syn-tool-profiles

name	syn-tool-profiles
description	Internal reference: syn tool profiles (agent-loaded; do not invoke).
user-invocable	false

Synthesis Tool Profiles

Common Contract

• Prefer wrapper: syn/scripts/run_syn.sh
• Synthesis is mandatory at block/top gate levels.
• Normalize output into:
  • tool, status, area, timing_summary, log_path, replay_path
• Multicore: DC/Genus scripts request --max-cores (default 8) via set_host_options / set_db max_cpus_per_server. Tools auto-limit to the licensed/physical maximum, so over-requesting is safe (graceful degradation).
• Memory wrappers: behavioral SRAM (sram_sp/tp/dp) keeps its 2-D array under synopsys translate_off, so DC/Genus skip it. With no compiled macro linked, run_syn.sh blackboxes the wrapper (set_dont_touch + set_disable_timing) and WARNs. Select a process with --mem-process and link the macro with --mem-lib for real timing/area. See the synth-memory-blackbox design spec.

Output Directory Structure (DC-standard)

syn/
├── db/      — Binary databases (.ddc, .db, .genus_db)
├── vnet/    — Gate-level netlists (.v, .json)
├── svf/     — Setup Verification Flow (.svf, DC only)
├── scr/     — Generated scripts (.tcl, .ys) + replay/
├── rpt/     — Reports (area, timing, power, qor)
├── log/     — Synthesis logs
├── temp/    — Cache and temporary files
└── work/    — Tool work directories

Open-Source Baseline

• yosys:
  • syn/scripts/run_syn.sh --tool yosys --top <top> -f rtl/filelist_top.f
  • Optional lib mapping:
    • syn/scripts/run_syn.sh --tool yosys --top <top> -f rtl/filelist_top.f --liberty <lib>

Commercial Profiles

• dc_shell:
  • syn/scripts/run_syn.sh --tool dc_shell --top <top> -f rtl/filelist_top.f
  • Optional:
    • --liberty <tech.lib> --sdc <design.sdc> --script <dc.tcl> --max-cores <n>
    • Memory: --mem-process <NAME> --mem-lib <macro.db> --mem-module <name> --mem-strict
  • Outputs: .ddc → syn/db/, netlist → syn/vnet/, .svf → syn/svf/, .synopsys_dc.setup → syn/scr/
• genus:
  • syn/scripts/run_syn.sh --tool genus --top <top> -f rtl/filelist_top.f
  • Optional:
    • --liberty <tech.lib> --sdc <design.sdc> --script <genus.tcl> --max-cores <n>
    • Memory: --mem-process <NAME> --mem-lib <macro.db> --mem-module <name> --mem-strict
  • Outputs: .genus_db → syn/db/, netlist → syn/vnet/
• vivado (FPGA):
  • syn/scripts/run_syn.sh --tool vivado --top <top> --script <vivado.tcl>
  • --script is mandatory: part number, XDC and IP handling are project-specific, so there is no generic non-project recipe to auto-generate. The Tcl must carry its own synth_design -top <top> -part <part> flow.
  • -f, --liberty and the --mem-* options do not apply — the Tcl owns source and constraint loading.

Invocation Reference

The exact binaries and batch switches the runner uses. These are the shapes each vendor documents; changing them silently breaks the stage.

Tool	Invocation	Why this shape
yosys	yosys -s <ys>	—
dc_shell	dc_shell -64bit -f <tcl>	Synopsys shells spell the switch -64bit
genus	genus -batch -files <tcl>	Without -batch Genus keeps an interactive shell alive after sourcing. -64 is an RTL-Compiler-era switch — Genus is 64-bit only and newer releases reject it
vivado	vivado -mode batch -source <tcl> -nojournal -nolog	Batch mode exits when the script finishes; Tcl mode would return to a prompt. Suppressing the journal/log keeps parallel runs from colliding

Tool Availability Tiers

Tier	Tools	Capabilities	sv2v Handling
1 (commercial)	dc_shell, genus	Full synthesis + timing + area + PPA	Not needed (native SV support)
2 (oss)	yosys	Latch detection, unmapped cells, basic area estimate	Script handles internally (Layer 2)
3 (none)	—	Synthesis skipped with WARNING	N/A

Use get_synthesis_tier() from lib/tool-runner.sh to determine tier at runtime.

sv2v Policy: sv2v is a Layer 2 concern — run_syn.sh handles it internally for Yosys. Agent prompts and policy skills MUST NOT instruct manual sv2v execution. Canonical source stays SystemVerilog; tool adaptation is the script's responsibility.

--skip-if-unavailable flag: When passed to run_syn.sh, tool absence or license failure produces WARNING + clean exit (exit 0) instead of hard failure. Use in optional synthesis contexts (Stream B smoke test, V8 estimation without commercial tools).

Gate Criteria

• FAIL: tool fatal error, netlist generation failure, or unusable report
• PASS: synthesis completes and required summary artifacts are generated
• SKIPPED: tool not available and --skip-if-unavailable was set (non-blocking)