-args-overwrite` | Do not use default flags set by this script during OpenROAD app compilation. | |
| | `--openroad-args STRING` | Aditional compilation flags for OpenROAD app compilation. | |
| | `--install-path PATH` | Path to install tools. Default is `${INSTALL_PATH}`. | |
| | `--clean` | Call git clean interactively before compile. Useful to remove old build files. | |
| | `--clean-force` | Call git clean before compile. WARNING: this option will not ask for confirmation. Useful to remove old build files. | |
| | `-c` or `--copy-platforms` | Only applicable for docker builds. Copy platforms to inside docker image. | |
| | `--docker-args-overwrite` | Only applicable for docker builds. Do not use default flags set by this script for Docker builds. | |
| | `--docker-args STRING` | Only applicable for docker builds. Additional compilation flags for Docker build. | |
|
|
|
|
| ### Running a Design |
|
|
| Sample design configurations are available in the `designs` directory. |
| You can select a design using either of the following methods: |
|
|
| 1. The flow |
| [Makefile](https://github.com/The-OpenROAD-Project/OpenROAD-flow-scripts/blob/master/flow/Makefile) |
| contains a list of sample design configurations at the top of the |
| file. Uncomment the respective line to select the design. |
| 2. Specify the design using the shell environment. For example: |
|
|
| ```shell |
| # Make sure you are in ./flow |
| make DESIGN_CONFIG=./designs/nangate45/swerv/config.mk |
| # or |
| export DESIGN_CONFIG=./designs/nangate45/swerv/config.mk |
| make |
| ``` |
|
|
| By default, the `gcd` design is selected using the |
| `nangate45` platform. The resulting GDS will be available at |
| `flow/results/nangate45/gcd/6_final.gds`. The flow should take only a few |
| minutes to produce a GDS for this design. We recommend implementing this |
| design first to validate your flow and tool setup. |
|
|
| ### Design exploration and automatic parameter tuning |
|
|
| AutoTuner is an automatic parameter tuning framework capable of performing |
| automatic parameter tuning framework for commercial and academic RTL-to-GDS |
| flows. The two main functionalities that AutoTuner provides are: |
|
|
| - Automatic hyperparameter tuning framework for OpenROAD-flow-scripts |
| - Parametric sweeping experiments for OpenROAD-flow-scripts |
|
|
| ```{tip} |
| Refer to the detailed [instructions here](./user/InstructionsForAutoTuner.md) for AutoTuner. |
| |
| ``` |
|
|
| ### Adding a Design |
|
|
| To add a new design to the `flow` directory, refer to the document [here](./user/AddingNewDesign.md). |
|
|
| ### Platforms |
|
|
| OpenROAD-flow-scripts supports Verilog to GDS for the following open platforms: |
|
|
| - ASAP7 |
| - Nangate45 / FreePDK45 |
| - SKY130 |
| - GF180 |
| - SG13G2 |
|
|
| These platforms have a permissive license which allows us to |
| redistribute the PDK and OpenROAD platform-specific files. The platform |
| files and license(s) are located in `platforms/{platform}`. |
|
|
| OpenROAD-flow-scripts also supports the following proprietary platforms: |
|
|
| - GF55 |
| - GF12 |
| - Intel22 |
| - Intel16 |
| - TSMC65 |
|
|
| The PDKs and platform-specific files for these kits cannot be provided |
| due to NDA restrictions. However, if you are able to access these |
| platforms, you can create the necessary platform-specific files |
| yourself. |
|
|
| Once the platform is set up, you can create a new design configuration with |
| information about the design. See sample configurations in the `design` |
| directory. |
| Refer to the [Flow variables](./user/FlowVariables.md) document for details on how to use |
| environment variables in OpenROAD-flow-scripts to configure platform and design specific parameters. |
|
|
| #### Adding a Platform |
|
|
| Refer to the [platform bring up](./contrib/PlatformBringUp.md) documentation |
| to set up a new platform for OpenROAD-flow-scripts. |
|
|
| ### Implement the Design |
|
|
| Run `make` to perform Verilog to GDS. The final output will be located |
| at `flow/results/{platform}/{design_name}/6_final.gds` |
|
|
| ### Miscellaneous |
|
|
| #### Smoke-test harness for top-level Verilog designs |
|
|
| 1. Drop your Verilog files into `designs/src/harness` |
| 2. Start the workflow: |
|
|
| ```{tip} |
| Start with a very small submodule in your design that has only a few pins. |
| ``` |
|
|
| ```shell |
| make DESIGN_NAME=TopLevelName DESIGN_CONFIG=$(pwd)/designs/harness.mk |
| ``` |
|
|
| ## How to contribute |
|
|
| If you are willing to **contribute**, see the |
| [Getting Involved](contrib/GettingInvolved.md) section. |
|
|
| If you are a **developer** with EDA background, learn more about how you |
| can use OpenROAD as the infrastructure for your tools in the |
| [Developer Guide](contrib/DeveloperGuide.md) section. |
|
|
| ## How to get in touch |
|
|
| We maintain the following channels for communication: |
|
|
| - Project homepage and news: <https://theopenroadproject.org> |
| - Twitter: <https://twitter.com/OpenROAD_EDA> |
| - Issues and bugs: |
| - OpenROAD Flow: <https://github.com/The-OpenROAD-Project/OpenROAD-flow-scripts/issues> |
| - OpenROAD with OpenROAD Flow Scripts: <https://github.com/The-OpenROAD-Project/OpenROAD/issues/> |
| - Discussions: |
| - OpenROAD Flow: <https://github.com/The-OpenROAD-Project/OpenROAD-flow-scripts/discussions> |
| - Inquiries: openroad@ucsd.edu |
|
|
| See also our [FAQs](user/FAQS.md). |
|
|
| ## Code of conduct |
|
|
| Please read our code of conduct [here](./contrib/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md). |
|
|
| ## Site Map |
|
|
| ```{tableofcontents} |
| |
| ``` |
|
|
