Targets#

To facilitate encapsulation and reuse of schema parameters related to design targets, SiliconCompiler implements a Chip.use() function which can run scripts that set up common combinations of Flow, PDK, Library, and Checklist modules.

SiliconCompiler comes with a set of built-in targets, which can be pulled in using the use() function. A full list of built-in targets can be found on the Pre-Defined Targets page.

The following example calls the use() function to load the built-in freepdk45_demo target.

from siliconcompiler.targets import freepdk45_demo

chip.use(freepdk45_demo)

The following example demonstrates the functional equivalent at the command line:

sc hello.v -target "freepdk45_demo"

Targets can also be dedicated to individual projects or use cases, rather than general-purpose processing. For example, we ship a self-test target with SiliconCompiler, which builds a simple 8-bit counter to verify that everything is installed and configured correctly.

sc -target "asic_demo"

Functions#

The table below shows the function interfaces for setting up Flow objects.

Function

Description

Arg

Returns

Used by

Required

setup()

Target setup function

Chip and optional keyword arguments

N/A

use()

yes

make_docs()

Doc generator

Chip

N/A

sphinx

no

setup(chip)#

All target modules must contain a function called setup(), which takes in a Chip object and can modify the Chip’s schema parameters in any way. It’s common for targets to load at least one flow, a PDK and at least one standard cell library if the design is being built as an ASIC. They can also set up default design parameters and tool options.

SC supports additional levels of encapsulation through PDK, library, and flow modules. See the PDK, Library, and Flow pages to learn more about what is expected to be configured in each of these modules.

Generally, these functions will be called by targets, and then a user will only have to call use() in their build script. However, the run() function requires all mandatory flowgraph, pdk, and tool settings to be defined prior to execution, so if a partial target is loaded, additional setup may be required.

An example is shown below.

from siliconcompiler.pdk import asap7
from siliconcompiler.libs import asap7sc7p5t
from siliconcompiler.flows import asicflow

# Load a PDK
chip.use(asap7)
chip.set('option', 'pdk', 'asap7')
chip.set('option', 'stackup', '10M')

# Load a library
chip.use(asap7sc7p5t)
chip.add('asic', 'logiclib', 'asap7sc7p5t_rvt')

# Load flow
chip.use(asicflow)
chip.set('option', 'flow', 'asicflow')

...

make_docs(chip)#

The make_docs() function is used by the projects auto-doc generation. This function is only needed if the target requires additional inputs to be setup correctly. The function should include a call to the setup function to populate the schema with all settings as shown below. The input to this function chip is a chip object created by the auto-doc generator.

def make_docs(chip):
  setup(chip)
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