Automating Hardware Design Documentation

1. Automating Hardware Design Documentation MAPLD 2003 September 9-11 Washington DC Kent Moffat & Tom Dewey Mentor Graphics Wilsonville, Oregon

2. Time Hand Documentation Productivity Factor = Time Automate The Documentation Dilemma Everyone requires documentation: • Internal & external customers • Management • Design reviewers • Design reuse requires quality documentation No one wants to document: • Cuts into design time • Adds to “time to market” pressure • Not a core competency Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

3. The Methodology Establish methods to: • Quickly publish accurate documents • Use the Web for design reviews • Control & manage documentation Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

4. Quickly Publish Accurate Documents Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

5. Visualize Source Code • Tabular & graphical views can easily be created from your source code & then used within documents AND/OR • Use graphic editors to enter designs and generate HDL code Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

6. Interface-Based Design (IBD) Tables • Compact representation of the design • Good method to show design partitioning • Quickly communicate: • Design blocks • Interconnect • Ports & signals Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

7. Blocks, IP, Components Port/Signal Names & Types IO Ports IBD Overview Interconnect Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

8. Switch to the Block Diagram • Hierarchical block view of the design • Another graphical view to help you communicate: • Blocks • Hierarchy • Interconnect • Main ports & signals Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

9. Visualize the Main Blocks View (or edit) • State machines are recognized • If the RTL is structural – an IBD or block diagram view is created • Otherwise, a flow chart is created Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

10. Control Visualizations • Establish team/company standards • Look & feel • Graphical layout • Setup once & reuse for each project Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

11. Publishing Documents Windows OS • Object Linking & Embedding (OLE) support • Static graphics & tables • Dynamic graphics & tables • Copy Picture • Export IBD to Excel™ UNIX and Linux OS • Export .jpg, or .png formats Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

12. Methodology Benefits Quickly Publish Accurate Documents • Assure that graphics & tables match the source code 100% • Easily include visualizations & tables into documents using OLE • Rapidly update documents as the design changes Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

13. Use the Web for Design Reviews Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

14. Design Sharing & ReviewsHTML Export Automatically create an interactive website with HTML Export: • Complete control of content • Navigate design hierarchy in web browser • Perform design reviews with Netscape® or Internet Explorer™ • Snapshot a project any time • No access to design database • Available for many OS platforms Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

15. Control Content • You have control over what gets exported • Hierarchy depth • Included items Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

16. HTML Website Easily Navigable Design Explorer Click on diagram hierarchy to push down Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

17. Add a Custom Title Page Custom image User variable Internal variables Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

18. Place files in Side Data Browser Simulation memory file Simulation C file • Allows inclusion of non-HDL files for the website • You control what types of files will be exported • Side data is associated with design units (copied or linked) External documentation files Simulation scripts Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

19. Methodology Benefits Use the Web for Design Reviews • Prepare for design reviews in minutes • Assure accuracy of design data & graphics • Share design data with geographically dispersed teams • Use your HTML browser – no additional tools required Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

20. Conclusions Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

21. HDLGraphics Time Savings Example documentation requirements • Single medium-sized FPGA • Total of 14 block and state machine diagrams • 5 Revisions: 4 design reviews + final project documentation Documentation productivity factor = 42/17.5 = 2.4 Time savings from automatic diagram generation: 24.5 hours * .25 hours/diagram allowed for any cosmetic editing required after automatic generation Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

22. Methodology Limitations • There are more state machine coding styles than can be recognized by any existing tool • Always room for improvement • Automatic layout of block diagrams and state machines from HDL code not always acceptable • May require cosmetic editing of diagrams, but equivalence of diagram and HDL is maintained Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer

23. Time Scratch Documentation Productivity Factor = Time Automate Summary Automate your hardware design documentation: • Quickly publish accurate documents • Use the Web for design reviews • Save time and valuable engineering resources Automating HDL Design Documentation HDL Designer