Synopsys Design Tools

The page should be constantly updated by the people who are users of this software at this site. We are all responsible to keeping the information current whenever you make changes, or discover errors. Various pieces of information are scattered in the release notes, installation guides, readme files, online documentation, web sites, bug fix reports, or even words of mouth from the FAEs. It takes a lot of time to read all the relevant documentation, plowing through web sites, and talking to (and getting answers from) the tech support people. It would save others (and yourself, believe me you will forget) a lot of time if all the relevant information can be kept in one place and constantly updated.

Local Usage Experience

1997.08 Installation and Licenses

Jan. 31, 1998 by Ken Kung

The software package installed on dq /usr/synopsys . This installation of Synopsys includes:

Important Notes or Bug Reports

July 29, 1997 by Ken Kung

1997.01 Installation and Licenses

July 1, 1997 by Ken Kung

The software package installed on dq /usr/synopsys . This installation of Synopsys includes:

NOTE: We have a fix for the problem with the script files in /usr/synopsys/hp700/syn/bin. All "$@" have been changed to "@*" so that they work under sh, ksh, csh, tcsh. The original scripts work under sh, ksh, but not csh or tcsh.

V3.5a Installation and Licenses

The software package installed on dairy-queen and formosa under /usr/synopsys . However, only dairy-queen has the AT&T ORCA libraries installed. Formosa is not guaranteed to work. Use dairy-queen unless you know what you are doing. The installation of Synopsys includes:

NOTE: We have a fix for the problem with the script files in /usr/synopsys/hp700/syn/bin. All "$@" have been changed to "@*" so that they work under sh, ksh, csh, tcsh. The original scripts work under sh, ksh, but not csh or tcsh.

V3.4b Installation and Licenses

The software package installed on dairy-queen and formosa under /usr/synopsys . However, only dairy-queen has the AT&T ORCA libraries installed. Formosa is not guaranteed to work. Use dairy-queen unless you know what you are doing. The installation of Synopsys includes:

NOTE: A problem exists for this installation (both dairy-queen and fomosa): the script files under /usr/synopsys/hp700/syn/bin do not work under csh (or tcsh) as a regular user. It does run under csh if the user is root. Synopsys technical support claims this is peculiar to our systems. They said their customers running hp-ux on HP700 do not have the same problem. The symptom is when running one of those files, e.g. dc_shell, it will return with "illegal variable name." This is caused by the "$@" shell variable at the end of the script. I had to remove that variable to get it to work under csh. But it also took away the variable passing capability. This problem needs to be fixed later.

Setting up Environment Variables and Path

Add the following lines to your .csh_env file. 

if ((`hostname` == formosa) || (`hostname` == dairy-queen)) then
        setenv SYNOPSYS /usr/synopsys
        source $SYNOPSYS/admin/install/sim/bin/environ.csh
        setenv PATH ${SYNOPSYS}/iview2/bin:${PATH}
        setenv PATH ${SYNOPSYS}/hp700/syn/bin:${PATH}
else
endif
LS

Using SGE

There was a bug in using SGE remotely, but it has been corrected using the package include files. Just add synopsys to your GARDEN_APPEND, and everything should work fine. Email cmceniry@media if it doesn't.

Getting Started

For you who knows hardware design but doesn't know VHDL. The SYNARIO's "VHDL User Manual" is a good starting point. Once you are comfortable with the basic semantics of VHDL, you can go on to Synopsys' on-line tutorials. Start with the "Design Compiler Tutorial" to get right to the synthesis process. The "DesignSource and VSS tutorial" is the next tutorial you should go through.

The online mauals can be access by using Iview. After adding ${SYNOPSYS}/iview2/bin to your path, typing 'iview' will start the online manual program.

I have printed some sections of the on-line manuals. They usually can be found in the rightmost of the three closets of the hallway just outside of garden. Or they can be found by dairy-queen. I intend to keep all the documentation in that closet unless told otherwise. So please keep the manuals there always.

Getting Help 

Synopsys, Inc. 
700 E. Middlefield Road, MV-A 
Mountain View, CA 94043 
email:  tallen@synopsys.com 
phone:  415/694-1687 
fax:    415/694-4087
Created May 31, 1996, by Ken Ling-Pei Kung.