Sanity Checks
Sanity checks are a crucial step before beginning the physical design flow in VLSI. These checks ensure that the inputs received from the library team and the synthesis team are correct and free of errors. Neglecting these checks can lead to significant issues in the later stages of design. Let's explore the essential sanity checks performed before starting the physical design flow. Design/Netlist Checks These checks verify the quality and consistency of the netlist. Key aspects include: Floating Pins : Ensuring there are no pins in the design that are not connected to any net. Multidriven Nets : Checking for nets driven by multiple sources, which can lead to contention. Undriven Input Ports : Ensuring all input ports have driving sources. Unloaded Outputs : Verifying that all outputs have loads connected. Unconstrained Pins : Ensuring all pins have constraints defined. Pin Mismatch Counts : Checking for discrepancies between the pins of an instance and its reference. Tristate Buse...