Electric Frequently Asked Questions

Getting to Know Electric

> What is Electric?

Electric is a computer-aided design system for electrical circuits. It is primarily intended for integrated-circuit layout, but it also handles schematics and even textual hardware description languages.

Electric understands a number of different technologies (environments of design) including MOS (nMOS and many flavors of CMOS), bipolar, and hybrid layout. Besides these IC layout technologies, it is able to work with many other graphical forms, including schematics, artwork, FPGA architectures, and more. A built-in technology editor allows the modification and creation of new design environments.

Electric integrates many different tools for the analysis and synthesis of circuitry. The system comes with Design-rule checkers, simulators, routers, and much more. In addition, the system has an elegant model for integrating tools which makes it relatively easy to add new ones.

Besides being able to handle arbitrary technologies and tools, Electric has a powerful front-end that provides layout constraints and platform portability. The constraint system allows connected components to remain sensibly connected, even when the design is modified. The platform portability means that Electric is able to run on nearly any computer (the Java code runs anywhere and the C code compiles on UNIX/LINUX, Windows, and Macintosh).

Electric is free software, and is an official GNU package.

 

> How did it get its name?

Electric was inspired by the Firesign Theatre's album "I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus". When asked about the future, one interviewee states "It's Electric":

There is no relation between this system and the Ed Ruscha painting of the same name (shown below: Electric, 1963, oil on canvas, 72 x 67 inches, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York).

 

General Usage

> What other bugs are known to exist in the current release?

As bugs are discovered in the current release of Electric, they are posted here.

 

> Is Electric 64-bit clean?

Yes. Electric is 64-bit clean and has been successfully run on many 64-bit computers.

 

> Why can't Electric read my CIF or GDS file?

When reading CIF or GDS files, Electric needs to know which layers in the files correspond to layers in Electric. Electric has a separate set of layer maps for every technology. Therefore, you must make sure (1) that the desired technology is the current one and (2) that the layers in that technology match the layers in your CIF / GDS file.

 

> Why are my CIF and GDS II files difficult to edit after being read?

Since Electric drawings consist of connected parts, and since CIF and GDS have no connectivity in them, this means that imported CIF and GDS does not contain the necessary information for full Electric design. You can still view the files, and you can still include them in mask output. However, many Electric tools (such as network analysis and DRC) will not properly understand the layout. Use the Node Extractor to convert the artwork to full Electric components.

 

> Does the VHDL compiler handle behavioral VHDL?

No. The VHDL compiler only accepts structural VHDL (just the interconnect of components). This compiler is old, and it simply doesn't support modern VHDL constructs.

 

> Are there 4-terminal transistors?

Each technology in Electric supports a specific set of design parameters. None of the CMOS layout technologies have 4-terminal transistors. However, the schematic technology does have 4-terminal transistors.

 

> Are there any real libraries for the silicon compiler?

The library that is distributed with the silicon compiler is not actually valid for chipmaking. The reason for this is that the library is derived from an older one which was much larger in scale. By scaling that library down to submicron sizes, it was able to be used by the silicon compiler. However, no effort has been made to ensure that the scaling was correct, or that any of the cells are still valid. Thus, the library is purely for "illustration purposes."

If you wish to construct a library for use with the silicon compiler, simply create the cells that exist in the current library ("and2", "and3", "or2", "inverter", etc.) Be sure that the cells follow the form used in the library (i.e. horizontal power and ground rails along the top and bottom, all other interconnect done vertically, same port names for power, ground, inputs, and outputs). You will then have to set the various parameters in the "Silicon Compiler" preferences. If you have a library, and wish to make it available for other users, contact Static Free Software for help with the intergration.

Static Free Software is an Artisan Components EDANet partner. As a result, users can join the Artisan program and then get standard cell libraries for use in layout and in the Silicon Compiler.

 

> Where can I obtain additional technology files and libraries?

Everything else that we have is given away for free. All of the "technology files" are built-in. Additional ones can be created, and as they do, they will become part of the distribution.

An example chip, with over 1,000,000 transistors, is available for download here. This chip measures on-chip and inter-chip capacitance structures. It was designed by the Asynchronous Design Group of Sun Microsystems.

Static Free Software is an Artisan Components EDANet partner. As a result, users can join the Artisan program and then download standard cell libraries for use in layout and in the Silicon Compiler.

Anyone who has created circuitry that they wish to share with the Electric community should contact Static Free Software. Your designs could be the cornerstone of other people's work.

 

Legal

> What is GPL?

