Table Of ContentOpenAccess™ Release 2.2 Standard
API Tutorial
Sixth Edition (OA 2.2 DM4)
Release 1.0
Silicon Integration Initiative, Inc.
Copyright
Published by
Silicon Integration Initiative, Inc. (Si2™)
9111 Jollyville Rd., Suite 250
Austin TX 78759
Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 by Si2, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of the material contained herein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the
prior written permission of Si2, Inc.
Online Version ISBN: 1-882750-26-8
PDF Version ISBN: 1-882750-27-6
The authors, editors and publisher make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, and specifically
disclaim, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular pur-
pose, with regard to any material contained herein. In no event shall the authors, editors or publisher be
responsible or liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to
special, incidental, consequential or any other damages in connection with or arising out of any use of
this material.
Several illustrations and tables from the OpenAccess documentation copyrighted by Cadence Design
Systems, Inc. are used herein with permission.
Where manufacturer or vendor designations claimed as trademarks are used herein, and Si2 was aware of
the trademark claim, such designations have been printed in initial caps or all caps.
Credits
Principal Author and Editor:
David Mallis, Si2, Inc.
Co-author:
Susan Carver, Si2, Inc.
Contributing Authors:
Don Cottrell, Si2, Inc.
Eric Leavitt, Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
Barbara Pfeil, Si2, Inc.
Contributing Editors:
Susan Carver, Si2, Inc.
Don Cottrell, Si2, Inc.
Sumit DasGupta, Si2, Inc.
Michael McCurdy, Intel, Inc.
Barbara Pfeil, Si2, Inc.
Jim Wilmore, Intel, Inc.
Cover Designer:
Theresa Cox, Si2, Inc.
Production Manager:
Bill Bayer, Si2, Inc.
Courseware Developers:
David Mallis, Si2, Inc.
Barbara Pfeil, Si2, Inc.
About Si2
Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2) is a not-for-profit consortium of industry
and academic members, chartered under the National Cooperative Research
Act (NCRA). The mission of Si2 is to:
Achieve industry adoption of collaborative technology and services that
deliver higher levels of silicon design integration enabling compelling
advantages for its members through reduced costs, faster time to market,
and improved IC design capability.
Si2 was founded in 1988 as CAD Framework Initiative, Inc. Today, Si2 corporate members represent
semiconductor manufacturers, electronic systems companies, and electronic design automation tool sup-
pliers in North America, Europe and Asia. Si2 provides a forum for industry leaders and university
researchers to collaborate on the mounting challenges that they face in the design and manufacture of
semiconductors. Member companies work together to identify common issues and sponsor projects to
reduce the cost and complexity of silicon design. OpenAccess™ is an example of one of these collabora-
tive projects sponsored by Si2 member companies who are part of the OpenAccess Coalition.
Current membership information is available from
(cid:121) Si2 Corporate Members (http://www.si2.org/?page=28)
(cid:121) OpenAccess Coalition Members (http://www.si2.org/?page=86)
Si2 OA Tutorial Overview
The creation of OpenAccess™ is a seminal event in the already dynamic history of Electronic Design
Automation (EDA). The appearance of OpenAccess – with its modern API, powerful database features,
and rigorous OpenEvolution process – made 2003 a watershed year for the industry.
This publication updates the Si2 OpenAccess instructional material to include enhancements and changes
in the latest release of OA Standard. Every effort has been made to provide coverage that is comprehen-
sive and accurate; however, with the breadth and depth of capability spanned by the OA project, this edi-
tion is certainly not exhaustive. Si2 makes on-going enhancements to this material, with errata and new
subject matter, extending its coverage of OpenAccess technical details with regular releases of new edi-
tions. Different formats are published that provide special advantages, including printed and CD versions,
as well as interactive, online courseware that includes exercises and code labs. For information on the lat-
est publications and new editions, please visit http://www.si2.org/si2_order/index.html.
This tutorial is designed make assimilation of the OpenAccess Standard significantly easier, leading to
more productive use of the API in applications in the shortest possible time.
Feedback is always appreciated. Si2 is interested in hearing how this material has been of value, as well
as reports of typos, errors, sections that seemed difficult to understand, and any suggestions for new top-
ics. Comments may be sent, specifying the title and edition (and release identifier) being used (identified
on the first page), to [email protected]. More information about OpenAccess can be found at
http://OpenEDA.Si2.org/ and http://www.Si2.org/openaccess/.
