Instances

Lets you specify instance parameters for soft blocks.

Names

Lists the instances in the design organized by cell type into Core, Custom, Hard Blocks, I/Os, and Soft Blocks. Instances with no physical view are also grouped together.

Inherited View List

Shows the logical switch view list used to derive the leaf cells in the logical hierarchy.

Physical Library

Shows the name of the library containing the physical representation of the logical leaf cell.

Physical Cell

Shows the physical equivalent of the logical leaf cell.

Physical View

Shows the name of the physical view.

Block Type

Specifies the type of block to be generated, either CUSTOM or DIGITAL. This influences how the place and route boundary and pins in the design are snapped during level-1 editing.

• CUSTOM specifies that the pin edges and the place and route boundary are snapped to the manufacturing grid.
• DIGITAL specifies that the pin centers are snapped to the routing grid and the place and route boundary is snapped to the placement grid.

Type

Specifies whether the view that will be generated for a soft block is a LAYOUT (the default) or an ABSTRACT.

• LAYOUT specifies a layout view that contains instances, connectivity, pins, place and route boundary and other detailed information, generated from the schematic view by the Generate Physical Hierarchy command. Use this setting if there are physical representations for the logical cells at lower levels of the hierarchy.
• ABSTRACT specifies a special type of layout view containing only pins and place and route boundary based on symbol information, generated using the Generate Abstract From Symbol command. Use this setting if you do not have detailed physical views for the lower levels of the hierarchy but you want to start the floorplan by generating abstract views.

This field is blank for all instances other than soft blocks that exist already or instances for which soft block parameters have been defined.

Inherited Stop List

Shows the physical view list used to determine the corresponding physical view for a given logical view.

Attributes

Lets you edit the attributes for the selected soft block.

Save Soft Block

Saves all the attribute settings for the block.

Discard Changes to Soft Block

Discards any changes you have made since the last time the block was saved.

Boundary

Specifies the shape and size of the boundary that encloses the soft block

Rectangle

Specifies a rectangular boundary. Choose two of the available parameters to determine the dimensions of the boundary for a given value of Core Area.

• Aspect Ratio (W/H)
• Boundary Width (W)
• Boundary Height (H)
• Utilization

Choose one of the above from the first cyclic list and any one of the remaining valid choices from the second cyclic list.

If one of the parameters you choose is Utilization, you need to specify the core area to which the utilization percentage can be applied.

Area Calculation

This group box offers you three ways to specify the area value.

Manual

Lets you type the value you want into the Core Area field at the bottom of the form.

Avg. Area Per Gate

Lets you specify the gate count and the average area per gate. The system calculates the area by multiplying the two values.

Use Estimator

Lets you choose between PR Boundary Based and BBox Based area estimator. The PR Boundary Based estimation sums up the polygonal area of the individual instances to derive the overall area estimation. The BBox Based estimation, on the other hand, sums up the minimum bounding box area of the individual instances to derive the overall area estimation.

You can also register your own area estimation functions and use them, as appropriate. See Creating and Registering a User-Defined Area Estimation Function.

Estimate

Modifies any user-defined parameters for the area estimation function before running the function.

Rail Height

Specifies an optional parameter. The rail height value is used to extend the total area to accommodate the rails at the top and bottom of the core area.

Polygon

Specifies a polygonal boundary with no area estimation. Specify the coordinates required to define the boundary in the fields provided.

I/O Pins

Lists the I/O pins in the design.

All fields with a white background are editable. By default the table lists all the top-level pins detected in the schematic design, including schematic pins that are connected to I/O pads (cells of type pad, padSpacer, or padAreaIO). To generate only pads but no pins, set the initCreatePadPins environment variable to nil.

If the soft block has already been generated in the layout, the Layer, Width, and Height fields show the dimensions and layer purpose of the pin shape in the layout. If the soft block has not been generated, the default minimum width and height specified in the technology file are shown, while the default layer is specified by the Layout XL initIOPinLayer environment variable.

Add Pin

Adds a new pin to the table.

Delete Pin

Deletes a selected pin.

Create Label

Generates a label for each of the pins automatically in the current soft block.

To set the style for the labels, choose Options – Soft Block Options from the Configure Physical Hierarchy menu bar and choose the Create Label check box to activate the options under the Pin Label Text Style group box.

LayerHalo Obstruction

Lets you create routing and placement obstructions. You can create only one placement obstruction per soft block.

Blockage Type

Specifies the type of obstruction to be created. Choose from placement, routing, fill, slot, pin, feedthru, or screen.

Material

Filters the list of available layers based on the material defined for that layer in the technology file. This field is not available when defining a placement obstruction.

Layer

Specifies the layer on which the obstruction is created. This field is not available when defining a placement obstruction.

Offsets

Define the position of the obstruction.

Add

Adds the obstruction to the soft block definition, or

Delete

Deletes a selected obstruction.

Cover Obstruction

Lets you create a cover obstruction on the selected layer and lower layers.

Select a Top Layer

Specifies the top layer on which the obstruction is created.

Obstruction Applied on Layers

Lists the layers on which obstructions are created.

Create

Creates a new cover obstruction.

Delete

Deletes a cover obstruction.

Allow PGNet

Allows power and ground nets.

Define Soft Block Parameters

Define Top Level Parameters (if the top-level block is selected)

Marks the selected nodes of a schematic or netlist view so that the Floorplan – Generate Physical Hierarchy command can create soft blocks for them in the physical hierarchy.

See Defining Soft Block Parameters.

If the selected component already has soft block parameters defined, this menu item changes to Edit Soft Block Parameters (or Edit Top Level Parameters if the top-level block is selected).

Initialize Soft Block Parameters Using Physical View

Imports soft block parameters from another layout cellview.

This command uses the same functionality as the Load Physical View command.

See Saving and Loading Soft Block Parameters to a Floorplan File Defining Soft Block Parameters.

Remove Soft Block Parameters

Removes the soft block parameters from the selected nodes in the tree.

See Removing Soft Block Parameters.

Set Master Cell Type

Sets the cell type for the selected instances. Cell types are used to categorize the blocks in your design.

See Setting the Cell Type.

Create Physical Binding

Clear Physical Binding

Sets or clears a physical binding for the selected instance.

See Creating a Physical Binding

Core
IO
Hard block

Indicates a physical leaf layout.

Soft block

With the hierarchy symbol (+), indicates a schematic logical node that has a corresponding physical view which is a soft block.

Without the hierarchy symbol, indicates a symbol logical node that has a corresponding physical view which is a soft block. Note: You cannot see the hierarchy for the logical node.

Indicates that the soft block parameters were redefined.

No Physical

Hierarchy symbol (+) AND File Directory

Indicates that there is hierarchy underneath the node; for example, a schematic logical node.

Octagon symbol

Indicates a logical node.

Indicates that the soft block parameters are defined.