optDesign removes fillers

 You might try looking at the documentation for the command "setFillerMode". This command tells Encounter which filler cells to use for the design. Then when optDesign is run, it will remove the existing fillers in order to make room for optimization buffers but also it will replace fillers automatically at the end of the optimization stage.

Hi!

Thanks for your quick answer. The manual on "setFillerMode" does not mention anything aboutthe optDesign command.

 I've now tried once again with no luck. I loaded the routed design (after step "route" of the Foundation scripts), which indeed has fillers.getFillerMode returns that the only non-default settings are the filler cells and the prefix.

> getFillerMode 
-core {FILL25 FILL10 FILL5 FILL2 FILL1}    # string, default="", user setting
-corePrefix FILL                     # string, default=FILLER, user setting
-createRows true                     # bool, default=true
-deleteFixed true                    # bool, default=true
-doDRC true                          # bool, default=true
-ecoMode false                       # bool, default=false
-fitGap false                        # bool, default=false
-honorPrerouteAsObs false            # bool, default=false
-merge false                         # bool, default=false
-minHoleCheck false                  # bool, default=false
-viaEnclosureCheck false             # bool, default=false

When I run "optDesign -postRoute", it first removes all filler cells:

Deleted 1 physical inst  (cell FILL25 / prefix FILL).
Deleted 12 physical insts (cell FILL10 / prefix FILL).
Deleted 19 physical insts (cell FILL5 / prefix FILL).
Deleted 36 physical insts (cell FILL2 / prefix FILL).
Deleted 47 physical insts (cell FILL1 / prefix FILL).
Total physical insts deleted = 115.

but doesn't add them again after its run. I have to manually perform "addFiller" to get filler cells in.

So, are the Foundation scripts intended to loose all fillers? Or did just nobody stumble upon this problem? Or does it have to do something with my libraries? Or with my settings?

Thanks

  Hansi

As far as I can tell, with the settings you have from the getFillerMode, the fillers should be getting replaced automatically. It could be a bug. Have you tried a different version of the software? You may need to submit a service request.

I looked through the documentation and found the following under "Performing Postroute Optimization":

 If filler cell definitions were provided during design import, optDesign removes or adds them as needed, following the information given by setFillerMode. For more information on this command, see setFillerMode in the "Placement Commands" chapter of the Encounter Digital Implementation System Text Command Reference.

The above can be found under "Performing Postroute Optimzation" in Chapter 32 "Optimize Timing" of the "Encounter Digital Implementation System User Guide" version 9.1.2. In your installation directory, you should find this document here: <install_dir>/doc/soceUG/soceUGTOC.html.

Hi!

Thanks for the informative answer.

I've also found the mentioned passage in the documentation of Encounter 8.1.

I've verified the problem still exists by loading the data resulting from the "route" step and simply executing

optDesign -postRoute

from the command prompt. It still removes all filler cells but doesn't add new ones.

Then I've tried Encounter 9.12, loaded the data from "route" and executed the very same command. It indeed adds filler cells after it is done.

**optDesign ... cpu = 0:00:02, real = 0:00:02, mem = 346.6M **
*INFO: Adding fillers to top-module.
*INFO:   Added 1 filler inst  (cell FILL25 / prefix FILL).
*INFO:   Added 12 filler insts (cell FILL10 / prefix FILL).
*INFO:   Added 19 filler insts (cell FILL5 / prefix FILL).
*INFO:   Added 36 filler insts (cell FILL2 / prefix FILL).
*INFO:   Added 47 filler insts (cell FILL1 / prefix FILL).
*INFO: Total 115 filler insts added - prefix FILL (CPU: 0:00:00.1).
*INFO: Checking for DRC violations on added fillers.
*INFO: Iteration 0-#1, Found 0 DRC violation  (real: 0:00:00.0).
*INFO: Adding fillers to top-module.
*INFO:   Added 0 filler inst of any cell-type.
*INFO: End DRC Checks. (real: 0:00:00.0 ).
*** Finished optDesign ***

So it seems version 8.1 (v08.10-s273_1) really has a bug here, both in the 32 as well as the 64 bit version. :-(

Thanks

  Hansi