feng shui 5.0 display
A significant addition to feng shui for version 5.0 is the integrated
graphical user interface. At startup, a window similar to the one
shown below is presented.
The display has a number of menu items, buttons, and tab boxes.
- The File menu has standard typical items to load in a
circuit using the GSRC bookshelf file format, or from LEF and DEF
files. A placement can also be read in (using the Bookshelf .pl file
format). This menu also allows for a placement to be saved.
- The Help menu has items to open a reference manual, and a
small "about" dialog. The reference manual integrated into feng shui
does not support external links. Thus, links to pages located on web
servers (such as the related papers and pointers to research groups)
will not work.
The toolbox contains tabs for file I/O, placement, routing, and so
on. These should be relatively intuitive.
After loading in a circuit, checkboxes in the display control section
will change how much of a design is shown. A sample window for the
mixed size design IBM01 is shown.
Scrollbars allow panning across the design. The "Z+" and "Z-" buttons
perform image zooming functions. "R" causes the display to
refresh. If a placement tool is running, the logic elements displayed
will move to their current positions. The display does not
automatically refresh. The "P" button will print the display window.
Pixmap Display
It is frequently useful to compare two placements against eachother,
to understand differences in placement solutions. To aid in this, the
display controls have a pulldown menu to select between "normal" and
"pixmap" views.
To use the "pixmap" mode, first load in a reference placement.
For the PEKO benchmarks, the known optimal solution is an excellent
one to use. In pixmap mode, the color for any given cell or macro
block is determined by mapping a graphical image onto the reference placement.
The cells and macro
blocks are displayed in their current positions; with the coloring
taken from the reference placement, is it frequently possible to see
ripples, warping, and shifts.
The default pixmap image is the initial splash screen; clicking the
"load image" button will allow the user to select an alternate image.
The human eye is extremely good at recognizing faces, so this sort of
image is recommended.
A sample pixmap image is shown below; note that the display can be
resized easily, and portions of the display can be collapsed with the
splitter bars.
Circuit Information
Circuit information (cell names and sizes, net names and net degree)
is shown on the left side of the delay. Subsequent versions of the
suite will allow navigation of the circuit.