Impulse 23.1 Release Note

1 What's New

• Enhanced Logs refactoring

• STA execution now 3x times faster than before

• STA constraints analysis now possible without launching STA

• New Hierarchy Complexity reporting method

• Now possible to modify Pad configuration after Routed Design

• New DFF merged statistics reporting method

• Improved Preplace IP methodology

2 GUI

• Improved contextual help and tooltips

• UI improvements including:

• Reporting integration

• Deeper Window Customization

• Feedback integrated to each tool

• New High Contrast Theme added to the Accessibility options

3 Python

3.1 Console

• nxpython

  • New -i argument activates the Interactive Console mode which allows the user to navigate into a project after script execution

• nxipython

  • Activates the Interactive Console mode which allows the user to navigate into a project after script execution

3.2 SetOption()
SharingFanout

• Allows user to set a minimum fanout trigger in order to inject every signal above this value into lowskew, e.g.
  getProject().setOption('SharingFanout', '100')
  
  

3.3 Methods

• reportHierarchyComplexity()

  • o Generates a report and a hierarchyComplexity.json file providing the logic cone complexity for each hierarchy level and by clock domain

• • modifyPad()

  • Allows user to modify pad configuration at any step of Impulse Design Flow Please note that only part of the pad configuration can be changed
    getProject().modifyPad('input[0]', {'drive':'8', 'slewRate':'Medium', 'termination':'25', 'terminationReference':'VT', 'inputDelayOn':True, 'inputDelayLine':3, 'turbo':False, 'inputSignalSlope':0.4, 'outputCapacity':2 })
    
    

• reportDFFStatistics()

  • Prints a table reporting DFF merging statistics
    getProject().reportDFFStatistics()

• exportSites()

  • This method has been modified and now generates a .json file.

• modifyAperture()

  • Modifies dimensions of the global aperture, deprecating the following:

    • setAperture(column1, row1, column2, row2)

    • adjustAperture(above, left, right, below)

    • translateAperture(horizontal, vertical)

    • addRegion()

  • Adds a new region with the specified name and dimensions and optionally sets the region to exclusive, deprecating the following:

    • createRegion(name, column1, row1, column2, row2[, exclusive])

    • modifyRegion()

  • Modifies dimensions of the specified region and optionally sets the region exclusive, deprecating the following:

    • setAperture(regionName, column1, row1, column2, row2)

    • removeRegion()

  • Removes specified region, deprecating the following:

    • destroyRegion(name)

    • addObstruction()

  • Adds a new obstruction with specified name and dimensions and optionally sets the obstruction for place and/or route, deprecating the following:

    • createObstruction(name, column1, row1, column2, row2[, place, route])

    • modifyObstruction()

  • Modifies dimensions of the specified region and optionally sets the obstruction for place and/or route

    • removeObstruction()

  • Removes specified region, deprecating the following:

    • destroyObstruction(name)

• Preplace IP

  • Preplace IP methodology changed: The .nym file is no longer used. A .json and a .gcl file are now generated and used instead of .nym file to prevent version number conflicts

    • saveIP(‘PreplaceIPname.json’) generate .json

    • addBlackBox() use .json file

4 Static Timing Analysis (STA)
NanoXplore Design Constraints (NXDC)
preAnalyze()

• Analyses all timing constraints without launching Static Timing Analysis (STA) and generates timingConstraints.rpt and timingConstraints.json files
  a = p.createAnalyzer() a.preAnalyze()

5 NXLibrary

5.1 NG-ULTRA

• NX_SOC_INTERFACE_WRAP
  The following signal has been renamed:
  Impulse22.3:
  fabric_llpp1_arqos_s1_o: out std_logic_vector(3 downto 0);
  Becomes:
  Impulse23.1:
  fabric_llpp1_arqos_s_o: out std_logic_vector(3 downto 0);

• NX_BD
  NX_BD default value mode changed to global lowskew

• NX_DDFR_U
  Dual Data Rate deported DFF can be instantiated

6 Known Issues
ExportAsIPCore:

• Multiple emitters can appear in generated synthesized netlist due to std_logic_vector name conflicts

6.1 Fixed Bugs

• Substractor optimization

  • Bad logic could be generated by the AdderTreeOptimization option

• Preplace IP

  • WFG are no longer replicated when instantiating several Preplace IP connected to the same clock/reset

  • Simplified input/output interfaces are now supported

• DSP

  • Bad DSP inference has been corrected for: Z = (A * B) + (D concat C)

  • Reset could be connected but not activated

  • NX_XFIFO_64x18 was leading to placement issues

7 Requirements and Setup
Before installing Impulse, please ensure your system meets the following specifications:

Open

7.1 Supported Operating Systems
NanoXplore supports the following operating systems

• RedHat Enterprise Linux 64-bit:

  • CentOS 7

  • CentOS 8
    
    

Note: If a 64-bit Linux machine is not available, you can install VirtualBox with CentOS 7 or CentOS 8 to use Impulse
Note: WSL on Windows is not supported yet
Python
Running Impulse requires Python 3.6 installed on a Linux 64-bit machine.
Warning: Other Python versions are not supported yet.

7.2 Supported Devices
The following sections list all supported architectures.

Open

7.3 Compatible Third-Party Tools

7.4 Accessing NX Product Licensing
Visit https://support.nanoxplore.com and sign-in.

1. Request to sign a SLA and provide license information

2. Download Impulse

3. Install NX License Daemon