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Courseware Interface (online version only)
The following is a screen shot of the web interface for the Si2 OpenAccess Course:
Instruction Frame (online version only)
The bottom right frame is the main focus of the course. In it will be displayed each page of the course
material providing step-by-step instruction, exercises, and labs, covering the breadth and depth of Open-
Access.
All external URL references are hyperlinks that will open the indicated page in a separate window (to
prevent losing the place in the instructional thread).
All internal cross references are hyperlinks that will replace the current page with the referenced page in
the main instuction frame. It is also possible to use the right-mouse click (or left, if a left-handed mouse)
to open a menu and open the link in a new window, leaving the instruction frame with the link
unchanged.
In addition, all occurrences throughout the material of OA class names are also hyperlinks that will open
the appropriate class documentation from the API Specification in a separate window.
Release 2.2 Standard API Tutorial vii
Contents Frame (online version only)
To the left side of the Course window is an expandable contents frame that simplifies direct access to
individual sections throughout the material. Clicking on a “plus” icon will expand the entry to its subsec-
tions and turn that icon into a “minus”. Clicking on the “minus” will collapse the subsections back into
the parent entry. Each text string is a hyperlink that will show that section in the bottom right instruction
frame. The title of the page showing in the main instructional window is displayed in the title bar on the
top of the browser window.
Navigation Bar (online version only)
The thin frame along the top of the Course window contains the course version and navigation buttons:
(cid:121) Course Version - is a display of the current Course edition and release of OpenAccess is it compliant
with.
(cid:121) Si2 Delta - A summary of new and changed sections in the course. Change page summaries use a
side-by-side diff format with highlighed changes between the current and last edition of the course. In
addition, new or changed section within the course have a Si2Delta icon in the top right corner.
(cid:121) Back - normal browser Back.
(cid:121) Forward - normal browser Forward.
(cid:121) Prev – Displays the page of material that precedes the current one in order of the normal instruc-
tional sequence. This might not be the last page displayed if the current page was accessed out of
sequence, either from the Contents frame or via hyperlink in a page somewhere. If it is necessary to
get to the previously displayed page, use the browser’s <–BACK button instead.
(cid:121) Next – Displays the page of material that follows the current one in order of the normal instructional
sequence. The browser’s FORWARD–> button can be used instead to return to a page after the
browser’s <–BACK button was pressed.
(cid:121) C++ – Opens in a separate window a condensed, online C++ language reference for quick access to
syntax details.
(cid:121) Search – Opens in a separate window a search engine that enables location of keywords throughout
the Course material, the OpenAccess API Specification, Lab code, and Programmers Guide.
(cid:121) Symbols – Opens in a separate window a merged, alphabetical index of hyperlinks to every class def-
inition, enum, and #DEFINE in the API Specification.
(cid:121) Classes – Opens in a separate window the Classes tab of the API Specification. Other areas of the
API Specification can be be accessed from the navigation bar at the top of the Classes page.
Objectives
This material is designed to provide step-by-step, incremental instruction for those new to OA, and to
serve as a tool for subsequent enrichment or on-going reference. It will help the user
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(cid:121) Appreciate the advantages of OpenAccess.
(cid:121) Understand the OpenAccess API functional capabilities and their uses for EDA tools.
(cid:121) Become familiar with the OpenAccess architecture and the types of data covered.
(cid:121) Attain self-sufficiency in the use of the OA documentation to research questions that arise.
(cid:121) Use the OpenAccess API effectively to write code to:
(cid:140) Port an existing EDA tool that works with a non-OpenAccess database so that it will plug into any
OpenAccess implementation.
(cid:140) Wrap a non-OpenAccess database with a “compatibility layer” to which any compliant OpenAc-
cess applications can link.
(cid:140) Create new OpenAccess applications.
In addition, this tutorial will facilitate use of the OA Reference Implementation, the high-powered object
database product tailored for EDA, in conjunction with application software written to the OA Standard.
Organization
The various OpenAccess components comprise a wealth of detail. There are many possible paths through
the information, all resulting in accumulation of knowledge and skills. This course segments OA into log-
ically sequential pieces of increasing application specialization, so it is designed, more or less, to be tra-
versed in order of the chapters. For example, early chapters covering the overall architecture will be
necessary for tool developers from all areas. Later chapters addressing such things as routing and parasit-
ics may only be of interest to programmers of those kinds of tools.
Each chapter collects as much detail as possible related to the topic, resulting sometimes in more detail
than is needed or wanted by some readers, especially the first time through. To help the reader make the
decision to skip ahead, leaving the rest of a section or chapter for later study, perhaps when prompted by
a future cross reference, a special notice appears that looks like this:
_____MAYBE RETURN LATER FOR MORE DETAIL AND SKIP NOW TO SPECIAL FEATURES
Special Features
Several special sections or features have been incorporated with this material to assist the instructional
process.
