In the summer of 2001, Atrenta arrived on the scene with tools based on what the company calls "predictive analysis" technology, which used rule checking to produce cleaner RTL. Atrenta now envisions a much more ambitious scope, embodied in its 1Team:Implement trio of tools. The tools comprise a unified physical planning, design, and implementation suite that spans from RTL design to initial placement.
The suite includes 1Team:Architect, 1Team:Create, and 1Team:Construct. The trio is used with existing back-end implementation tools. But before your design gets to the back end, the 1Team:Implement tools anticipate downstream issues early in the design process, where they're ironed out more readily and at much lower cost.
1Team:Architect provides system-on-a-chip architects with quick what-if feedback on the key physical tradeoffs of their block-level architectures. It takes in partial RTL, hard or soft IP, and/or chip specifications. Also, it lets users examine the impact of architectural decisions on a broad array of physical variables.
1Team:Create uses physical synthesis to perform silicon virtual prototyping and floorplanning at RTL. Users can cross-probe between a timing report and their RTL code, locate and adjust problem areas, and incrementally recheck timing. The tool also includes a customizable physical rule checker for SDC constraints, physical hierarchy, timing, area, and congestion.
1Team:Construct performs automatic floorplanning of designs with hundreds of mixed-size macro blocks and standard cells. It quickly generates routable floorplans. Additionally, the tool performs block placement of multimillion-gate designs without partitioning.
The 1Team:Implement tools are the first in a series of launches from Atrenta. Physical analysis and verification tools will roll out in May, while Atrenta will announce embedded software tools in June.
Pricing for the 1Team:Implement trio is $365,000 for a one-year subscription. 1Team:Architect, Create, and Construct are available separately for $110,000, $95,000, and $160,000, respectively. All are available now.
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