Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[j3pflynn]

64-bit Linux speeds IC design tool (from Pravin on SI)
http://www.eedesign.com/story/OEG20040115S0011
By Richard Goering
EE Times
January 15, 2004 (9:05 a.m. EST)

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SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — ReShape Inc. is reporting significant speed and capacity increases for its PD Optimizer tool suite on 64-bit Opteron and Athlon processors running Linux — even compared to faster 32-bit processors. PD Optimizer helps manage IC placement and routing runs.

ReShape is also reporting eight new benchmarks that claim PD Optimizer reduced die sizes by an average of 15 percent, reduced inter-block interconnects by more than 25 percent, and reduced global buffer/repeaters by more than 40 percent, compared to designs done by hand.

Over a cross-section of benchmarks, ReShape's Design Aware optimizer ran an average of 1.7 times faster under the 1.8 GHz AMD64 architecture, compared to a Xenon 2.8 GHz 32-bit architecture, said Bob Dahlberg, vice president of business development at ReShape. Even though the AMD64 processor is slower, it has superior caching, Dahlberg observed.

In addition to speed, he noted, the 64-bit AMD architecture permits higher capacity. On one benchmark on a 4.6 million instance hierarchical system-on-chip (SoC) design, ReShape's tools, running on a 1.8 GHz Athlon machine, prepared 20 individual blocks for place and route from a new netlist in six hours.

Design Aware looks at the most recent chip build and makes changes to improve it on the next run. With each new netlist or design change, it accommodates the change and optimizes the result. After three or four builds, ReShape claims, the pins, repeater placements, and timing budgets converge, creating optimal results.

PD Optimizer for Red Hat Linux Version 3 with AMD64 processors is available this quarter starting at $350,000 per year. Macromedia's FlexLM for 64-bit Linux is required.