Glossary
Many industry and OA-specific words and phrases are collected with detailed definitions in a special
glossary (Chapter 26). The focus of these definitions is their relationship to OpenAccess, including any
special semantics associated with that use.
Release 2.2 Standard API Tutorial ix
Cross References
There are many interrelated facets to OpenAccess. As much as possible, repetition of explanations has
been avoided in favor of extensive cross referencing to central discussion of a particular topic. These are
direct references to a particular numbered section, chapter, or References entry (Chapter 25). There are
also URL references to other documents or websites of relevance. In the online version of this course,
class names are hyperlinked to their class reference page in the OpenAccess API Reference.
C++ Topics
A special section (Chapter 24) highlights some key syntax issues that crop up frequently in OA program-
ming – a useful review, especially for those who spend most of their time with other programming lan-
guages. Nevertheless, it is not a substitute for a good C++ reference – a few of which are listed in the
References (Chapter 25).
Figure Animations
A few of the more complex figures have been animated to provide incremental layers of detail under
mouse control. Such animations aid comprehension by illustrating an intrinsic order of steps or categori-
zation of layers of information. These are PowerPoint animations exported as “shows” (.pps) and can
only be viewed with PowerPoint itself or the PowerPoint Viewer (both of which are Windows executa-
bles). If PowerPoint is not installed, Viewer can be downloaded free of charge from the Si2 website
(PPView97.exe) or directly from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?Fami-
lyID=7c404e8e-5513-46c4-aa4f-058a84a37df1&displaylang=en).
With browsers other than InternetExplorer it will likely be necessary to associate the MIME type of the
animation file with either PowerPoint or the installed Viewer. For example, in Netscape7 this means
clicking the menu item Edit/Preferences/Navigator/Helper Applications and then:
(cid:121) Click the New Type button.‘
(cid:121) Set the MIME type to “application/vnd.ms-pps”
(cid:121) Set the description to “Microsoft PowerPoint Slide Show”
(cid:121) Set the Extension to “pps”
(cid:121) Check the Open it with: box and enter “C:\Program Files\PowerPoint Viewer\PPVIEW32.EXE”
(actually, use the Browse button to locate exactly where the Viewer was installed on the system).
Alternatively, PowerPoint itself can be associated with this MIME type.
(cid:121) Click the OK button.
After making this MIME association, clicking on any of the animation links in the Course will then auto-
matically open the PowerPoint Viewer to handle the .pps document accessed by the link.
Exercises
Exercises are included throughout to add reinforcement to the material and encourage active participation
in the learning process. An answer is provided for every exercise. See the “Exercises And Answers” sec-
tion for details.
Labs
At strategic points in the instruction a lab activity is suggested as a method for converting the theoretical
knowledge presented so far into a running program illustrating the various topics. Maximum benefit will
be derived from compiling and executing the code and using the debugger.
Yet, even if an appropriate build environment is inaccessible benefits may still be derived going through
the process of writing the code because all code solutions are included. Simple comparison against the
solutions will provide significant feedback of topic mastery. Many of the labs have follow-up questions
and associated answers to point out important topics implicit in the lab code. (See the “Lab Overview”
section for more information.)
Audience
The sequential organization of the material means the earlier sections and earlier parts of each section
usually will have a more general appeal to a broader range of professionals. Individuals needing only a
modest understanding of OA might wish to skip ahead as each section gets more detailed. Marketing or
development managers interested in specifics about OpenAccess (to ascertain how it will fit in with their
product plans and current software infrastructure) may wish to focus on the first few chapters only.
This tutorial includes a lot of C++ software development detail and is ultimately targeted at software
developers and how they might use OpenAccess effectively. Nevertheless, experience in classroom set-
tings has shown that with repeated exposure to this OA material even those with programming language
backgrounds other than C++ will become increasingly comfortable with it.
Experience with the basics of IC physical design is necessary; yet a professional who is primarily a soft-
ware developer should have little trouble grasping the abstractions and becoming effective in working
with a design engineer to map them into practical algorithms.
Those familiar with internal or commercial EDA databases (particularly object-oriented databases) will
have a head start in their study of OA. On the other hand, the core of OpenAccess Standard is the API and
corresponding data model, and the bulk of this material is designed to teach it – even to those new to such
interfaces.
Some introductory material is included with most topics, material that may seem obvious to one or
another reader. This is done deliberately for two reasons:
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