The GNU Public License protects Electric (it can be found in the file "COPYING", in every source module, and in the "About" dialog). The short description of this document is: (1) you get the source code for free (2) you can make money with it in any way possible (sell it, sell chips made with it, etc.) (3) if you modify it in any way, and then sell the system, you must make those modifications (source code) available to anyone who asks. If this description is not accurate, it is because I am not a lawyer (I only play one on the web). Consult a real lawyer to find out what your limitations actually are.

 

Documentation and Help

> How can I get a copy of the user's manual?

The user's manual is packaged with the Electric distribution, and it is also available in various forms. Click here for more information.

 

> How can I get a copy of Steven Rubin's textbook on CAD tools?

The book Computer Aids for VLSI Design was originally published by Addison-Wesley in 1987, and it is still available in various forms. Click here for more information.

 

> How can I learn more about the Electric source code?

Java Electric is documented with "Javadoc". You can download the current Javadoc, and you can run the "javadoc" Ant script to generate it yourself. Click here for more information.

 

> What discussion forums exist for Electric?

The most active discussion forum is at Google, called "ElectricVLSI":
   https://groups.google.com/group/electricvlsi

There are also two GNU mailing lists devoted to Electric:
   bug-gnu-electric@gnu.org (subscribe at https://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-gnu-electric)
and
   discuss-gnu-electric@gnu.org (subscribe at https://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss-gnu-electric)

New releases of Electric are announced on all of these mailing lists.

In addition, you can send mail to:
   info@staticfreesoft.com

 

> How can I be a healthier person?

Not only are we giving away free software, but we're letting you in on a well-kept health secret: Homeopathy. Read all about it in the book Impossible Cure: The Promise of Homeopathy.

How do open-source CAD systems and Homeopathy relate? They don't, but there is a connection here which we leave to you to discover!

 

Help with Java Electric

> How can I get the IRSIM simulation engine?

Electric has two simulators built in: ALS (our own) and IRSIM (from Stanford University). The GNU distribution does not include IRSIM, because it cannot be redistributed under the rules of the Free Software Foundation. If you wish to add IRSIM, you can download the additional source code.

 

> Why does Electric throw an exception when I try to see 3D?

The most likely reason is that you have not properly installed Java3D. Make sure the CLASSPATH environment variable is set properly.

 

Help with C Electric

> Extracting the download: Why does WinZip / gunzip / MacGZip give an error?

If you cannot extract the download, then your browser has most likely mangled the data. Check your settings and make sure you download the distribution as a binary file.

 

> Compiling on UNIX: Why does it fail to find "X11/Xlib.h" and others?

C Electric (on UNIX) requires the X Windows system, so you must have X installed. The "configure" process attempts to locate X on your machine, and it customizes the compile of the module "graphunixx11.c" with proper directories for X headers. If the compile of this module has an incorrect path to X, then you must edit the Makefile by hand and fix the paths (or perhaps you have installed X badly and need to fix that).

 

> Compiling on Macintosh: Does it run on OS 10?

C Electric can be built on Macinsosh OS 10 in two ways: Carbon and Qt. The Carbon port is not fully debugged. The Qt port requires a license from Trolltech.

 

> Compiling on Macintosh: Can I use MPW?

C Electric is compiled with MetroWerks on the Macintosh. Although it should be able to compile under MPW, there is no "make" file for this, and so you will have to construct one yourself.

When starting from scratch, simply include all of the source files (the exception being those in the "graph" directory, where you only include those that start with "graphmac").

 

> Compiling on Windows: Why can't Visual C++ read the "dsw" file?

C Electric comes with a "dsw" and "dsp" file that should work with Visual C++ versions 5.0 or 6.0. It also comes with a "vcproj" file that should work with Visual Studio .NET. If these files do not work, you can also use the file "Electric.mak".

 

> Linking on Windows: Why does it complain about "nafxcwd.lib"?

The file "nafxcwd.lib" is a Visual C++ runtime library. If you cannot find this file, or any other with the letters "afx" in them, you have two possible solutions: (1) Change Electric from static linking to dynamic or (2) upgrade your Visual C++ to the latest service packs. To change to dynamic linking, use the "Settings" command of the "Project" menu. Under the "General" tab in the "Microsoft Foundation Classes" popup, select "Use MFC in a Shared DLL". Under the "Link" tab in the "Object/Library modules" section, remove "nafxcwd.lib".

 

> Running on Windows 95/98/Me: Why does it run out of memory?

I have not seen this problem personally, but one user reported this fix. He used a free download called "RamBooster" and configured it to "run only when CPU is below 0". This made Electric run more reliably and faster.

 

> When run, why is it unable to find the file "cadrc"?

