EDI System’s get_metric Command Makes Metrics Reporting Quick and Easy

In this blog post I want to highlight the command get_metric that was introduced in Encounter Digital Implementation (EDI) System 10.1 and enhanced further in version 11. Have you ever tried writing a script to extract information from the log file like run times or timing results? It becomes complicated quite fast when you're trying to capture the desired data, especially if a command is run multiple times. Also, any script is reliant on the log file format staying consistent.

The command get_metric was developed to make reporting metrics easy and straightforward. When the variable encEnableMetric is set to 1 (default in EDI 11) EDI System will automatically store metrics for a set of a predefined commands. These metrics are saved with the database (*.enc.dat/designName.metric) and made accessible from session to session using get_metric.

Here are some examples of how it is used:

get_metric by itself returns all metrics last computed:

encounter> get_metric
    34726           design.numStandardCell
    35327           design.numNet
     0               design.numFloatBlock
     4               design.numFixedBlock
     34726           design.numSingleRowCell
     0               design.numDoubleRowCell
     0               design.numMultiRowCell
     0               design.numIoInst
     0               design.numFixedIo
     0               design.numFloatIo
     156584          design.numTerm
     4.43            design.numTermPerNet
     40.547 %        design.util
     0.138           design.pinDensity
     1.10e+06 um     place.totalNetLength
     -1.036 ns       timing.setup.WNS.all
     -61.875 ns      timing.setup.TNS.all
     12273           timing.setup.numPaths.all
     100             timing.setup.numViolatingPaths.all
     0.026 ns        timing.setup.WNS.reg2reg
     ...

Use the -cmd option to filter metrics by command:

encounter> get_metric -cmd verifyGeometry
verifyGeometry
     3    verify.geom.cell
     0    verify.geom.samenet
     0    verify.geom.wiring
     0    verify.geom.antenna
     0    verify.geom.short
     0    verify.geom.overlap
     3    verify.geom.total

Use wildcards to match multiple commands:

encounter> get_metric -cmd verify*
verifyGeometry
     3    verify.geom.cell
     0    verify.geom.samenet
     0    verify.geom.wiring
     0    verify.geom.antenna
     0    verify.geom.short
     0    verify.geom.overlap
     3    verify.geom.total
verifyConnectivity -type all -error 1000 -warning 50
     0    verify.conn
verifyProcessAntenna -reportfile leon.antenna.rpt -error 1000
     0    verify.antenna

You can specify the metric name to report. If multiple commands have the same metric it returns the most recent one:

encounter> get_metric timing.setup.WNS.all
     -1.036 ns timing.setup.WNS.all

Filter by both command and metric:

encounter> get_metric timing.setup.WNS.all -cmd {optDesign* *setup*}
optDesign -preCts
     0.006 ns   timing.setup.WNS.all
optDesign -postCts
     -1.023 ns timing.setup.WNS.all
optDesign -postCts -hold
     -1.023 ns timing.setup.WNS.all
optDesign -postRoute
     -1.036 ns timing.setup.WNS.all
optDesign -postRoute -hold
     -1.036 ns timing.setup.WNS.all

If you want to format your own standard QoR report, the -tcl and -value options are used to read the data directly into Tcl lists/values you can write out in any style you choose. Below is an example of using the -tcl option:

encounter> get_metric design.* -tcl
{design.numStandardCell 34726} {design.numNet 35327} {design.numFloatBlock 0} {design.numFixedBlock 4} {design.numSingleRowCell 34726} {design.numDoubleRowCell 0} {design.numMultiRowCell 0} {design.numIoInst 0} {design.numFixedIo 0} {design.numFloatIo 0} {design.numTerm 156584} {design.numTermPerNet 4.43} {design.util 40.547 %} {design.pinDensity 0.138}

Use the -value option to return only the metric's value. Here I assign it to a variable:

encounter> set totalGeomViols [get_metric verify.geom.total -value]
  3

Lastly, use the following to report metrics for all the commands run:

encounter> get_metric -cmd *
placeDesign
     34726           design.numStandardCell
     35327           design.numNet
...
optDesign -preCts
     0.006 ns   timing.setup.WNS.all
     0.000 ns   timing.setup.TNS.all
...
clockDesign -specFile DATA/leon.ctstch
     306             clock.clk.numBuffer
     1978.44         clock.clk.areaBuffer
...
optDesign -postCts
     -1.023 ns       timing.setup.WNS.all
     -62.451 ns      timing.setup.TNS.all
...
optDesign -postCts -hold
     -1.023 ns       timing.setup.WNS.all
     -62.490 ns      timing.setup.TNS.all
     12273           timing.setup.numPaths.all
...
optDesign -postRoute
     -1.036 ns       timing.setup.WNS.all
     -61.835 ns      timing.setup.TNS.all
     12273           timing.setup.numPaths.all
...
optDesign -postRoute -hold
     -1.036 ns       timing.setup.WNS.all
     -61.875 ns      timing.setup.TNS.all
...
verifyGeometry
     3    verify.geom.cell
...
verifyConnectivity -type all -error 1000 -warning 50
     0    verify.conn
verifyProcessAntenna -reportfile
leon.antenna.rpt -error 1000
     0    verify.antenna

The metrics are stored in the .metric file with both the command and options. So it's useful to use wildcards when specifying the -cmd option.

The commands currently supported by get_metric are:

placeDesign
optDesign
timeDesign
clockDesign
verifyGeometry
verifyConnectivity
verifyProcessAntenna
verifyMetalDensity
report_power
addFiller
addWellTap
addEndCap

If you've haven't tried get_metric I encourage you to give a try and let us know what you think. Are there commands currently not supported which you would like to report metrics on?

Brian Wallace