Custom IC Creator Configuration tool

An integrated circuit (IC) will be a combination of multiple IPs. Each IP usually have different analog designer, but often the IPs depend on each other.

For each IP one must have version control, and revision control (tags), which is handled nicely by git as long as the files are not too large (or binary)

For the IC, though, one must have the ability to use a specific revision (tag) of an IP, but allow the IP development to continue. As such, it's not feasible to have everything in one repo.

In addition to IPs, it's common to have a toolset of scripts, and those also need to be in the correct revision. In the beginning of a development the tools and IPs might be to a main branch, but at tapeout, it's important to lock the revision, so it's easy to go back to a old IC and run new simulations.

I needed a configuration tool, one that can pick the IPs, and get the right versions from git repositories.

Disclamer: I have not spent much time searching whether there is a tool that fits my purpose, but cicconf was quick to write, and I get something that matches exactly what I want. One alternative is git submodules, but I find that more of a hassle.

Getting Started

Clone the repository, and do

cd cicconf
python3 -m pip install --user -e .

Idea

cicconf will search the current directory for a config.yaml file. An example config.yaml

 options:
  template:
      ip: tech_sky130B/cicconf/ip_template.yaml
  project: rply
  technology: sky130nm
cpdk:
  remote: [email protected]:wulffern/cpdk.git
  revision: main
tech_sky130B:
  remote: [email protected]:wulffern/tech_sky130B.git
  revision: main

The option section has some custom fields to tell cicconf how new IPs should be named. The ip_template contains the instructions for creating an IP, for example ip_template.yaml

The rest follows a simple pattern

<folder>:
 remote: <git url>
 revision: <git branch|tag|hash>

Running

Construct a config.yaml of your desire (see config.yaml for a more extensive example). Then run

cicconf clone

Usage

For latest command, check cicconf --help

Usage: cicconf [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Options:
 --help  Show this message and exit.

Commands:
 clone   Clone repositories in config file
 newip   Create a new IP with name <project>_<name>_<technology> The...
 status  Report the status of each of the configured IPs
 update  Update all ips to correct branch according to config file