When C Electric starts up, it expects to find the file "cadrc" in the current directory. (On UNIX systems, it looks for ".cadrc" and is willing to find it either in the current directory or in your home directory.) In addition, it looks for a subfolder called "lib" which contains many useful files (at startup, the only file that is needed from that folder is "evemenus.mac"). If you move the executable away from these files, then it will not work properly.

 

> When run, why are there no menus shown?

Even when the files "cadrc" and "lib/evemenus.mac" are present, they may be corrupted by the download process. These files are plain-text files (the file "cadrc" should contain about 10 lines in it, "evemenus.mac" is much larger). If you examine these files with a text editor, you may find extra characters at the end of each line (such as ^M) or you may find that they are all on one line. Either situation indicates that the extraction of the "tar" file has been done incorrectly (keep in mind that Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX all use different line-ending conventions, and this distribution is intended to work on all three). Go back to the installation instructions and follow them carefully.

 

> Why is the graphics on UNIX either slow or restricted to 8-bit displays?

C Electric's internal graphics model uses an 8-bit deep frame buffer and a 256-long color map. Five of the 8 bits are for "transparent" layers (i.e. the most important layers of the current technology). Of the remaining three bits, one is for highlighting, one for the grid, and one is an "escape" which allows the 5 transparent layers to select one of 32 "opaque" colors.

When something on a transparent layer needs to be drawn or erased, it is only necessary to set the write-mask to that bit-plane and do the graphics directly, without regard to anything on other layers. This makes the 5 most important layers draw more rapidly. The same argument applies to highlighting and grid setting.

The problem on UNIX is that if a program demands all 256 color cell entries, the display flashes when the cursor roams in and out of the window (because the system is constantly switching the color map entries). Also, there seems to be a requirement that such programs use PseudoColor on an 8bpp display, as higher depths seem to cause the whole color-mapping scheme to fail.

To solve this problem, Electric has an offscreen buffer that is 8-bits deep and has its own colormap. After drawing in this buffer, it is copied to the screen. Windows and Macintosh systems have built-in schemes for doing this, but the UNIX X Window System does not: the copying and color map application have to be done in the user's code. This means that there has to be ANOTHER offscreen buffer that is the same depth as the screen. Finally, this second buffer is copied to the screen with an X call.

In such a scheme, there is no color-map flashing, and any depth display can be used. However, there is a great speed disadvantage. For example, to draw a line requires that the data be moved 3 times: (1) when the line is drawn into the 8 bit offscreen buffer, (2) when the 8 bit offscreen buffer is copied to the true-depth offscreen buffer, and (3) when the true-depth offscreen buffer is copied to the screen. So, rather than sending a compact command from the client to the server ("draw a line"), Electric must send a full bitmap to the server. Unless both the client and the server are running on the same machine, this can be much slower.

By default, the X driver implements this offscreen scheme. It cannot run on systems where the X client is on a different machine than the X server, because it demands too much network bandwidth. However, it runs fine on any depth display, and does not suffer from color-map flashing.

For users who do not mind the 8 bit-per-pixel limitation or the color map flashing, the X driver module can be be told to work that way. Simply edit the "Makefile" and change the value of "XPOWER" (see the comments at the top of the file).

 

> Why doesn't SPICE run automatically?

On UNIX, it is possible to get C Electric to actually run SPICE after generating a SPICE deck. This requires that SPICE be installed and that Electric know where it is located. Change the #define of SPICELOC in the file "config.h" to set the location. Keep in mind that Electric only interfaces with batch SPICE, and does not interface to interactive versions.

 

> How can I get the interpreted languages?

C Electric is able to handle many different interpretive languages: Lisp (actually a Scheme implementation called ELK), TCL, and Java are currently available. The GNU distribution does not include any of these languages, because they cannot be redistributed under the rules of the Free Software Foundation.

If you wish to add Lisp, you can download the additional source code. If you wish to add TCL or Java, you must configure Electric to use it (see the installation documentation for your system).

 

> How can I get the IRSIM simulation engine?

C Electric has two simulators built in: ALS (our own) and IRSIM (from Stanford University). The GNU distribution does not include IRSIM, because it cannot be redistributed under the rules of the Free Software Foundation. If you wish to add IRSIM, you can download the additional source code.

 

> Does Electric have any foreign-language interfaces?

C Electric has been translated into French, and can be converted to any foreign language. UNIX/Linux users already have the French interface in the GNU download, but Windows and Macintosh users must get the Static Free Software extras in order to use the French interface.

If you wish to translate Electric, please contact Static Free Software for assistance.

 

> Where can I get binaries?

In an unusual twist of distribution, Static Free Software makes its source code available free of charge, but not compiled binaries. The web page offers binary versions of Electric or various platforms (Macintosh, Windows, etc.) These binary versions cost money, but they are easier to install than having to compile the source code.