On 8/17/2018 1:10 AM, Alessandro DE LAURENZIS wrote:
> Hi Brian,
>
> On 08/16/18 20:04, Brian Callahan wrote:
> [...]
>> At this point, the only thing I would change is the pkg/DESCR. As it
>> is, you can combine the first two sentences into one, something like:
>>
>> graywolf is a fork of TimberWolf 6.3.5, a placement tool used in VLSI
>> design.
>>
>> But the middle paragraph of the DESCR doesn't really tell me what
>> this is or what it does, just that it used to be a project developed
>> at Yale. Maybe instead that's a spot to explain what a placement tool
>> is or does. The last bit is fine, it's likely useful especially for
>> those who have used the original software in the past.
>
> Good point; I tried to rephrase a bit the general description of
> TinderWolf as per its authors' presentation in the IEEE Journal of
> Solid-State Circuits [1] and mix it with the old middle paragraph (I
> would preserve the note about the open source availability of the
> software, which is the root cause of graywolf fork), ending up with
> the following:
>
I think this one is fine. The other one is probably a little too much.
~Brian
> [... snip ...]
>
> graywolf is a fork of TimberWolf 6.3.5, a placement tool used in VLSI
> design.
>
> TimberWolf is an integrated set of placement (and routing) programs,
> based on the general combinatorial optimization technique known
> as simulated annealing. Its last open-source distribution by Yale
> University is suitable for standard cell, macro/custom cell, and
> gate-array professional-grade placement.
>
> The main improvement in graywolf is that the build process is more
> streamlined and that it behaves as a normal tool - you can call it
> from anywhere and no environment variables must be set first.
>
> graywolf is mainly used together with Qflow
> (http://opencircuitdesign.com/qflow/).
>
> [... snip ...]
>
> If you think we need a more detailed explanation of what placement
> step does within VLSI design flow (I think it is superfluous, but I
> would not object), we could also add the definition from Wikipedia [2]:
>
> [... snip ...]
>
> graywolf is a fork of TimberWolf 6.3.5, a placement tool used in VLSI
> design.
>
> Placement is the portion of the physical design flow that assigns exact
> locations for various circuit components within the chip's core area.
>
> TimberWolf is an integrated set of placement (and routing) programs,
> based on the general combinatorial optimization technique known
> as simulated annealing. Its last open-source distribution by Yale
> University is suitable for standard cell, macro/custom cell, and
> gate-array professional-grade placement.
>
> The main improvement in graywolf is that the build process is more
> streamlined and that it behaves as a normal tool - you can call it
> from anywhere and no environment variables must be set first.
>
> graywolf is mainly used together with Qflow
> (http://opencircuitdesign.com/qflow/).
>
> [... snip ...]
>
> Let me know what you think.
>
> All the best
>
> [1] https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1052337/
> [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placement_(EDA)
>
